NBA Recap: New Orleans Hornets rattle the Memphis Grizzlies 98-91
On Friday night at the FedEx Forum, the New Orleans Hornets entered the court hoping that their veteran swingman Chris Paul ends his wretched spell that has seen him struggle with his mid range jumpers.
Chris Paul responded big time.
With a tad more than three minutes into the game, Paul banged in a jumper to start his night and by the time he finished the game with two shots from the charity stripe, the All-Star guard had already unleashed a vicious assault
of 23 points, 14 assists, five rebounds and 2 steals, leading his team to a 98-91 win over the muscular Memphis Grizzlies.
Both teams maintained parity in the first three quarters of the game as the scores remained tied in all three segments. This led the game to the decisive fourth frame.
In the fourth part, Willie Green came alive and scored three successive baskets to give the Hornets a 79-74 edge. He continued his aggression over the next several minutes to keep Hornets ahead of Grizzlies. With 2:51 minutes to
go, Jarrett Jack hit a three-pointer and stretched the lead to 93-85.
The Hornets weren't able to put any points on board in the next two-plus minutes though and this allowed Grizzlies to bridge the gap 93-91, capped by a Zach Randolph's three-point play with 57 seconds to go.
Paul missed a jumper on Hornet’s next possession. He didn’t have to pay much for that as Marc Gasol of Grizzlies also let his team down at the other end of the court. Gasol got a chance to tie the game in the last ditch moments
of the game, but he missed both free throws. That proved to be the turning point of the game, as the Hornets secured the victory 98-91 by making 5-of-6 charity shots in the final 32.1 seconds.
Hornets outscored the Grizzlies, 26-19 in the final quarter. With this victory, the Hornets not only shattered their three game losing streak but also ruined Grizzlies five game home winning stretch. However, they had a huge injury
blow. After leaving Trevor Ariza out because of injury, Hornets lost David West in first quarter.
Hornets coach Monty Williams said before the game that Paul is going through a bad patch and he didn’t deserve so much criticism, and he shouldn’t be blamed for the mistakes he didn’t do. "Obviously, he hasn't played up to his
standards," Williams said, before adding: "Sooner or later - more likely sooner - he's going to break out, and hopefully, everybody can retract all that was said about him."
Green scored made 15 points out which 13 came in the final part when it was required the most. His teammate Jarrett Jackson added 19 points. Williams criticized his team's poor effort and lack lusting performance after Wednesday
night's 107-88 loss to the New York Knicks. The scolding seems to have an effect.
Randolph had 20 points, 11 boards, three assists and two steals for the Grizzlies. He said "I don't think we came out with a lot of energy from the start and that's why we lost the game".
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