NEW ORLEANS -- Long after his teammates had showered, changed and walked out of the locker room Friday night, Emeka Okafor emerged from the training room fresh from a post-game stretching session.
He might have been a little late to meet with the media, but he had perfect timing in his introduction to the New Orleans viewing public.
Okafor blocked two shots in the final 10 seconds after dunking through the go-ahead points seconds earlier and the Hornets won their home opener 97-92 in front of more than 17,000 fans at the New Orleans Arena.
“It just came down to crunch time and I had to make a play,” said Okafor, who finished with his second double-double in as many games, recording 11 points and 13 rebounds. He also had four blocked shots, none more important than the final two.
But Okafor didn’t do it alone. In customary Chris Paul fashion, the All-Star point guard picked his game up down the stretch, doing what he had to do to keep the Hornets (1-1) in a game the Kings (0-2) weren’t going give away easily.
With the game tied 84-84, Paul went on a vintage CP3 run, scoring 11 of the final 13 points for the Hornets. Only Okafor’s put-back broke up the run by Paul, who finished with 31 points, but only four assists.
“I just tried to be a little bit more aggressive,” Paul said. “When the game gets tight like that, you’ve got to do that. You’ve got to force the issue. Put it in our hands. Be aggressive and force the refs to make calls.”
With the game tied at 91, Paul stepped into a Kings player, and then stepped back, tossing up a shot. It bounced off the rim for Okafor to drill through the cylinder, sending the home crowd into a frenzy with 43.9 seconds to play.
A foul by David West on the other put Sacramento’s Jon Brockman on the line. He made the first free throw, but clanked the second. The Kings’ Jason Thompson rebounded and called a timeout.
But Okafor blocked Tyreke Evans’ shot in the lane and Kevin Martin fouled Paul, who made both free throws with 5.9 seconds play, staking the Hornets to a 95-92 lead.
Again Sacramento called timeout and again it failed to materialize into something positive thanks to Okafor, who blocked Martin’s 3-point try from the corner.
“That last play, when we were up three and Kevin Martin caught in the corner, it was an unbelievable block by Emeka because I told him I was going to stay with Kevin but he actually lost me for a second,” Paul said. “Emeka helped me.”
Said Martin, “It’s good to have a 7-footer with an 8-foot wingspan. He played well down the stretch. We learned some things tonight.”
Evans led the Kings with 22 points and Martin had 20.
Though a win is a win, New Orleans Head Coach Byron Scott said after the game there was plenty to worry about, namely rebounding.
Sacramento outrebounded the Hornets 51-43, including 21 offensive boards.
“That’s not good enough,” he said, “to allow a team to come in here and dominate us on the glass, especially on that end of the floor. That’s not good enough.
“We expect to be a good basketball team. One of the things we talked about doing is being a good defensive rebounding team. Tonight we weren’t.”
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