NEW ORLEANS – Chris Paul walked out of the Hornets locker room, dressed in a black vest, plaid shirt and a New York Yankees hat.
He also had a walking boot on his left ankle and two crutches as accessories.
Not only did New Orleans fall to Portland 86-78, the Hornets lost Paul – their All-Star point guard – for at least the next game, if not much longer.
“Not a clue,” Paul said in the block-walled corridor while leaning on his crutches. “I know I’m out tomorrow. That’s the worst. When it happened, I think that’s the thing that frustrated me the most. That’s why I could get up off the court.
“I hate to watch. I hate to watch. And I hate to know I’m going to miss a game.”
He’s not the only one who hates having him off the floor and watching.
Friday night marked Jeff Bower’s debut as head coach, 36 hours after New Orleans fired Byron Scott from the post. It couldn't create a tougher beginning for a first-time head coach.
“It becomes a very difficult thing from a standpoint of he’s a top talent in the league,” Bower said, “a creator of a large percentage of offensive opportunities. It’s going to put a premium on our ability to execute if we have to play without him.”
The point guard, who was very close with Scott, wouldn’t blame his performance on not having Scott on the bench.
He finished with only three points, but had eight assists and five rebounds. He left the game with 40.3 seconds left in the third quarter, carried off the floor by teammates Darius Songaila and Sean Marks.
“Not whatsoever,” said Paul, who wasn’t sure if he’d travel to Atlanta for Saturday night’s game against the Hawks. “That’s what I said. At the end of the day, the game is basketball. We’re going to play.”
Just like in the other games New Orleans lost this season, the Hornets (3-7) couldn’t handle a full 48 minutes against their opponent. Portland (7-3) outrebounded New Orleans 60-40 and scored 22 second-chance points.
“That is the statistic of the game,” Bower said. “Their offensive rebounding and second-chance points. If you consider the range of the game, 86 points and 2 were second-chance points. Obviously that was a factor.”
But for a team that had shown very little fight through the first nine games, the effort was there against the Trail Blazers.
Rookies Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison had career games, coming up with 38 combined points. The five starters scored only 34 points for New Orleans.
“Just felt like I had to go out and contribute early,” said Thornton, who finished with a game-high 20 point on 8 of 15 shooting. “Things got going and my teammates kept finding me and I just tried to deliver the rest of the game.”
“We have the legs to do it,” said Collison, who had 18 points, when asked about the energy he and Thornton delivered. “We’re young. That’s all we can provide for the team – energy. We’ve got enough veterans that can do everything else as far as doing the little things right.”
After leading for much of the first half, the Hornets trailed at the break 37-33. By the 10:41 mark of the third quarter, New Orleans trailed by 11 and the length of time left in the game only made matters worse.
First, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge hit a hook shot, then Steve Blake drained a 3-pointer. Andre Miller’s back-to-back layups gave Portland a 46-33 lead and the Hornets never got themselves back in the game.
Aldridge scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Portland, while Brandon Roy had 15 points, and Miller added 12.
West was the only other Hornet to score in double figures, netting 15 to go along with 10 rebounds. New Orleans shot 36.7 percent, including only 21.4 percent from 3-point range.
“Being able to get out of the pace we’ve been playing and finding our rhythm offensively,” forward David West said about the obstacles New Orleans faces. “We haven’t had (offensive rhythm) all year.”
But Bower saw enough Friday night to believe the team is heading in the right direction despite the loss, which was the closest defeat of the season.
“I was really pleased with the way we battled and the way we guarded and competed against them,” Bower said. “Those are things we were really hoping for. The things we spent time on today in shoot around we actually did very well.”
