New Orleans Hornets hold off the winless Houston Rockets
Before the game, head coach Monty Williams reminded his players not to take the 0-3 Houston Rockets lightly, and his players responded to his request as the New Orleans Hornets scored a 107-99
win on Wednesday 3 November at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Chris Paul responded to the pep talk with a bang as the all-star point guard racked up 25 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds, while Italian guard Marco Belinelli scored 18 points on
4-for-7 shooting from beyond-the-arc, leading the Hornets to perfect 4-0 start this season, and making the Rockets 0-4.
"We talked about being desperate, as desperate as they are, before the game," Williams said after the game. "Having a sense of urgency and going out there and executing your offense as if
you were 0-3, I think our guys had that mentality tonight."
Emeka Okafor added 15 points and nine rebounds, while all-star power-forward David West had 13 points and nine rebounds. Jason Smith also added 14 points to go with nine boards.
The teams traded leads in the first three quarters and the game was tied heading into the final period, before the Hornets scored four-straight points and picked up their defence to escape
with the thrilling victory.
"If we come out and run our game plan like we did tonight, we have a chance to win every game," said Paul, who also credited their defensive efforts. "Definitely this is the best defensive
team we've had since I've been here."
Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks paced the Rockets with both of them scoring 18 points, while Chinese centre Yao Ming had 15 points in just 21 minutes of playing time, but their impressive performances
were not enough to score their first win of the season.
"We have to learn the good things from the bad things," Yao said on their 0-4 start this season. "We need to figure out where we need to improve. It's not too late to turn the season around."
On the other hand, New Orleans 4-0 start matched their franchise-best, but coach Williams said that it’s too early to celebrate since they still have a long road ahead of them this season.
"It's good to start 4-0, but with 78 more games to go we're not going to be a team that allows our record to dictate how we play," Williams said. "We may raise some eyebrows, but we're not
in this to get excited or raise eyebrows. We want to continue to improve."
Tags: