NEW ORLEANS ― Monday night looked like Sunday or Friday or Wednesday for the Hornets.
Indeed, pick the day of the week and the storyline generally remains the same – fall down big in the third quarter, dispense with buckets of energy coming back and then lose when said energy is lost.
Against San Antonio, the record’s needle remained in the same groove.
San Antonio broke to a 20-point lead in the third, New Orleans battled back to within five points but the deficit was too much to overcome.
The Hornets lost their second straight game and third in the past four as New Orleans allowed San Antonio to escape the Arena with a 106-92 win.
“They had answers and they made plays to keep enough of the cushion to keep the game under control,” Hornets Head Coach Jeff Bower said.
New Orleans (31-30) falls to four games behind Portland for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 21 games to play in the season.
The Hornets lost despite another heroic effort by rookie Marcus Thornton, who scored 30 points in the loss. Thornton did his best to keep the Hornets in the game, pouring in 20 second-half points. The rookie went 12 of 19, including 6 of 7 from behind the arc.
“He was incredible today,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “At the beginning of the game, we said we would prefer him to take shots rather than attack the rim, but he started making every shot possible and attacking the rim, too.”
Defense has been a problem for the Hornets, who have given up an average of 108.4 points in 10 of their past 11 losses. Against San Antonio (32-24), the Hornets allowed the Spurs to shoot 50.6 percent, score 42 points in the paint and get 15 second-chance points.
“Tonight those guys did a great job of when they got in the lane, if somebody was on them, they kicked it out,” Hornets guard Morris Peterson said. “George Hill made a couple of 3’s. Matt Bonner hit some unbelievable shots for them.”
After trailing by as many as 20 points early in the third quarter, the Hornets went on a run that pulled the team to within 78-73 with 23 seconds to go before the fourth and final quarter.
However, Matt Bonner hit a buzzer-beater to end the third. Ginobili followed that up with a 3-pointer to begin the final 12 minutes. After exchanging turnovers, Richard Jefferson hit a long jumper and the Spurs were back up by 12 points again.
New Orleans never got back within 10 points the rest of the game.\
Hill paced the Spurs early, scoring 15 of his 23 points in the first half. He was helped by 22 points and nine boards from Tim Duncan, 13 points from Ginobili off the bench, 18 from Tony Parker and 10 apiece from Bonner and Jefferson.
Emeka Okafor had 18 points for New Orleans, which also got 10 points and 15 assists from Darren Collison, 13 points from David West and 11 from Peja Stojakovic.
Though the Hornets will take Tuesday off after a back-to-back, there’s not much time for the Hornets to gather their thoughts with Memphis coming to the Arena on Wednesday. The Grizzlies sit a half game back of New Orleans in the standings.
The Hornets also play at San Antonio on Friday.
There’s now a sense of urgency with the team.
“We have to play with a sense of urgency,” Peterson said. “We can’t come out in the third quarter and play like we did against Memphis and San Antonio. We’re going to have to find ways to put together 48 minutes because every game is getting bigger and every game is getting more important.”
THIRD QUARTER
Spurs 80-73: New Orleans fell behind by as many as 20 in the quarter as they couldn't make anything fall on offense and didn't defend on defense.
But midway through the quarter, things turned and the Hornets used a 10-0 run to get things back to respectability. New Orleans pulled to as close as 5 points at 78-73 on a David West and-1.
Emeka OKafor leads the Hornets with 16 points and Marcus Thornton has 15. George Hill's 17 leads San Antonio.
SECOND QUARTER
Spurs 58-47: George Hill owned the first quarter for San Antonio. In the second, it was Manu Ginobili, who finished the half with 10 points. He helped San Antonio take control of the game after the Hornets inserted Marcus Thornton.
The New Orleans rookie was instant offense, putting up 10 points and grabbing four rebounds to help the Hornets get back in the game after trailing by 10. He got the game to a 42-42 tie with 5:02 to play. But then the Spurs went on a run - a 12-0 run, to be exact.
San Antonio finished the half with a 16-5 run to close out.
For New Orleans, Emeka Okafor has 11 points and three rebounds; David West and Thornton have 10 points; and Darren Collison has 11 assists.
Hill leads San Antonio with 15 points and Tim Duncan has 11.
FIRST QUARTER
Spurs 31-24: George Hill out of IUPUI caught fire in the first quarter as the Spurs took the lead into the second quarter.
New Orleans played little defense in the quarter, allowing San Antonio to break to a good start, shooting 8 of 9 before the misses started coming. The Spurs ended the equarter 14 of 21 for 66.7 percent while New Orleans was a more pedestrian 10 of 22.
But the Hornets kept it close thanks to Emeka Okafor, who used some fundamental basketball moves against Tim Duncan to score 9 points and grab two rebounds with a block.
New Orleans has assisted on seven of its 10 made shots.
PREGAME
31-29 Hornets projected starters: Darren Collison, Emeka Okafor, Morris Peterson, Peja Stojakovic, David West
33-24 Spurs projected starters: Keith Bogans, Tim Duncan, George Hill, Antonio McDyess, Tony Parker
Notes:
- Half of the Hornets' wins have come against teams that are .500-plus and half have come against teams worse than .500. Eleven of New Orleans' wins, though, have come againts teams that currently in the playoff race and four have come agaisnt division leaders.
- Darren Collison's 35 points Sunday night against Dallas was a career high and punctuated a spectacular February that earned him Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors.
- San Antonio is 2-0 against the Hornets this seasons. The Hornets were last swept by the Spurs during the 2006-07 season.
- New Orleans' 97-90 loss to San Antonio on Jan. 18 snapped a seven-game home winning streak for the Hornets.
- The Hornets' best night this season is Wednesday, when they're 11-5. But on Sunday and Monday, the Hornets are a combined 5-12.
- When Peja Stojakovic doesn't make a 3-pointer or fails to attempt one in a game, New Orleans is 3-7.
