Peja Stojakovic Returns for Win No. 8 for New Orleans Hornets

New Orleans continued its path of perfection with Saturday's 107-87 win over Portland, again getting excellent bench play on both sides throughout the game.  But this time, in addition to Jason Smith draining mid-range jumpers, Jerryd Bayless fearlessly hacking and Willie Green making ambitious floaters and threes, small forward and three-point artist Peja Stojakovic gave the Hornets (8-0) his best performance of the season.

The 6'10" Serbian saw 17 minutes against the Blazers (6-5)—his most of 2010.  All seven of his field goals came from beyond the arc, connecting on three and a pair of fouls shots to finish with 11 points.  Perimeter shooting played a key role in the Hornets game plan against Portland’s zone defense, and Peja helped get it done early.

After missing his first two looks, the 12-year veteran got fouled in transition, sank a couple charity shots and proceeded to drain back-to-back bombs, getting the crowd fired up and proclaiming his 33-year-old potential.  The Hornets went just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc until the fourth quarter when he and Marco Belinelli combined for a perfect 4-for-4 from downtown. 

Stojakovic’s age, contract size and one-dimensional offensive role supplanted him in speculative trade rumors this year, notions that weren’t disavowed by his five-game inactivity. And for Peja himself, one of the greats in career shooting averages, including three point (.400) and free throw (.895) percentages, his return on Saturday deviated slightly from previous stints.

Head coach Monty Williams is still perfecting his rotations, but in addition to using Stojakovic in his traditional corner role on offense, Williams utilized his size on defense in the four spot against former Hornet Sean Marks.  Peja has never been known for his defense, but as Williams has reiterated throughout the season, lackluster defending will land you on the bench.

It was clearly an experimental move, and possibly one meant to test the veteran’s defensive grit and leverage what little size he has.  If this kind of rotation continues and he can somehow find a way to box out and board more aggressively, it'd be a huge boost for New Orleans’s stagnant rebounding game.

With Marcus Thornton likely to remain inactive for the next two games against the Dallas Mavericks (6-2), fans would expect the backup three position to be an either-or decision between Stojakovic and Pondexter—a coin toss between veteran/rookie and shooter/slasher. 

But as the last few games have shown, a multitude of rotations are possible if the defensive standard is upheld individually and collectively. And it definitely has been, considering the Bees now lead the league defensively in points allowed (90) and are second in effective field goal defense (.463), which includes a No. 1 ranking against the three-ball.

It seems like all of New Orleans’s victories this year have been predicated of outstanding defense and bench play, but with each game comes subtle personnel developments, and Saturday’s belonged to No. 16.  But the Hornets will need more than subtle shooting from Stojakovic against Dallas, a team that can potentially match or exceed New Orleans’ stellar bench play.

And like every other positive facet of this remarkable start in the Big Easy, it shouldn’t be forecast as an 82-game consistency.  That would be incredibly Miami-esque, a team that has to envy the chemistry this young Hornets squad exhibits. Maybe after a few more weeks like this, they’ll start calling it the Beat Index.