Being at the game to write a recap is a little different than watching on TV. I’m at the game right now at the half, writing a recap for the first portion.
While we kept things close in the first quarter, things began to come unraveled in the 2nd. More than anything, the Spurs can score in the paint at will, and they can hit the 3 ball. Both of these things starting happening in the second, resulting in a 45-57 deficit for the Hornets.
First Half Observations
I keep catching Steve Clifford looking at Gregg Popovich on the sidelines. I don’t know if he’s looking for hints, looking for a weakness, or maybe trying to read Gregg’s poker face. What I first thought were odd substitutions by Pops started to make sense at the 10 minute mark of the 2nd quarter. Our bench players were I. The court with their starters and they were struggling. We’re really going to have to step up the defense in the second half if we stand a chance at winning this game. By the way, at the half, we have been out-assisted 18-8. Keep note of that in the second half. The rest of the recap will be written after I’ve gotten home.
Second Half Observations
So, the second half was NOT at all like the first half. The Hornets came out of the locker room ready to play. I honestly believe that we did pretty much everything right in that second half. Ball movement improved, defensive rotations improved, and the ability to get buckets improved. We were fortunate that every Spurs player was not nailing 3-pointers, which was a fear that I had for the second half. Spurs hit 8 3-pointers to our 4. Remember the first half number I told you to remember? 8 assists versus 18? Well, the game ended with the Hornets having 15. The Spurs had 17. They have excellent ball movement and countless players that can score off of a pass versus needing to dribble around to take a shot.
This is a recap where I’m not going to dwell on the details. Considering we played the defending champion Spurs, I’m OK with a loss by 5. I think we were resilient and we did a great job overall. We played the kind of basketball that would give is wins against lesser teams.
Points to Ponder:
Lance has a ton of rust. He had 8 points on 3-8 shooting and his dribbling looked as sloppy as ever. He held on to the ball too long in some possessions, which did not net good results. 1st game back, so I cut him some slack, but he better start showing all of is something real soon.
No Gary Neal. I was almost certain that we would have seen Gary Neal against a former team of his. We didn’t, and I’m still speculating what his future may be with the team. I didn’t buy into him being on the cover of the game program last night, printed up to cover last night’s game and the Pacers game on Saturday. I still think he could be on the trade block.
Bismack FREAKIN’ Biyombo!
2 double-doubles in a row, and I love it. 12 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks. They were great blocks too. Also, it wasn’t like we were playing a bad team either. I always have said that Biz needed 4 years to get in gear in the NBA. We’re in year 4 and we’re seeing it. The team better be certain to pick up his qualifying offer. By the way, anyone that wants to hate on his air-balled free throw, back off. It happens. He’s our rim-defender and rebounder. Scoring isn’t priority 1, but guess what; he’ll continue to improve at it. I’m proud of you Biz.
Let’s get a win Saturday versus the Pacers and get another win streak going. Time to make a strong home stand…and hopefully, unlike last night, we’ll hear more fans for the Hornets than we do the other team.
Let’s Go Hornets!
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