It was a must lose game for the Hornets, but they actually pulled off a win at the end of the 4th quarter. That wasn’t how this game was supposed to go…
The draft lottery.
That is all this game had going for it. No Eric Gordon for the Hornets, no Stephen Curry, David Lee or Andrew Bogut for the Warriors.
But in a game where both teams would have been smart to tank, there was a surprising amount of effort. Maybe it was because 6 of the 10 starters were rookies looking to prove themselves, maybe it was because of all the D-Leaguers playing for a roster spot next season, maybe it was the veterans with expiring contracts hoping to increase their paycheck. Maybe Monty Williams is a great coach who gets maximum effort out of his players. That’s not a maybe; that is a fact.
The Hornets were in beautiful position to lose this game. The score was tied at 81 with 26 seconds left in the 4th. Charles Jenkins hoisted up a poor three point attempt. The Warriors’ Chris Wright grabbed the offensive board. 24 seconds left. Perfect. The Warriors hit the last shot, the Hornets lose, and the Anthony Davis dream continues.
Nope.
Gustavo Ayon blocks Jenkins’ layup. Greivis Vasquez gets the ball. He passes to an open Marco Belinelli under the basket who attempts the layup…and the Warriors get called for goaltending. Final score 83-81 Hornets. That sound you hear is Micheal pulling out his hair.
The Hans Gruber (of Die Hard fame) Villain of the Game Award
Welcome to the club Charles Jenkins! YOU SERIOUSLY COULDN’T HAVE HIT ONE OF THOSE TWO SHOTS AT THE END OF THE GAME? I HATE YOU.
Other Observations
-Ayon was all over the place on defense. He gave up a few early buckets to Jeremy Tyler, but overall really kept the Warriors’ bigman off his game. Well done.
-The Hornets ran some very nice sets with great ball movement throughout the first quarter, and failed to score on most of them. That about sums up the season.
-When Aminu works on his game during the offseason, the first thing he needs to work on is his handle. He loses the ball far too easily too often. It would help his scoring and cut down on his turnovers.
-Aminu did look sharp on defense. His length clearly causes problems for whoever he is guarding. He was only credited with one block but he altered many shots tonight.
-Belinelli had a burst of scoring in the 2nd and then didn’t do much after that was put in late in the 4th by Monty to try and win the game. We all saw how that turned out. I’m going to start pretending his doesn’t exist.
-Carl Landry did his Landry thing.
I’m not an Aerosmith fan but, tonight, I’m going to leave you with this since they have an awesome cover of the Tiny Bradshaw song. Sub in “Tank” for “Train” and “Kentucky” for “New York City.” It kind of works.
67 responses to “Hornets Pull Off a Last Second Win Over the Warriors and Crash the Tank.”
maybe monty should of sat out the last few games too..hahaha…1 game to go..still havent decided who to root for in the playoffs but still excited for some intense battles
Just Damn Damn Damn Beli and Ayon just Crashed our Tank!!!!!!
Lol. But I bet it will now be easier to sign Carl Landry, Eric Gordon, and possibly Chris Kaman by basically saying. This is what we get with these guys in this system: now put in this lineup: Jarrett Jack, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza, Carl Landry, and Emeka Okafor, with Kaman, Belinelli, and Aminu coming off the bench plus a couple of these guys. (Not those words exactly, but you get the idea.)
I guess the Warriors wanted it more!!
Was I the only one yelling “NO!” when Beli got the layup?
no! hsuhsuhaus
that’s belinelli, even when he does a good thing he screws us up… he plays well when we’d be better with a loss, goes 1-10 when we need a W to clinch a playoff spot.. dammit…
I screamed at the TV when Beli had that fast break and wanted to protest the goaltending call, anything.. that was BS! We NEEDED to lose that game!
There was no reason for us to beat that team….
Your going to start to pretend Marco doesn’t exist? That’s been your modus operandi the whole season. The hard on you have for him is showing and its not a pleasant sight for anyone, especially you. By the way, if he would have disappeared after the second quarter as you claim, the Hornets would have lost by seven instead of winning 83-81. Marco probably won’t be with NOLA next season, too bad the same can’t be said for your insufferable comments.
I’m confused. I haven’t been defending him at all this season. Please show me where I have a ‘hard on’ for him?
I think he means hard on the bad sense.
Are hard ons good or bad? Anyone?
Rocco, I think the point you’re missing is that losing by 7 would have been terrific in this particular instance. Winning by two against a depleted Warriors team with nothing to play for is no cause for celebration…
At least we are still in 3rd place 🙂
A three way tie for 3rd worst is appoximately equal to finishing 4th worst (actually 0.2 percentage points better). Our pick loses about 1/4 of its ping pong balls in the transition from 3rd worst to a three way tie for 3rd worst, assuming that becomes reality. I don’t like it, but that is the damage.
If Cleveland ends up beating Washington at home and we finish in a two way tie for 3rd worst, our pick loses about 1/8 of it’s ping pong balls.
So, the NBA lottery system doesn’t take head to head record into account? Sacramento beat us 3 out of 4 times this year, so even if we finish with identical records, the fair thing to do would be to give us priority in the draft.
Teams tied by record alone are separated via ‘coin flip’ alone.
According to wikipedia, a tied record equals tied lottery teams. The coin flip only determines who might get an extra ping pong ball when teams are tied and the number of ping pong balls they divide isn’t evenly divisible by the number of tied teams.
It also breaks the tie if they don’t hit the lottery, which the rest of that section says. It handles the ambiguities that could arise. I wish it explicitly said what the procedure was for an n-way tie, n>2.
You’re right. Why didn’t they put that 1st?
And they don’t address a 3+ way tie, but Cleveland is winning right now.
You’d think head to head would rule in a two way tie.
I find it unintuitve as a system and in description. Agreed.
Maybe I’ll edit the latter.
I was sure the Warriors would win. As far as Marco is concerned, he should have been gift wrapped and delivered anywhere in the basketball universe. He’s inconsistent and not someone we should be looking to for instant offense. Tonight when it doesn’t matter, he shows up with 20+ points. My skin crawls whenever I read or hear that name. It will fortify my belief that we’re heading in the right direction when Marco is no longer a Hornet.
I’ll take the win.
Damn the torpedoes!
Hornets just need to do their thing (win or lose), and we’ll let the chips fall where they may. I’m still pissed at Golden State for talking s*@t after winning in the Hive this year, so I was glad to stick it to them. It must have made them feel great to hear their fans cheering for the Hornets (and for a loss).
All of the “tankers” need to chill the f@#k out and have a little faith.
Damn straight.
Plus Sugar Daddy Stern gonna take care of his little baby come Lottery night.
You are welcome for Bellinelli…we planted him for this very night years ago! Doesn’t change how screwed we are though…http://www.trappedingoldenstate.com/
Remember that Suns game where we lost on a blatant non-call goaltend…? This is worse.
While the odds were small enough to get Anthony Davis. It’s still a lottery where the odds for Charlotte may be the highest but that doesn’t guarentee them or any of us a shot at Davis. Instead of being sour over the loss, I’m happy that this scrap heap of players played hard enough to try and win. Granted, it wasn’t the most offensive win but when we have the 3-5th worst record and still get Anthony Davis, this win in hindsight won’t matter much.
I’d still be fine with Thomas Robinson or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist too.
Even with how good Davis looks and could be, we are betting the farm on these kids coming into the game and making a huge impact right away. Must we see another clip of Greg Oden? I’m not saying Davis will turn out to be Greg Oden but these two games won’t matter when we get him or Gilchrist or Robinson.
“If Greg would of been able to play without all his injuries he would be one of the best centers next to Dwight & Bynum”-Monty Williams, I agree with wonderboy Kwame Brown is a better example (No injuries…Still sucked)
Perfect, Nick. I totally agree.
arrest Belly: DUI
The Warriors are trying to preserve a pick that is pretty much symbolic of how Cohan fucked that team over. The Warriors are my home team, but they did not deserve to ‘win’ tonight by losing, and I hate the fact the Hornets may have bailed them out.
Of course people are upset with this win and I don’t blame anyone for feeling that way. You put up with losing all season long, and it becomes very frustrating. All I can say is be grateful you are a Hornets fan and not the Warriors, because the future is very bright here. And don’t blame Marco; he does more good than harm most of the time 😉
You guys are idiots. Why would you want to see your team lose on purpose. I’m glad to see the Hornets are still fighting and giving 100% even though our season has been over for months. Any “fan” who would cheer for your team to lose for a couple more ping pong balls is not a fan at all. I don’t want to see my team lose, and you shouldn’t either.
youda man, dan.
Yo, Brennan, we missed you at The Irish House and Cooter Brown’s.
Ahhh man, I wanted to go badly too. I had forgotten it was my outta town friend’s last night in Nola and I simply had to hang out with him. I tried to convince him to go but he’s from atlanta and i don’t think it was his idea of a good time. But next time theres a watch party I’ll buy a community keg or the first round. You can hold me to it
Maybe Thursday.
Dan shut up!!!
Can someone go check the Thunder’s record when they got Westbrook and see if they were actually tanking, vs. just sucking hard? For example, this year the Bobcats aren’t tanking. They locked up the #1 seed a month ago, but they’re still losing because they’re just terrible. Meanwhile the Warriors are intentionally benching guys who are playing well and creating obviously fake injuries (David Lee) to improve their draft position. The Hornets are somewhere in between.
So were the Thunder (everyone’s golden example of tanking working) really tanking, or just sucking?
Also, the lottery odds are the odds of the #1 pick right? But what are the odds of that pick being top 3? Couldn’t that also happen? Like couldn’t our Minny pick end up as #2 or #3, or am I just imagining that?
Remember the article you accused me of assuming everyone was impatient?
Your question is answered there.
You are welcome in advance, from the past.
Lol, mind blown, Jason.
OK good call. Still doesn’t answer my OKC question though
You want to know the mind of another? Good luck.
Dan it’s not like it’s our fault the NBA has set up their draft system where systematically making your team worse is the best way to get better. I would love to root for the Hornets to win, but I also want them to be an elite team in the future more than I want to see a meaningless game. Blame the NBA. I wouldn’t doubt if the lotto system gets tweaked in the coming years when you not only have the worst team in NBA history playing, but also a team that was owned by the NBA being totally unapologetic about sitting tons of their best players. It sucks, but it is what it is.
more than I want to see them win* a meaningless game
God just found even more grammar errors in that post. It’s way too early.
Its going to be okay, I’m sure david stern threw in the number one pick as an incentive for tom benson buying the team lol
the incentive answers by the name of all-star game, loads of money flooding the pockets of mr benson. i’d take that over a 1st pick if i were a franchise owner.
Because I want the Hornets (a.k.a. Pelicans, Brass, Bounce, etc…) to draft the best PG available with their 2nd pick, I really wanted GSW to lose and try to take back that Top 7 Protected pick from the Jazz, who are also shopping for a PG in the draft. So I look at this win as a bit of a good thing for the Hornets… since our chances for Davis are already pretty small (<20%), what is an additional 5-10% less chance really doing to us.
Am I the only one who really wants us to draft Kendall Marshall, or are people so focused on the first lottery pick that we're overlooking what players are available for that second pick.
I am a huge Kendall Marshall fan, but our getting first pick of PGs (whoever that is) because GS retains their pick and doesn’t need a PG (whereas Utah does) is a good thing. Whether this is worth the hit to the draft odds of the Hornet’s own pick is harder to say.
I think everyone needs to stop “Gleeing” on the Anthony Davis sweepstakes you’ve to face reality that they won last night. No one is going to lose because of top 3 draft lottery position. It’s still a deep draft anyway now grow some balls and be a man about this geez.
Yeah I’m sure Dan will be enjoying this “win” on draft day when we end up with Tyler Fn Zeller or some shit on draft day (sigh)
Oh, and Marcos a dbag. Hangin out in Lucy’s w a “don’t bro me if you don’t know me” graphic T on. Lol he won’t be a Nola resident in about a week anyway!
If Anthony Davis was truly the only player worth drafting high in the draft like in most years, I’d agree with the tankards, but this is a draft where the 5th pick could be just as good as Davis could be, especially if that pick is Andre Drummond somehow. Nothing is ever a given.
Calm yourselves, my fellow Reapers. Things will work out in the end.
Aminu improved his defensive performance. But with the ball in his hands, he still terrible!
And don’t forget: the most important thing is to have an owner willing to invest to build a strong and competitive team. And now we have it! You should be celebrating! I don’t understand the crying because of the draft. This is only a complement to the great future that our team will!
I watched the Sacremento OKC game last night too. OKC rested their starters in the 4th in a close game. Maybe it was a tip of the hat to us for bringing basketball to their town. Sacremento is a horrible team and I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be to be a fan of that team. Cousins is especially frustrating to root for. Immature doesn’t begin to describe him.
The only hope we have now is that since the Clips lost the Lakers don’t need a win. If they choose to rest Bynum, Kobe, and Gasol, then Sac-Town may be able to pull off a W and we can continue to drive the tank.
Tough game to win I admit, but on the flip side, this team is gaining confidence and the future is bright with or without Davis on the roster. A number of players in this draft can help us alot, whether thats a top 3 pick or a top 5 pick. Its clear that something is going on that we don’t see. Why else would we be trying to win games? Stop trying to predict everything and just be a spectator and watch what develops. I think its a flaw in society now days that not only do we want information on the spot, but we want it before it even happens. We will be fine. Stop worrying guys.
Davis, MKG, Robinson, Marshall, Zeller, White and Harkless..
Those names are the ones I wouldn’t mind seeing in our new color scheme next year.
Assuming we get 3 and 9…
Robinson/Marshall
Robinson/Zeller
Are my two fav combos guessing that davis and MKG go 1&2
Without Davis, we have to select Drummond!
I think we would select Robinson if Davis is gone, then if both are gone Drummond would be the guy if we want to go big.
I would like to see any combination of these players on the Hornets next season…Barnes/Marshall Davis/Rivers Robinson/Lillard Gilchrist/Sullinger Drummond/Beal
Mr. Gordon has spoken!
I think Monty should let his son coach tonight
Any love for Henson up in here? We really need someone to help us protect the rim, plus he’d give us a guy who we could just throw lobs to off high pick and rolls. We haven’t had that since Tyson Chandler.
When Belinelli hits GW layup
Seasons Before: YESSSSS!
This Season: NOOOOOO!