What Hornets Fans Said

AtTheHive.com ("Hornets 99, Spurs 90: Third Quarter Dominance Leads to 3-0 Start"):

The Hornets won at the AT&T Center for just the third time since 2002 with another convincing defensive performance. Chris Paul was also involved.

As the offense went from abysmal to good to stellar, the defense steadily tightened. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around (when the Hornets' offense dipped and the defense struggled to contain a Spurs squad fueled by desperation), the lead was insurmountable. We've seen double digit leads vanish in three consecutive games now, but on the flip side, we've eventually managed to protect each one successfully.

Tim Duncan looked absolutely terrible tonight, and Emeka Okafor certainly deserves a lot of credit. While Duncan was able to back Okafor down on occasion, Mek did a terrific job denying the face-up game. Okafor was only credited with one official blocked shot, but he challenged or altered almost every single Duncan attempt.

I don't think I've ever seen Duncan so rattled. He's still one of the game's best, and he'll undoubtedly post another stellar year. But for one night, he looked like a lost rookie. And it surely wasn't all Okafor's doing. The defining moment came in the fourth quarter when Duncan caught a pass underneath the hoop with no Hornet nearby. All he had to do was flip it in, or if he wanted to get fancy, dunk it. Instead, he traveled. Without the slightest possible reason to move at all, he traveled!

Hornets247.com ("The Hornets beat the Spurs"):

Tonight the Hornets built a sixteen point lead and then held off a late rally by the Spurs, including a crushing double cross-over by Paul to seal the win.

The Spurs did their usual strategy to try and beat the Hornets (or Suns) - stay home on the wings and make the point guard unable to generate easy open looks for his teammates. It didn’t work out this time as the Hornets were able to find other scoring opportunities, and their defense was good enough for several long stretches that the team pulled out the wind.

Big Easy Buzz Blog:

It was over when Chris Paul’s gorgeous crossover dribble and drive around Spurs defender George Hill led to a floating layup and a 97-90 Hornets edge with 27 seconds remaining. New Orleans won for the first time in San Antonio since the division-winning club of 2007-08 routed the Spurs at AT&T Center.

The Hornets struggled mightily on the road for much of last season, making Saturday’s win at the Spurs arguably their best away from New Orleans since 2008-09 or longer.

SwarmAndSting.com ("New Orleans Hornets Spur San Antonio For The Win"):

After a poor start Chris Paul did his thing working the Spurs over for 25 points. San Antonio does a good job of taking away the passes Paul usually finds, and force him to be a scorer, he was happy to do just that.

David West is off to a great start for the year. He’s hitting most of his jumpers, playing tough inside and more importantly doing a good job on defense. Towards the end of the 4th the Spurs showed the true sign of respect, doubling (or attempting to) West in the post.

Other than the 4th quarter I have to say that the Spurs crowd was rather quiet, what’s up with that?