NBA Recap: New Orleans Hornets beat the Philadelphia 76ers 84-77
The New Orleans Hornets beat the Philadelphia 76ers by 84-77 on Monday night at New Orleans Arena. A cluster of 13,433 home fans witnessed the third consecutive win for the Hornets.
David West was able to provide the difference on the night with 17 points, 3 assists, and 8 rebounds. He was one of the few New Orleans players who had a solid night offensively. Chris Paul got some decent minutes and responded
with 15 points. He said after the game.
"I think a lot of people talk about how we don't score a lot of points and things like that. We talk about it as a team and with coach. I think what happens is that we defend teams late into the shot clock so that takes away a
lot of possessions. As long as we continue to get stops and get out in transition, that's when we're at our best."
Elton Brand led the Philadelphia with team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds. Andres Nocioni ended with 13 points for Sixers while Jrue Holiday and Marreese Speights contributed 12 points apiece in the defeat.
The Sixers were flat in the opening few minutes and also had very little fire in their back court. However they soon turned it up and started getting stops and went to the second quarter, trailing by only three at 26-23.
76ers controlled the game early in the second quarter and led by as many as nine points when Jrue Holiday made a turnaround jumper to make 40-31. West came off the bench and scored six points as the Hornets made a 12-0 run to finish
the half at 43-40.
"The end of the second quarter really hurt us because we had the game under control," "They're playing well and they're a good team, but it was still a disappointing loss," Brand said.
Leading by 3 points, New Orleans then scored the first five points of the second half to extend the run to 17-0 and take a 48-40 lead. The Hornets remained hot throughout the third quarter. Jason Smith's 17-foot jumper broadened
the New Orleans lead to 68-58, heading into the final quarter.
The Hornets lost their shooting touch at the start of the fourth quarter. The Sixers took advantage and closed the gap with a 9-0 run that included four points from Brand. However, Paul broke the game late in the fourth quarter
with his eye-catching driving lay-up shot. The Sixers never threatened the Hornets after that and succumbed to a seven point loss.
Tags: