NBA recap: New Orleans Hornets sweep Charlotte Bobcats, 88-81
The visiting New Orleans Hornets registered their fourth straight win with an 88-81 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday 15th January, 2011 at Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC.
David West had one of his finest games against the Bobcats with game-high 26 points, 8 boards and 3 assists as he dominated both ends of the court with his athleticism. West is averaging 21.8 points and 8.8 rebounds during the team’s current four-game winning
streak. Chris Paul scored 19 points while hurting Charlotte with three 3-pointers. Centre Emeka Okafor also came off the bench to have a productive game as he contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds in New Orleans 25th victory of the season.
Hornets forward David West stated, “We talked about not having any let downs out there. We did not want to come out and lose this game and blame it on the circumstances from last night. We forced them to make big plays. We did not allow them a big run and
being able to control the tempo was big for us. We wanted to make sure that the last part of each quarter we got what we wanted.”
Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson led the way for Charlotte with 15 points each. The Bobcats guard Jackson continued to put up strong numbers across multiple scoring categories as he added eight rebounds, six assists and two steals. This included two three-point
field goals. Devin Harris posted 20 points for New Jersey in the loss. Kwame Brown and D. J. Augustin posted 12 points apiece in Bobcats 23rd defeat of the season. Brown also pulled down game-high 14 rebounds in their defeat. The basketball ace
recorded his first double-double of the season. It was his fifth game with double-figure scoring and third with double figure rebounds. He tied his season-high in points (12) and rebounds (14).
Game story
The Hornets did not work a lot as they struggled to find an offensive flow all the time at the Time Warner Cable Arena. New Orleans held a 25-21 lead after the first quarter, behind an 8-point effort from Paul.
The victors lead quickly ballooned to 45-41, after West converted on a three-point play at 02:33 in the second. New Orleans got it offensively later on, taking a 48-42 advantage into the locker room. Charlotte fought hard in the third quarter to make the
score a respectable one and they trimmed the 6-point deficit by four. However, the Hornets managed to take a 69-67 lead into the final phase.
The Bobcats were 24-for-47 from the floor in the first seven minutes of each quarter. Anyhow, in the final five minutes of each quarter, Charlotte managed to make just 18.1 per cent (4-for-22) of its shots including 0-for-2 with four turnovers in the final
period. The Bobcats committed 16 turnovers, which were converted into 21 points by the Hornets. The losing team were equally poor in converting the opportunities given to them by New Orleans, altering their eight turnovers into just three points. Okafor was
fouled and he hit both free throws and West converted two free throws on the ensuing possession to make it 85-77.
The Hornets coach Monty Williams was confident of the performance of his team. He expressed, “We made no mention of it in the pregame, but we got in here last night around 6 o’clock. To be able to muster the kind of energy and focus to win against a good
team like that says a lot about leadership. But it also says a lot about how much our guys love to play basketball.”
I Have a Dream Speech
In admiration of the birthday of Martin Luther King and the 25th anniversary of the holiday honouring him, the Bobcats had a halftime recitation of “I Have a Dream Speech”.