Charlotte Hornets: Beat the former Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets used a combined team effort to beat the dynamic duo of the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Charlotte Hornets win again, this time over the team that used to be the Charlotte Hornets. For yet another game it was a show for Kemba Walker. However the New Orleans Pelicans got monster games from two of their biggest players and pushed the Hornets the whole way through. In fact the Pelicans had a tie game with about three minutes to go. In the end the Hornets pushed the margin to nine for the 122-113 victory behind Walker.

The first thing to notice about this game was the performance by Anthony Davis and Jrue Holliday. Injuries had sapped the Pelicans all season so they needed a big performance by those two to have a chance. They almost delivered. Davis scored forty points while Holliday was right there with him at thirty-eight. It was the opposite of the Hornets’ win against the Pacers, where Charlotte had two thirty point scorers and Indiana had one.

So the player of the game was Walker and he was only the third highest scorer. Yet he delivered another game in the thirties with thirty-five points. He added seven assists. Much of his damage was done from beyond the three point line. He combined that with twelve free throws which showed the different dimensions of his game.

This would be the part where we would talk about Al Jefferson’s effort off the bench, but this game was different. The two man Pelican team was met not just by Walker but by six other Hornets who scored in double figures. That number did not include Jefferson for once.

More from Old North Banter

Courtney Lee showed up on the radar from the three point line. His four of five effort was part of his sixteen points and his first double figure scoring game as a Hornet. Nicolas Batum, Marvin Williams, Cody Zeller, and Jeremy Lin had fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, and twelve point efforts in that order. Frank Kaminsky scored only ten off the bench to break the streak.

Jefferson’s production was reduced due to foul trouble since he had to guard Davis when he was in the game.

Next: Walker hits thirty again

The Hornets snagged another win against a team that they needed to beat. Their playoff standing after this game remains the same. Their 35-28 record keeps them half a game back of Atlanta, but they are now only one and a half games back of the Miami Heat. So the Hornets remain at sixth in the standings, but a run at fourth is not impossible.

The next Hornets game is against Detroit on Friday. Detroit is just outside the eighth spot in the standings so the Hornets should expect a tough game. A win against Detroit is necessary to maintain playoff positioning since the Pistons are just as close to the Hornets as the Hornets are to the Miami Heat.

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