Remember the date--February 27, 2011. Remember the game.
The New Orleans Hornets blew a 15-point halftime lead at home and lost a key division game to the Houston Rockets 91-89 before a lively, Mardi Gras spirit-filled but disappointed crowd of 17,466 fans at New Orleans Arena, the eighth sellout of the season for the Hornets.
After closing the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 27-21 lead, the Hornets went on an amazing 18-0 second quarter run, expanding the lead to 16 points at 49-33 before settling for a seemingly comfortable 55-40 lead at the break. The Hornets led 58-42 following a Willie Green three-pointer early in the third quarter.
Perhaps Hornets players felt too comfortable. They played like it in the second half, scoring an anemic 36 points combined in the third and fourth quarters. Houston adjusted defensively. They got to the free throw line. They stole one.
It never should have happened. The Rockets were playing the second of back-to-back games. New Orleans was rested and at home. The Rockets were late getting to the arena. They were stuck in parade traffic trying to make the trip from their hotel, which was on the parade route. The Hornets had control of the game. They failed to close.
Even after a shaky third quarter, the Hornets still carried a solid 72-62 lead into the final stanza.
After Carl Landry hit a jumper to put New Orleans up 78-68 in the final period, Houston took over.
The Rockets went on an 11-0 run to take an 80-78 lead on a jumper by Brad Miller with 6:58 to play following three consecutive three-pointers. New Orleans would not lead again.
It wasn't as though the Hornets didn't have chances. Emeka Okafor tied the game 80-80 with a jump-hook. Willie Green converted a three-point play to make it 85-85 with 2:21 to play.
Following a timeout, Houston ran a beautiful set play with Miller finding Chuck Hayes, who converted a layup and one to put the Rockets up 88-85 with 2:08 to play. David West cut the deficit to 88-87 with 1:45 to play and the Hornets got a stop but West turned it over on a pass that got away.
After getting another stop, Ariza found himself open in the left corner but he shot an air ball and Paul fouled Martin with 18 seconds left.
Martin made both free throws to make it 90-87 with 18.4 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Paul missed an eight-footer but Okafor rebounded. He got the ball to Green, who missed a three-pointer. Courtney Lee rebounded, was fouled and made one of two free throws with 5.3 seconds left to put the game away.
A big part of the failure by New Orleans was the performance of Paul. The Western Conference All-Star starter went just 2-for-12 in the game, scoring just six points.
At halftime, Paul had six points and nine assists. He went scoreless in the second half, going 0-for-7 from the field and had just three assists in one of his worst performances of the season.
While Paul is still an brilliant facilitator, the Hornets need him to score more. They simply do not have enough firepower otherwise.
In his second game as a Hornet, Carl Landry played well, scoring 13 points and pulling down three rebounds in 20 minutes. Landry plays with great energy. He was a good acquisition.
David West, who always plays well against Houston, did so again. West finished with a team-high 22 points and nine rebounds and the Hornets were a plus 15 while he was on the floor.
Marco Belinelli played extremely well off the bench. He went 5-of-6 for 12 points in the first half, playing nearly 10 minutes.
Belinelli made another jumper early in the fourth quarter to make it 14 points but inexplicably, he played just five minutes in the second half when the Hornets simply could not score.
Paul's backup, Jarrett Jack, was ineffective, going just 1-of-4 from the field for five points and struggling on the defensive end. Still, he played 20 minutes, including several at the two-guard spot.
Trevor Ariza had 12 points and seven rebounds while Willie Green finished with 10 points. While he scored just six points, Okafor had 14 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
After shooting 56 percent (23-of-41) in the first half, New Orleans made just 14-of-37 (38%) in the second half.
Houston out-rebounded New Orleans 41-37 and overcame 16 turnovers to win. The Rockets outscored the Hornets 18-11 at the free throw line, led by Kevin Martin.
The Houston star scored 33 points, including a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line. It was Martin's third consecutive game scoring 30 or more points. Nick Lowry was the only other Houston player in double figures with 18 points. The Rockets made 11 three-pointers, outscoring New Orleans 33-12 from three-point range. The Hornets are 1-11 when allowing at least 10 three-pointers to an opponent.
The win was the fourth straight for the Rockets, now 30-31. It was their fifth consecutive road victory. The Hornets fell to 35-26 with the bitter defeat. The loss ended a five-game win streak for the Hornets against Houston.
New Orleans faces a tough stretch of five consecutive road games in eight days, beginning in Toronto Tuesday night. Games at New York against the rejuvenated Kincks, who beat the Heat Sunday, along with trips to Memphis, Cleveland and touch Chicago will follow. It is their longest road trip of the season. They will not return home until March 9 to face Dallas.
At halftime, the Hornets had a mini parade on the floor, throwing out beads and items to excited fans. The Hornets wore their awful looking Mardi Gras uniforms. It was a celebration. Apparently, that's where the celebration ended for the team as well, as they failed to fire in the second half while the Rockets rose to victory. This was one to remember for the wrong reasons.
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