The Hornets beat the Clippers in front of a fired up crowd and behind a killer effort by Jason Smith and Chris Kaman. Chris Paul WHO!?!
About that Chris Paul fellow…
He got mostly cheers early in the game when he was introduced, and got a huge round of applause when his video tribute was show after the first quarter. The boos never really came to fruition early on. There were some, don’t get me wrong, but even David West heard a stronger chorus of them. There was the occasional cry of “traitor!”, but it wasn’t until late in the fourth that he really heard the boo-birds. Better late than never! I imagine they would have been worse had he actually done something in the quarter, but he didn’t.
It was over when- The Clippers/Lob City got hot in the second quarter and finished the first half with a whopping 58 points. Clearly that was enough to be killing…the… wait, what? THE HORNETS SCORED 54 IN THE QUARTER ON 62.5% shooting!!!
No really, it was over when– The Clippers went on a nice little 15-6 run to start the second, and things appeared to be getting out of hand, BUT THEN THE HORNETS STORMED BACK.
Seriously, it was over when– After Jason Smith was ejected for a flagrant on Griffin, the crowd and the Hornets pushed the turbo button and entered some cheat codes. The Clips never stood a chance, especially with that bum CP3 running point. Isn’t he supposed to be good in the clutch? Hah! Hornets win!
MVP: Jason Smith. He did it all tonight for the Hornets up until his ejection. Blake Griffin won’t forget him anytime soon.
LVP: Chris Paul. Dude isn’t even on the Hornets. Talk about a non-factor…
Defining Moment: Jason Smith’s flagrant and consequent ejection
That was…dumb: Samuel L. Jackson wore a really dumb shirt with an even dumber number three on it during the player introductions. Oh, and what he said was mostly inaudible and not entertaining.
Tweet of the Day: @ArashMarkazi: Chris Paul couldn’t take his Clippers jersey off fast enough as he walked off the court.
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Trevor Ariza, SF 27 MIN | 4-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 8 PTS | +3Ariza had a very quiet first half and then sat the second with what I at this point assume was a recurrence of his ankle injury. |  |
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Gustavo Ayon, PF 17 MIN | 4-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS | -1This wasn’t a good matchup for the kind of small-ish Ayon. Griffin overpowerd him, Jordan looked down on him, and Martin was just as tough. Not surprisingly he barely saw time in the second half. Lance Thomas saw his minutes. |  |
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Chris Kaman, C 33 MIN | 5-13 FG | 3-4 FT | 9 REB | 5 AST | 13 PTS | -3Chewbacca WANTED this one and he did what he could to make it happen. Guess who didn’t let Griffin posterize him? KAMAN! Guess who led all scorers at the half despite taking only 7 shots? KAMAN! He slowed down in the second, but did what was needed in the end to seal the deal. This was one of his gutsiest performances of the year so far, and it was a joy watching him play. |  |
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Jarrett Jack, PG 31 MIN | 6-9 FG | 4-4 FT | 10 REB | 11 AST | 17 PTS | +1Jack really wanted to show CP3 and the world that he’s a quality player, and for the most part he did. He made a few poor decisions, and at times took it a little too much upon himself to create, but that’s OK. His numbers turned out great, as did the result of the game. He’s got to feel good about himself after that one. |  |
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Marco Belinelli, SG 30 MIN | 2-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 5 PTS | +1Marco came out hot in the first half, looking to make up for his worthless effort last night. He did. He played with fire, getting boards, assists, and buckets. The defense? Yes, sir. That was there tonight as well. This was one of his best games of the year, even if the numbers he put up weren’t awe-inspiring. | |
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Jason Smith, PF 26 MIN | 6-12 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 12 PTS | -10Smith got the start and did a really nice job on Griffin. He had me thinking that unless he was on the floor there really wasn’t much chance of stopping him. Sure Kaman had a few nice block/fouls, but Smith was the one doing work on both ends against Griffin. Yeah, Smith is the man. Offensively he did work as well, but no play was as big as the body-check on Griffin late in the fourt that led to a flagrant 2 and an ejection. The fans LOVED it. I can‘t blame them. If the Clips are going to flop and flail then at least foul hard. Yeah, Smith is my favorite player by far. I loved his effort tonight, and his numbers reflect how well he played. |  |
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Lance Thomas, F 12 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | 0It might not show up in the box score, but Lance Thomas had some key minutes late in the game after Smith was tossed. He also saw a few minutes toward the end of the third quarter. Right away he drew Blake Griffin and had nice one-on-one defense that resulted in a missed shot. Griffin got the board by sheer luck, but the second attempt was no good either. On the other end he batted an offensive board back out for what turned into another possession. It was a nice minute. One thing he needs to work on is slowing down when closing out on defense.Overall I was really impressed, even if he’s just not physically able to guard bigger guys for more than a few minutes. | |
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Greivis Vasquez, PG 22 MIN | 3-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 5 AST | 9 PTS | -13It was a quiet night for Vasquez, but he was on the floor most of the minutes the determined the outcome late in the fourth. | |
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Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 16 MIN | 1-2 FG | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 3 PTS | -11Farouq played a pretty wild 8 minutes on both ends. Sometimes he needs a shot of adrenaline or something to wake him up, but today was the opposite. He need to smoke some…tobacco and chill out. Monty didn’t put him on the floor in the second half even though Ariza sat. |  |
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Xavier Henry, SG 26 MIN | 6-14 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 13 PTS | -12Xavier was really quiet in the first half, but in the second he did some damage all over the place. He brought his normal aggression, and fitting with his name, he gave it to the Clippers. 12 points on 4 shots? I’ll take that with a side of BBQ sauce please. He was really active on the boards also, even if he didn’t get many of them. | |
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Chris Johnson, C DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | PTS | Chris scored his first points as a Hornet! As you know, that gets him an A+ in my book. | |
Five Things We Saw
- After the first half, the Hornets had taken 31 less three pointers than their opposition over the past 6 quarters. (42-11).
- Gary Chouest was in his courtside seats. I’d love to watch a game with that guy sometime to get some idea for what he’s like. Especially if he winds up as an owner. You there, Gary? C’mon!
- Attendance was announced at 17,201, which is officially a sell-out. Unfortunately, there were still plenty of empty seats in the nosebleeds.
- Jason Smith is my favorite player for sure after tonight’s performance. Is he yours?
- AWESOME GAME. I was saying during it that the outcome of this and the lottery are the two main factors that will determine if this season is a success in my mind.OHHHH OHHHHHHHHH! We’re halfway there!!!!!!!!
76 responses to “Hornets Beat the Clippers, Make Life Awesome”
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS
That win makes this whole smelly steaming dog turd of a season all worth it.
Way to represent New Orleans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you mean “SCORED 54 IN THE /HALF/”? Easy mistake…
Anyway, 45 minutes for JJ and 40 for CK. Good thing tomorrow’s an off day.
Words cannot express my joy at the moment
Marry me, j smitty! welcome back!
I was already going to ask him to marry me! LOL!
Hell F’ing YES!!!!!!! My life is now complete!!!
I’m so conflicted–on the one hand I’m thrilled we stuck it to the Clips & CP3, but on the other hand I’m peeved that we’re hurting our lottery chances (Lame I know, but still)
don’t worry, the tank will move on after. We’ll lose 19 straight games to finish with the 2nd worst record in L
Whos this guy i didn’t write this
Ha. First J is two people, now there are 2 J’s.
And he’s right. This J is the real J. The other J is not.
Awesome.
I seem to have stolen somebody’s identity!
My bad?
You’ll give it back one day, I’m sure.
You may even beg someone to take it!
Great game. So worth coming back home for. May not be able to speak for a few days.
Thanks again Jason wish you could have made it.
Trust me dude, me too.
I was looking forward to many things, including hanging out.
All I can say is that I had some work dumped on me, but I trust it will all be worth it . . . in a couple of weeks.
Next time you are in town, same deal . . . if you liked the seats . . .
X GON GIVE IT TO yA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HORNETS WIN! ITS LIKE WE WON THE RING! :))) WAY TO GO NOLA words can’t express how happy I am!! BOO YA!
glad im not the only one who has fun with that saying.
How appropriate they gave out towels on a night like this.
Jason Smith true to his sound effect LAID THE BOOM!
Are we sure there wasn’t a bounty on Blakes head!?
If so, Jason definitely collected on it tonight!
Btw X went 3/4fg and 5/6ft
Your numbers are pretty far off.
Kudos should also be given to X for his free throws tonight given his previous struggles!
Agreed. Henry has a very specific talent: driving to the hole and getting free throws and/or finishing. He’s really good at it, even though other parts of his game are lacking (jumpshot). I almost s*@t my pants when he hit that three pointer! Way to come correct, Xavier! Everybody stepped up huge tonight.
This was yet again another unnecessary win. Who cares if Chris Paul was on the opposite team? You guys are in effect cheering for this team’s demise.
It sure feels nice to get a win now, enjoy whatever 5-10 minutes of joy that you will have. Then enjoy the 7-8 years of misery when we are losing and the opportunity of grabbing an elite franchise player passes us by.
But BOY do those 5 minutes seem worth it, right?
We already have a new franchise player to build around: his name is Eric Gordon. Besides, Hornets still have the worst record in the Western Conference, so they’ll very likely have a top 5 pick in the draft, even if it’s not 1st overall. That player will just be a complementary piece to put around EG10. Stop your bellyaching.
Could you be anymore depressing? shouldn’t you be on a ledge somewhere?
It’s easy to say that we need to lose EVERY GAME but, we’re humans. Emotions are what drives us. And in the end, if the team doesn’t give fans some ray of sunshine every now and then, what else does the team give to fans?
This win gave fans joy, even if in the long run it hurt our chances. We aren’t machines that stick to ONE GOAL in mind for AN ENTIRE YEAR. Losing will get to people. And no matter how much you drive home the “Losing for us is in fact winning because we get a better chance at Anthony Davis”, LOSING WILL STILL STING. So a moral victory, every now and then is nice.
At this rate, we’d still be on pace to finish 2nd worst in the league. Wiz are looking better by virtue of Nene on the team. We’re still going in tank mode (injuries here and there). This win does very little damage to our future.
Most fans needed this win. Hero comes back and becomes a villian. We needed this. It was a victory that can’t be quantified JUST by that +1 in the W column. It means more to that. IT’s an emotional victory.
Tomorrow, when the sun rises again, we’ll be cheering on for loses again. This win will give us the guts to sustain 19 straight losses (The thing I REALLY HOPE FOR). Without this win, we’ll be groveling for some sense of hope outside of lottery balls (that ISN’T A SURE THING MIND YOU), that we’ll go mad. Some may even turn against the team. That’s just reality. Because we’re humans.
huh….dude’s nuts!!! yeah we won, still gunna get a top 5 pick and we beat cp3 who left us for the clippers who cant beat the worst team in the west 😉 hahahahah wooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
You realize it’s a lottery system right? We could have gone 0-66 this year and still only had a “chance” at the number one pick.
is this guy a clippers fan? because he seems to have forgotten the laughable organization that the clippers are
I don’t know how I’d respond if I got body checked by a 7 footer. Jason must of thought he was playing hockey or something.
Separately, why are you (Joe Gerrity) hating on Sam Jackson’s sweater? The 3 symbolizes the number of anacondas he killed on a plane.
Dem Bounty Town Boyz gave CP3 a rude homecoming.Jason Smith was kepping it real tonight.
The Clips will probably whoop our arses on Monday but they didn’t do IN New Orleans which makes me rather happy. I would’ve wanted a win tonight over 2 tenths of a ping pong ball so I guess we can go back to tanking now. Some pretty darn good players in this upcoming draft.
That was so effing amazing. Jason Smith made my night. Del Negro is done. Blake Griffin has no skill in basketball whats so ever. CP3 gave his jersey to a little kid after the game. Xavier was HUGE. I’m so excited over a meaningless meaningful win!!!
blake griffin has no skill in basketball thats funny
Ive never seen a 6’10 monster flop that much.
dude can’t shoot…sportscenter made him a star
Let’s not get crazy here, guys. Blake Griffin is a BEAST. The guy is unreal.
Hornets just straight up shut him down.
Tonight was my first game at The Hive in 2 years (just got back from Houston) I picked a great game for my return. SN: Shouts out to Kenyon Martin for having Trina’s lips TATTED ON HIS NECK!!!!!!!! #Mark
Blake deserved that body check, he was shoving Jason all over the place and even cheered and clapped when Jason Smith got dunked on. It made me lose a lot of respect for him as a player.
I am going to believe, and no one tell me otherwise, that Chris Paul pulled his jersey off so quickly because in that moment he wished that he never left New Orleans.
I was at the game I watched it happen. One of the greatest games I have ever been to, I felt so many different emotions. Really glad we got the win.
WHAT….A……..GREAT……GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Had a blast in the Hive tonight, easily the game and experience of the season. Who cares if we lose the rest of our games all year, winning tonight and giving us a good show made nothing else matter.
Thank you Hornets for tonight! It was greatly appreciated. Jason Smith thanks for signing a 3 year contract with us! “U da man!” lol. Goodnight gang…had too much fund tonight, gotta get some rest so I can wake up for work tomorrow!
*fun
haha…I did spend alot of funds though tonight…..parking, club seats, food, etc! lol
Being a Long Islander, I can only wish that I was in the Hive to experience that game live. Watching the 4th quarter, it made me smile when we applied that defensive pressure and forced the Clippers to take some really bad shots around the perimeter. Xavier Henry is a force and when given some time can really be an excellent option off the bench. I am just really happy to see the outcome and see the energy this team demonstrated tonight. Chris “Softie” Kaman limited his shot selection and got to the hoop more often. We are going to have alot of money to spend in the offseason and with a healthy Eric Gordon, next year could be a really fun year to watch as well with a full 81 game schedule.
Next to the February 20th game against the Knicks I attended, this probably was the second best win of the season.
That’s a tough call. Which game was a better win? Snuffing out Linsanity in MSG in the Mardi Gras uniforms, or making Chris Paul long for his days in a Hornets uniform? I’ve got to give tonight’s game the #1 spot, but that Feb 20th game was awesome, too.
Since I’m from Long Island, New York, watching online is the only way I can really see the Hornets play unless they are in the NY/NJ area. Only reason why I am putting the Feb. 20th game over this one was purely because I attended it and got to be in the building live for that Gustavo Ayon running lay-in and and-1 attempt. Plus Marco’s banked 3 pointer.
Otherwise, this win helped to let the fans of the Hornets and the players breath a sigh of relief to just have this game over and done with. This was a huge burden for the Hornets and even going into the season, this was one game everybody had their eyes on. This should have been a nationally spotlighted game on ESPN.
Surprise, Surprise, ESPN doesn’t pay attention to the small market Hornets or TNT for that matter either. I am proud of the Hornets and I am proud of this team and the fan base to show up and support the team through thick and thin. I would much rather have this team and the coaching staff with all the injuries and difficult losses this season that tries and plays hard each and every night than some soft team like the Knicks or the Clippers.
I just despise the Knicks more than anything. Maybe if TP isn’t playing for the Spurs on Saturday, we could get that game too. Plus, the more losses you have may better your chances at getting the #1 pick but it doesn’t guarentee it. We will still finish with the second worst record in the league because of Washington’s deal to get Nene. We will get Anthony Davis or Thomas Robinson and all will be right with the world.
I just wish I lived in New Orleans to experience this kind of magic in person during the winter time. I’ve never been to that city and I hear it’s nice this time of year. Lol. 🙂
You easily attended the best 2 games of the year! haha
just watch don’t talk shit especially with bounties going around good job j smitty
http://youtu.be/zQmV7ETxj2I
hahahahaha fuck blake griffin…sorry for swearing so happy the hornets won!!!!
Them Clippers are so soft the Lakers are better than them Blake is such a girl.I know CP3 wish he was with the Hornets lol yeah who needs a crybaby whe got tough guys our Bounty City Boyz in the Teal N Gold just like out other Bounty City Boyz in the Black N Gold we keeping it real.
Blake Griffin is a flailing bitch, flop all you want, keep taunting, you got what you deserved bitch boy
Just saw the highlight of Jason Smith’s foul. If I rooted for any other team, I would demand a suspension. However, that was AMAZING!!! Best thing I’ve seen in a long time for the Hornets
Smith’s hit wasn’t malicious at all. He just runs and jumps faster than he’s able to control a lot of times, and I don’t think he was prepared for how fast Griffin cut towards the basket. He lowered his shoulder, but it was just to keep from getting knocked over his self. He wasn’t pumping up the crowd because Blake got hurt. He was trying to fire up the crowd and show them that WE WERE NOT GOING TO LOSE THAT GAME. No matter what.
Could this be a more lovable team? Their character, unbelievably, has made a woeful win/loss season really entertaining. I’ve really loved watching this team’s maturation process. We still need some star power, but every one of these guys can play. That pass that Vasquez made down the lane to Jason Smith for the dunk was SICK! The spin he put on it made it bounce backwards into Smith’s hands. “Thank you God for another day to get better!”
Finally, that was a bitch move by Paul, getting in Smith’s face after that Griffin collision. After being the guy’s teammate for over a year, could he really think that Jason was purposely trying to injure Griffin? It’s called a hard foul. It’s part of the game.
I actually felt sorry for Paul at the end of that game. You could see how unhappy he was. I wish him all the best, but he really didn’t look good in the game. Those of us that have watched Chris over the past 3 years (Hornets fans) are recognizing the truth that the big market hype machine doesn’t want people to know: Chris has definitely lost a step. He hasn’t been the same player since the knee injury, and last year’s playoff performance is starting to look more like an anomaly.
[…] has gotten 25 minutes off the Hornets’ bench each of the last two games. Here’s what Hornets247 said about Henry’s game last night: Xavier was really quiet in the first half, but in the second he did some damage all over the […]
Griffin’s game was really ugly. He can jump and dunk, but so can a bunch of other guys. He has no post game, just kicking back out EVERY time waiting for an alley-oop. Lots of pushing off to get rebounds, lots of flopping. Last night I was wishing for Mbenga back on our squad until Jason came through with some toughness.
If we can get efficiency like this from any 3 players (last night it was Jack, Kaman, and Smith) we can compete next year.
Rather than being so negative about the Clippers, I like to look at our team. What this game may show is things are moving in the right direction and a healthy Hornets team, supplemented with draft choices, may be a quality, exciting team next year.
Except for the gift grade to Johnson, all of the As and A+s went to players who Dell brought in (or kept) but that many in the fan base questioned.
1. Who thought Jason Smith would amount to anything before we saw him on the floor? How many wondered about his 3 year $7.5M deal?
2. Who wanted to keep Kaman through the season rather than dump him for a 2nd rounder?
3. Who wanted to sign Lance Thomas for the year?
4. Who thought Marco was worth resigning for this year?
And, while many liked the Henry for a 2013 2nd rounder, give Dell credit for that, too. Then add in the Ayon acquisition and Jack game’s tonight, which we need to see more of, and their are a lot of quality pieces assembled already.
To me it was more about how we won and who led the way. I hope it was a glimpse into the future.
For the record, I loved J-Smith’s game last year and was super happy to hear he re-signed with us this off season. I love his passion and energy. His work on defense during the off season seriously elevated his game. I will take partial credit for that since I sold him an Xbox 360 and Dance Central and I’m sure it helped his footwork. 🙂
On a side note, he was a super nice guy when I met him.
I’m with you cloud. I raved about jason smith and his contract when he was signed. YOUNG 7 footer with skills improving every year for a bargain rate.
“To me it was more about how we won and who led the way. I hope it was a glimpse into the future.”
I hope so too. I love how this team has always competed despite not having star players like CP or West or Gordon to carry them. I really look forward to watching this team next season without any mention of tanking!
To me all sports are getting soft stop with the crying and man up take your hit like a man.
i think you accidentally put up the stats from the golden state game
what a fun one. love this team.
stephen a. smith went off on jason smith this morning saying that he should get at least a 10 game suspension. comon, steve!!!
He should get a 10 game suspension for that? Did he even see the hits that Odom and Bynum put on the Mavs in the playoffs last year?
I Say a 5 game max is reasonable if they want to suspend but david might go all “roger goodell” on us & make it a 8-16 game suspension :/
He should be suspended the rest of the season for being entirely too awesome. He’s too good for the NBA.
Yeah.
Suspend him, don’t suspend. He’ll be back.
The world can kiss my keester.
They’d be doing us a favor. Our tanking spin doctors are out of ways to creatively sit guys down for 10+ games, they’d be giving us a freebie. Let Chris Johnson play!!!
Awesome when your 11 win team massively outtoughs and outhustles a team fighting for playoff positioning.
Yes, I agree Monty is the man!!(to coach the Hornets next year and beyond)
I know it might be messed up but I like being known as the City with the TOUGH playing sports teams that will fight to win, even if we gotta hit some guys
I will get a concussion of my own if i come back with the aggresiveness Jason came. I liked him before,but thought of another 7ft soft player that jumpshoted toavoid contact, but Lately he has been more eager to get dunks and blocks on D. Seasonis not over yet,why you want 19 more loses?? I want 2 more W in staple center against the Clipps. And the best thing would be if we got #1 pick and Clippers cant make it to the playoffs ( they are 1 game ahead of Utah in the 9th…)
HOOPDAT!!!
[…] who has gotten 25 minutes off the Hornets’ bench each of the last two games. Here’s what Hornets247 said about Henry’s game last night: Xavier was really quiet in the first half, but in the second he did some damage all over the […]
Jason Smith was colcocked by Greg Monroe in the Detroit Pistons game, no flagrant foul, no suspension (was there even a foul whistled against Detriot?). Smitty is sidelined upteen games because of a concussion. Last night Smith committed a hard foul on Blake Griffin. He did not go for his head or undercut his legs. Hard foul to the body that had Griffin go a_ _ over tea kettle. He will probably get a one game suspension, and probably deseves it. But what’s going trough Jason’s mind, Maybe: “Some guy tries to bore a hole in my head with his elbow, I get a concussion and miss a bunch of games, nothin happens. Then I give a hard foul that was not dirty or intending to hurt the fouled player (who stayed in the game) and now eveyone is talking about a multi game suspension. Unbelievable”
I think Jason accepts the flagrant two call, but to those who think he committed a travesty, given what happened to him earlier this year, he would say GET REAL.
Free Jason Smith!
Seriously, if someone has those t-shirts made, let me know because I want one!
2 game suspension was delt out
2 game suspension for Jason Smith.
[…] who has gotten 25 minutes off the Hornets’ bench each of the last two games. Here’s what Hornets247 said about Henry’s game last night: Xavier was really quiet in the first half, but in the second he did some damage all over the […]
[…] who has gotten 25 minutes off the Hornets’ bench each of the last two games. Here’s what Hornets247 said about Henry’s game last night: Xavier was really quiet in the first half, but in the second he did some damage all over the […]
[…] Smith: May 22, 2012. The Hornets beat the Clippers at home and Jason Smith leveled Blake Griffin (I know it may be wrong, but I loved that moment). That was by far the most energetic I’ve […]