Bobcats-Hornets Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Mar 11 2012 4:46PM

The New Orleans Hornets haven't had the chance to experience too many winning streaks during their difficult season.

The Hornets, though, have an excellent shot at one when they host the woeful Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.

New Orleans (10-31) has won two or more in a row only twice this season, but has the chance for one of those rare streaks following a 95-89 victory in Minnesota on Saturday.

The Hornets had 28 assists - their second-highest total this season - while snapping a four-game skid. Chris Kaman led the way with 20 points - New Orleans is 5-0 when he hits that number - while Jarrett Jack had 17 points and a team-high seven assists.

"We're in no position to look at any win as anything other than a jewel," coach Monty Williams said. "To come out and win on the road after a back-to-back says a lot about our young guys. We needed it, but we need them all."

Williams' team will try to sustain that momentum against the Bobcats (5-34), owners of the league's the worst record and losers of three in a row.

Charlotte suffered its first two defeats during that skid by single digits before a 122-95 drubbing at Oklahoma City on Saturday.

Looking for a positive, Bobcats coach Paul Silas pointed to a first quarter his team ended trailing by only three points. Charlotte, however, was outscored 30-15 over the next 12.

"I think if our first unit continues to play like that against most teams, that are not this good, then we will be (leading) like we were in the first quarter," Silas said.

Corey Maggette had 21 points and is averaging 23.6 over the past five games, but perhaps the most encouraging sign was D.J. Augustin's play. Augustin had a team-high 22 points, an effort the Bobcats hope is a sign of things to come after he averaged 8.8 on 33.0 percent shooting over his first 10 games back from an inflamed toe.

There's certainly plenty of room for Charlotte to improve on the road. The Bobcats have been outscored by an average of 17.3 points while going 2-19 away from home, and they've dropped their last four by an average of 26.8.

Charlotte, which hasn't faced New Orleans this season, is 1-6 in road games against that franchise and has dropped 10 of the past 13 overall matchups.

The Bobcats averaged 77.0 points in two losses to New Orleans in 2010-11, their fewest against any opponent. They scored 31 second-half points in an 89-73 loss in Louisiana on Dec. 1, 2010.

The Hornets are seeking their third win in five home games after losing 14 of their first 16, and Kaman will try to help by continuing his solid play against Charlotte. The New Orleans big man has averaged 16.0 points and 11.8 rebounds in his last four matchups with the Bobcats.

Augustin, meanwhile, has averaged 15.2 points on 53.6 percent shooting in six all-time meetings with the Hornets. Only his 15.3-point average against Cleveland is better.

Bobcats hold on to beat Hornets 73-71

By BRETT MARTEL
Posted Mar 12 2012 11:51PM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) When the Hornets' Trevor Ariza faked a pass and bolted past Gerald Henderson in the final seconds, Henderson suspected Ariza's lane to the hoop for a potential game-tying score wasn't quite as open as it looked.

Ariza still had to contend with Bobcats rookie Bismack Biyombo, who knew better than to stray too far from the hoop with the game in the balance.

Biyombo went up with both arms extended and blocked Ariza's driving dunk attempt, allowing the Charlotte Bobcats to celebrate a 73-71 victory in the Big Easy on Monday night.

"I just knew Bismack was going to be there," Henderson said after a matchup of two of the NBA's worst teams produced a thrilling finish. "I didn't know if they were going to call a foul or not, but I knew he was going to go up and get the ball."

Henderson scored 15 points and Kemba Walker added 14, including 10 during a decisive 22-5 run that spanned from late in the third quarter to midway through the fourth. Biyombo finished with 12 points for Charlotte, which still has the league's worst record at 6-34 but snapped a three-game losing streak thanks to Biyombo's fourth and final block.

Chris Kaman, who was guarded by Biyombo, initially tried to stay far enough from the basket to prevent the 6-foot-9 Biyombo from getting to the hoop in time to help. Biyombo said he knew there was a risk in leaving Kaman open as Ariza neared the basket.

"I had to make a decision and once I saw (Ariza) jumping in the air, I thought, `I can block that shot,"' Biyombo said. "I thought, `Just jump smart and don't foul.' Thank God, we got the victory."

Jarrett Jack had 15 points and nine assists for New Orleans, which has lost five of six in falling to 10-32.

"We came out of halftime going through the motions," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "We should have played better than this.

"When you lose a game like that, you tend to say things you probably need to evaluate before you say them," Williams added. "I don't want to verbalize all the emotions I feel."

Kaman had 12 points and 16 rebounds, while Marco Belinelli and Ariza each scored 12 points for the Hornets.

After trailing most of the game, Charlotte surged in front with a 12-2 run to close the third quarter, hitting 10 of 15 shots.

Walker started the spurt with a 10-foot jumper and added another from 19 feet, along with a layup. Biyombo dunked and Henderson closed the period with a fast-break jam as he was fouled to make it 61-55 heading into the fourth quarter, which Charlotte opened with a 10-3 run with all reserves on the court.

New Orleans suddenly regained the momentum on Al-Farouq Aminu's dunk with 5:41 left. The Hornets scored 11 straight points to close to 71-69.

Trailing 73-71, the Hornets got one last possession with 11 seconds to go to shoot for the tie or win. After Charlotte used up a foul to force an inbound pass with 5.2 seconds remaining, Aminu found Ariza on a curling run with a seemingly open lane to the hoop. Biyombo got there just in time to alter the shot. Kaman desperately tried to snag the rebound for a putback in a crowd of players underneath, but the ball bounced away as time expired.

"Trevor attacks the basket, which is what you should do in that situation," Williams said. "Biyombo just makes a great play."

The Bobcats shot 43 percent (34 of 79) despite going 0 for 12 from 3-point range, with Reggie Williams missing all seven of his attempts from deep. Charlotte also outrebounded New Orleans 47-37.

The game matched two of the three worst teams in the league and some of the statistics reflected that. The Bobcats committed 19 turnovers and the Hornets 17. New Orleans shot 38.5 percent (30 of 78).

Still, both teams appeared to be playing for pride down the stretch, even though at this point losses may do their rebuilding efforts more good by increasing their chances of landing the top overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft lottery.

Notes: All of Charlotte's points in the fourth quarter were scored by reserves. ... The NBA hoped to bill the game as the first in league history in which two Mexico natives played against one another, but veteran Bobcats F Eduardo Najera had his right knee drained and was unable to play against countryman and Hornets F Gustavo Ayon. ... Bobcats starting F Corey Maggette left the game with back spasms after playing 10 minutes and scoring 2 points in the first half.

Notebook: Bobcats 73, Hornets 71

Posted Monday March 12, 2012 11:18PM

By Larry Holder, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Gerald Henderson scored a team-high 15 points, while Kemba Walker added 14 points off the bench as the Charlotte Bobcats defeated the New Orleans Hornets 73-71 on Monday night in the New Orleans Arena. It's a rare win for the Bobcats as they pick up their sixth win of the season.

QUOTABLE: "They're an NBA team. Everybody is going to make their run in the NBA. It didn't help that we weren't scoring and then couldn't score at all. But we made the play in the very end and it feels good to get a win."
--Henderson on the win.

THE STAT: 17. Both the Bobcats and Hornets had 17 turnovers each to make for a sloppy game and a low-scoring game. It's not really a surprise as there's a reason why Charlotte's scoring average is the worst in the NBA, while the Hornets rank 29th in the league in scoring.

TURNING POINT: Charlotte exploded for a 26-point third quarter and it was highlighted by a 10-0 run to end the period as the Bobcats took a 61-55 lead into the fourth quarter. Charlotte tried to do its best to cough away the lead by only scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter, but the Bobcats picked up the rare win.

ROOKIE WATCH: Walker played well, but it was Bobcats center Bismack Biyombo who made the play of the game. The Hornets' Trevor Ariza took the inbound pass with about five seconds left in the game and appeared to have a clear path to the hoop for a game-tying dunk. Biyombo wanted no part of it as he came from the other side of the rim to reject Ariza's dunk attempt with 1.7 seconds left to preserve the win. Biyombo did it offensively as well going 6 of 7 from the floor for 12 points along with seven rebounds.

HOT: Hornets guard Jarrett Jack shot 7 of 12 from the floor to lead New Orleans with 15 points, nine assists, four rebounds and one blocked shot. Jack did also have six turnovers.

NOT: The Bobcats were perfectly imperfect from 3-point land against the Hornets as they missed all 12 3-point attempts. Charlotte amazingly still shot 43 percent overall from the floor.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Despite having his dunk blocked at the end of the game, Ariza had a nice stat line with 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, one blocked shot and only one turnover.

QUOTABLE II: "Jarrett's foul, his offensive foul, stuff like that in a close game, that's hard to swallow. I don't know about plays like that being called down the stretch. I could see if it was a violent move, but I didn't see that. So obviously, I have a different point of view than the referees. But that wasn't the reason why we were in that hole. We came out of halftime going through the motions."
-- Hornets head coach Monty Williams on an offensive foul called on Jack with 31.3 second left in the game on a possession where New Orleans could have tied it or taken a lead.

NOTABLE: Bobcats forward Eduardo Najera and Hornets forward Gustavo Ayon were going to make NBA and Mexican sports history on Monday night as it would have been the first time that two Mexican-born players will face off in an NBA game. But Najera strained his knee during Saturday's loss to Oklahoma City and won't play Monday against the Hornets. ... Williams said he expects Hornets forward Carl Landry to return to action this week, just not Monday night against the Bobcats. It could be just in time to be dealt at the deadline. ... The Hornets will never publicly say this was a good loss, but New Orleans' loss to Charlotte actually helps the Hornets in the race for the worst record in the league held by the Bobcats.

UP NEXT: For the Bobcats, Wednesday @ Houston, Thursday @ Dallas, Saturday vs. Toronto. For the Hornets, Wednesday vs. Lakers, Thursday vs. Washington, Saturday @ New Jersey.

• Bobcats: Diop, Najera
• Hornets: Gordon

• Bobcats: --
• Hornets: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #18 Matt Boland, #78 Scott Bolnick
• Attendance: 15254
• Duration: 1:56