Scott went off during shoot around prior to his team taking on the Dallas Mavericks. “We’re not a team. We’re just a collection of individual basketball players right now,” Scott told his players Wednesday. “I’m pretty good at holding things in for a little while, but when I let ‘em out, I kind of let ‘em out. I kind of let it out this morning.”
13,566 and a national television audience saw the Hornets respond with a solid effort as Chris Paul’s 39 points and Peja Stojakovic’s clutch shooting lead the Hornets to a 114-107 overtime victory over division foe Dallas. Stojakovic hit a three with 6.7 seconds to play to tie the game up at 97. Paul then scored six points in overtime to pull off the win. “Coach challenged us before the game,” said Paul who also finished with 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. ”Tonight we weathered the storm. We showed a lot of perseverance.”
It was a team win, as Paul got the help he’s been seeking in recent games. Forward David West had 25 points including a couple of buckets in overtime. Center Emeka Okafor had another solid night scoring 11 points, collecting 13 rebounds and blocking 3 shots. The stat line was good enough for Okafor’s fourth double-double in five games. Guard Bobby Brown contributed mightily off the bench with 18 points playing 30 minutes.
The Win improves the Hornets to 2-3 on the season and still have work to do in order to be the kind of team fans should have two seasons after reaching the second round of the playoffs. Paul it appears has decided he will take the lead scoring wise this season. He needs to. Until forward Julian Wright, who had no points against Dallas in 18 minutes of action, comes alive, and the team gets consistent production from the shooting guard spot, Morris Peterson had 8 points in 29 minutes of play, Paul will have to provide points.
Wednesday’s game was the first of six games against playoff teams in 11 days. Friday the Toronto Raptors come to town, before the Hornets hit the West Coast to face the Lakers, Clippers and Trailblazers.
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