Some kind of game last night. If you just read the headlines this morning you'll see that Chris Paul is still injured, Tyson Chandler got hurt and the Hornets lost to the Magic. Then you might go stick your head in the oven.

But it ain't so bad. CP might miss one more game, Tyson might miss none, and we played Orlando pretty tough despite the absences. If you did heat up that oven, put some buns in there and kick back.

Some bullets, if you don't mind…

• Final score was 95-88 to the visitors. Linkage: box | recap | video.
• The Hornets were trailing 31-46 when Tyson went down in the second quarter. It was weird how he hurt himself, kinda looked like his leg just collapsed in under him, like a folding chair or something. Of course, my blood ran cold when he hit the deck. "Fuck no, here we go again." Luckily, the MRI came back negative and he sounds hopeful that he'll be ready for the Pacers game tomorrow. Teddy Kider has the full story at the T-P, while Ryan Schwan causes blindness, takes a look back at the Hornets injury woes over the years and comes up with a catchy new nickname for Baron Davis.
• Melvin Ely and Hilton Armstrong had to step up in Chandler's absence. Ely scored 10 points for the second straight game, which is good. He also grabbed just one rebound for the second straight game, which is not so good. Hilton played 14 minutes and managed 4 points and 4 boards. Neither of those guys (or Chandler for that matter) had much success containing Dwight Howard, though. That lump of muscle laughed his way to 24 points and 15 rebounds.
• Leading the Hornets was Peja Stojakovic. He scored 21 on 8-of-15 shooting, 2-of-4 from deep. The last three games, he's gone for 17, 22 and 21, shooting just over 50% from the field.  He's suddenly gone from the most inconsistent player on the team to the most consistent. Nice to know too that he can do the whole scoring thing without Chris Paul on the floor getting him wide open looks.
• Also pouring in some points for the Hornets were David West (14) and Jannero Pargo (18). Neither played real well, though, especially Pargo. He helped the Hornets get out of that 21-point hole, dropping jumpers and dimes late in the 2nd quarter and early in the 3rd, but then he bricked seven of his final nine shots and just didn't do the whole point guard dealio real well. That whole trigger-happy thing he's got going is fine when he's coming off the bench and we need him to firebomb, but last night we needed him to do some kind of Chris Paul impersonation and it wasn't happening.
• Rasual Butler had 4 points in 14 minutes, and he's now averaging just 3.0ppg in his last seven. That wouldn't be such a problem except he's playing 20 minutes a night and his main role is to fill up the cup. Byron, it might be time to give Julian Wright some of those minutes.
• Orlando's Rashard Lewis, who chucked in 19 points, talked about beating the Hornets last night…
  
  "It's still a confidence booster. Obviously, Boston is a great team, New Orleans is a good team."

  Actually, Rashard, I'll have you know the Hornets are a fucking fantastic team. Screw the Celtics. Try playing us when Chris Paul is a biped and Tyson Chandler is there for the second half.

  Stan Van Gundy knows what's up…

  "The Hornets deserve a lot more credit tonight than we do. I am being honest. The thing that helped us was Chris Paul being out and Tyson Chandler being out for half the game."

• Attendance last night was 11,741. Balls.
• Ahead of last night's game the Hornets were looking all cozy in the latest power rankings. NBA.com had us fifth, while ESPN threw the Spurs in there to just keep us out of their top five.
• Wrapping it up from the other side: Believing in Magic and Third Quarter Collapse. I'd read those recaps myself but I'm completely illiterate.

• Dwight Howard got Player of the Week for the Eastern Conference, which is impressive, I guess.
• Tyson's not the only with knee problems lately. Kwame Brown, Amaré Stoudemire, Gilbert Arenas, and a pair of Timberwolves are all suffering from various knee injuries. Sounds like an epidemic.
• Magic pivot Adonal Foyle, who grabbed 2 boards in 8 minutes against the Hornets, bored a bunch of kids to death before the game last night.

See, yesterday wasn't so bad, right? Read John DeShazier's latest if I've failed to convince you. Also, you can't stay pissed off because it's Ryan Bowen's 32nd birthday today and everyone's invited. I'm getting him a little white puppy.

Pacers in town tomorrow. Previewing that one after day turns to night and back again.