New Orleans Hornets Suffer 54-Point Blowout at the Hands of the Orlando Magic
Today was not a good day to be a New Orleans sports fan, as both the Big Easy’s teams lost in surprising fashion. The Saints, the NFL’s defending Super Bowl champs who last year blew by teams, are struggling to get their wins and lost today to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Hornets also lost today, against the Orlando Magic by an eye popping, “let me stick my head in the sand”, 54 points!
I know it’s still the preseason, but this astonishing blowout provides the Hornets with an early reality check, so the fact that this loss came now rather than later is a blessing in disguise. The New Orleans Hornets chemistry was not at all in sync, including both the starters and the bench, and that is an understatement, to say the least.
One of the team’s leaders, David West, did not play due to a sprained right wrist. The other leader, Chris Paul, had a mediocre game by his standards, contributing 10 assists and seven points on 3-for-7 shooting in 27 minutes. Trevor Ariza was 2-for-12 shooting, Marcus Thornton was 2-for-13, and Joe Alexander was 1-for-7.
The rest of the Hornets steadily declined from there with the exceptions of Emeka Okafor (13 points and eight rebounds) and D.J. Strawberry (11 points on 3-for-8 shooting). The lone star Hornet today was Peja Stojakovic (20 points on 7-for-10 shooting).
Not to take any credit away from the Magic; they came out with guns blazing, making 70 percent of their shots during the first three quarters on the way to winning their 17th consecutive preseason game dating back to 2008. The Magic could have beaten any team in the league with those stats, and yet, the Hornets could have lost to any team in the league with their very poor performance.
The Magic should not be blamed for this roasting since they went deep into their bench using guys that knew they were on display. They simply played the kind of ball that would have beaten any team. It was "lucky" meeting "unlucky", and unfortunately the good guys were on the receiving end. .
To be fair to the Hornets, we have to understand that the team has been torn down and rebuilt almost from scratch, and this includes a new rookie coach in Monty Williams. It will take a little time for the important chemistry of this team to take hold and for the players to grasp Williams’s defensive message clearly so that execution becomes second nature.
It’s certainly too early to press the panic button. The greatest assets the team has right now is its intelligent coach Monty Williams, leaders in Chris Paul and David West, combined with Trevor Ariza’s championship experience. All in all, a great place to start.
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Stats source: Foxsports.com
