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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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Saints mania may have taken over this city but across the street from the Super Dome, the New Orleans Hornets are still hard on the grind, fighting for quality wins and to keep themselves in contention for a playoff spot. Tonight, they came up big with a 93-85 win against a Celtics teams playing suddenly without their usual championship swagger. More importantly, Darren Collison continues to shine in place of Chris Paul, putting up 25 points and nine assists (though he did commit 10 turnovers).

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“[Chris Paul] yelled at me even after a win, but it just shows how much he cares,” Collison said. “I was trying to be comfortable and manage the game like he does.”

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The Hornets continue to peak, dip and valley. After going 12-5 in the month of January, the Hornets opened February losing four of their first five games. After a 123-117 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday, it seemed as if this team was about to fall apart with the Celtics coming into town. Instead, the Hornets responded by coming back from a 12-point deficit and limiting Boston to just 30 second-half points (including a paltry 12 in the third quarter).

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“The defense in the third and fourth quarter put us in the position for us to win,” head coach Jeff Bower said. “We did open up the floor with some transition opportunities and a lot of stops and steals which helped us a bunch.”

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The Hornets, though, still have much to accomplish. With the All-Star break coming up, this is a team looking at at the final stretch of the season a game and a half out of the playoffs. But with six teams at the bottom of the Western Conference standings separated by less than four games, nothing is certain. What the Hornets need is for Collison to continue to put up consistently good numbers, David West (who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds) to continue as a steadying force for the offense and, lest we forget, Chris Paul to recover 100% from his knee injury.

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But as good as tonight’s win was for a team struggling to maintain consistent results, it was pretty ugly at times. Both teams combined for 47 turnovers and New Orleans shot a horrendous 27.8% in the second quarter. The Hornets, though, are far from a perfect team. But their focus is to win games by any means necessary and they were able to do that tonight.

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“We hustled and got a lot of loose balls,” forward Darius Songalia said. “I’m sure it wasn’t pretty but we grinding it out and did what we had to do.”

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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After coming back from a 15-point third quarter deficit and having the lead with less than 10 seconds left in the game, the Hornets seemed poised to ride their home-court magic to another improbable victory. Then one bad David West pass and one bad Darren Collison turnover spelled doom for Bees as they fell 108-106 in overtime to the resurgent Chicago Bulls.

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“That one’s on me,” the rookie Collison said after his turnover sealed the Hornets fate tonight. “I let my team down. Definitely going to lose sleep on that play.”

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Granted, Collison’s turnover came at the worst possible time and prevented the Hornets from even attempting a game-tying shot, but there were many other factors that contributed to this loss. For one, the Hornets could have called a timeout before Collison dribbled wildly into the opposing defense. Secondly, New Orleans could have come out of the halftime break a little stronger than they did before giving up a 15-point lead. Most importantly, the Hornets would’ve won if they weren’t so sloppy.

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“We weren’t real sharp in the first three quarters,” head coach Jeff Bower said.

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If there’s any positive to take from this game is that the Hornets shot just 39.4% the entire game and were outscored 60-36 in the paint, yet still only lost by two points. This on a night where the Hornets PA system did everything it its power to channel the Saints’ good vibes by playing the Ying Yang Twins’ “Get Crunked” and showing black and gold-clad fans as often as possible in the fourth quarter.

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“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win,” Chris Paul said. “We made a few mistakes there at the end.”

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No, the Hornets are most definitely not the Saints right now and, yes, they have a long way to go to before becoming a team that can be relied on to consistently win these types of games. But what have the Hornets done to have their fans expect anything else this season? At 25-21, New Orleans is just good enough to compete for the eighth and final playoff seed in the West. Against a 23-22 Bulls team doing just the same in the Eastern Conference, the Hornets came up short. The question is whether this is a reflection of the Hornets season as a whole, or just a bump in the road on this teams’ road to finding itself in the winner’s circle.

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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It’s still early, but considering how the Hornets started the season, it’s hard not to feel good about this team right now. The Hornets made 12-of-17 three-point attemps and snapped the Hawks’ seven-game win streak in their 96–88 win tonight at the Hive.

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“It gives you an opportunity to experience success while you learn and grow,” Jeff Bower said of his team’s recent three-game win streak. “It’s the easiest time for me to be more demanding.”

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It’s the old sports axiom: winning solves everything. Had the Hornets lost one or two of their last three games at home, there may have been more turmoil in the locker room, definitely more second-guessing in the media and a whole lot of conflict surrounding this entire team. But instead, the Hornets beat the best team in the West (Phoenix) and the best team in the NBA (Atlanta) and Bower can continue to harp on the importance of hustle and energy on both sides of the floor.

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Tonight, the Hornets had it all once again. Four players scored in double figures with the two rookies, Marcus Thornton and Darren Collision, leading the way with 22 and 21 points, respectively. Peja Stojakovic ignited the scoring early with four three-pointers in the first quarter alone (he finished five-of-twelve from the floor with 17 points) while Emeka Okafor and David West imposed their will in the low post, combining for 20 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

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“Our confidence is rising every game,” Thornton said. “The players believe in each other, and when we have that chemistry with each other, everything is good.”

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Chemistry is more than just good ball movement and floor energy. Chemistry is also Stojakovic cat-calling a towel-clad Thorton in the locker room while the rookie was waiting to do a post-game interview. Chemistry is all smiles on the bench from the opening tip-off to the final horn. Chemistry is the rookies sporting Tinkerbell and Little Mermaid suitcases after every game (more on that later, I promise). Yes, it may be early, but that doesn’t mean this team isn’t on the verge of something very good.

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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In the course of eight days, the Hornets have gone from being humiliated by the Suns by 20 points in Phoenix to winning 110-103 with a brand new coach and scheme in New Orleans. Energy. Motion. Fluidity. It’s been a long time since those words consistently described the Hornets offense, but they all applied during tonight’s thrilling victory.

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“Coach wants us to play with confidence,” said guard Devin Brown, who finished with 19 points. “We’re going to spread the floor. We’re going to get the ball to Peja. We’re going to get the ball to David West. If we can do that, it’s goign to show how deep our bench really is.”

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Five players scored in double figures for the Hornets while all but one player that saw the floor tonight (Bobby Brown) registered four or more rebounds. If nothing else, the Hornets have proven how effective they can be against one of the NBA’s best teams by simply moving the ball, spreading the court and hustling for offensive rebounds. Telling stat: New Orleans threw up 97 shots tonight. While they missed 58 times, they had 25 offensive rebounds, extending possessions and keeping Phoenix from unleashing their high-powered transition offense.

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“The number of field goal attempts [was important], regardless of how many went in” coach Jeff Bower said. “Just to have that many attempts gives you a chance.”

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Whether it be the usual suspects (Peja Stojakovic, 25 points; Okafor, 13 points and 12 rebounds) or the rookies (Darren Collison, 15 points; Marcus Thornton, 19 points) all sorts of players shared the offensive burden. And while Thornton was the sub of the game (and a fan favorite after attending LSU) it was the speedy Collison stood out. He was a blur all over the court, directing the offense, shadowing Steve Nash, grabbing rebounds and absolutely taking over in the final stretch, going 3-of-4 for 11 points and making all his free throws all in the fourth quarter. (UPDATE: Forgot to mention, Collison was so comfortable with the ball in his hands in the final minute that if you look at the tape of him before making his final layup, he’s  calling off Devin Brown and running the offense.) In terms of “blowing up”, Collison’s career is a notch or two down from Pompeii.

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“His decision making, his ability to creat shots fo our other players, bot interior and in the perimeter [was excellent],” Bower said.

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Just over a week ago, this franchise seemed adrift in all the wrong directions. Now there seems to be nothing you could look at negatively. The season, though, is not even 20 games old and a lot can happen between now and Febuary when the playoff races heat up. But in terms of encouraging signs — the way players really seemed to enjoy themselves, the noise coming from the crowd, the win over an early-season conference powerhouse -– the Hornets have many to pick from.

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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The Los Angeles Clippers are not a very good basketball team. Part of what makes good teams good is the ability to consistently beat the not-very-good teams. The Hornets have already done away with the Clippers twice this season and, if the Hornets can continue to beat teams like them (and not, say, lose to the friggin’ Knicks) then they may not be in as bad shape as many have feared. But for all the good vibes that come with their 110-102 victory, the Hornets realize that this game was just a small step.

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“There were steps and progress made in the game,” coach Jeff Bower said. “We didn’t want to get into a half-court stationary type game and we were able to do that thorugh most of the game. Some stretches we were able to get great ball movement as a result of it. The two things go together and I am very please with our progress.”

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Progress is the Hornets’ 51-36 rebound advantage despite the Clippers having more height in the post. Progress is rookies Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton scoring 12 points apiece with all four Hornets guards combining for 50 on the night. Progress is Chris Paul and James Posey presenting Bower with a game ball in the locker room after the game after a week in which the Hornets’ point guard fumed about Byron Scott being fired. Progress is once again believing in their system.

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“We came out with a different mindset, with a high-level of concentration and a different focus,” David West said. “There’s some getting used to different terminology, but the things that we are doing are going to give us an opportunity to win.”

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Jeff Bower’s first win as a coach came on the shoulders of a strong effort by Hornets players on both ends of the floor and effecient ball movement on offense. After a season full of frustration with stagnant play and sluggish offensive possesions, Bower and his players may have given us a glimpse of what the Hornets may soon become.

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“When we come out aggressive, rebound and move the ball, we’re a prety good basketball team,” Devin Brown said. “It’s going to be a slow process. We just have to come every day, listen to what the coaches are telling us, execute while we are out there and we wil go from there.”

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Next step: Winning against teams not named the Clippers.

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