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Phoenix 103 (10–3) | New Orleans 110 (5–8)

Wow, right? How did that happen?

I have to admit, 15 minutes before the game tonight I sat down in my seat at the arena and thought, "Oh yeah, this is a TNT game. Now everyone will get to see the slaughter. Like the Christmas Day Massacre all over again."

And why not? Despite beating the Clip Show the other night, we've been playing some pretty uninspiring ball. Not to mention that the glue that holds this team together is sitting on the sidelines in a (formidable) suit. Take that and throw it out against the team with the best record in the conference and who do you think walks away with the W? Thankfully, no one on the Hornets was buying my sour nancy act.

The Suns scored first, but then Hornets rattled off 15 unanswered points, capping an improbable run that brought the previously listless crowd roaring to their feet. 15 points for the Hornets, 2 for the Western Conference-leading Suns. (I would like to reiterate that CP3 did not play. At all.) Sure, those numbers were unsustainable–Phoenix had to start hitting shots at some point–but the by then, the buzz in the arena was flying. It almost felt like home-court advantage again. Like, dare I say, 2007. More correctly, it was fun in a way that the previous 10 or so games hadn't been.

At any rate, Phoenix closed the gap and even took the lead a few times, but Hornets dominated in a few key areas to seal the deal. For starters, we rebounded like crazy tonight. 56 to 38 was the final tally, but more importantly we finished with a 51% rate on the offensive glass (that would be 25 to 14) which led to a 31 to 13 advantage on second chance points. It probably didn't hurt that we shot high percentages from deep (52%) and the stripe (83%), but it was our aggression on the boards that gave us the real advantage. Oh, that and we finally played like a "team" (Devin Brown passed! Like 5 times!). Byron had run that notion out of the locker room, so it's nice to see it make a return.

Bullets after the jump.

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by Bill Haber - AP

2 days ago: New Orleans Hornets guards Chris Paul, right, and Devin Brown react on the bench in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers in New Orleans, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Paul injured his ankle and is out indefinitely. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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The Jeff Bower era has produced its first win! It feels good to get back in the win column. As terrible as the Hornets have been, the Los Angeles Clippers proved to be the perfect antidote, yet again.

At 4-8, the Hornets aren't looking great right now. Over the next three weeks though, we get six games against Minnesota (2x), Sacramento (2x), New York, and Milwaukee. None will be absolute roll-over games, and Miami, Phoenix, Atlanta, and the Lakers are the other four opponents... but we're really getting a break here. We could potentially go 6-4 over the next 10, without Chris Paul. If the 3-4 week estimates are anywhere near correct, we could get CP back for a December 14th game at Dallas, or roundabouts. As horrible as it is to see him down for an extended period, there may not be a better time, schedule-wise, for the injury.

And hopefully tonight sets the tone for the team to pick up victories against bad teams. It was an ugly game for sure, but plenty of struggling players stepped up. Chief among those was David West; after arguably the worst game of his 7 year career at Atlanta, West responded with 24/10/5 tonight. Impressively, those 24 points came on just 14 shot attempts. He also finished with 6 offensive boards.

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Thanks to Ziller for breaking it here on At the Hive, below.

According to Sam Amick: "A source with knowledge of the situation says the Kings are discussing a trade with New Orleans that would send Kenny Thomas to the Hornets and bring center Emeka Okafor to Sacramento. No deal is imminent and this is merely a discussion between the two sides at this point."

Here's the salary situation, via Sactown Royalty, via ShamSports:

First of all, this isn't a surefire deal for Sacramento. On their end, they have to question Okafor's health a little bit, the length of the contract, the overall money, and Okafor's eventual ceiling (which he's, almost beyond a shadow of a doubt reached). They have to worry about the development of younger guys in Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson with Okafor around. And finally, they have to wonder whether a nearly 9 million expiring can get them something more useful.

From New Orleans perspective? It's basically a straight salary dump, the likes of which the league doesn't see very often. The Hornets slash about 46 million off guaranteed salaries over the next four years. Kenny Thomas hasn't played competitively for multiple seasons now. The sale of Okafor would likely force Hilton Armstrong or Sean Marks into a starting role, effectively ending the Hornets' season.

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More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

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Portland 86 (7–3) | New Orleans 73 (3–7)

Well, that could have gone better.

Sorry I'm so late with the recap. I'm on the road all day, so this one will be short. Then again, most of us probably just want to forget about this game all together, so there's that.

For the Hornets, last night was a game of new coaches, bricked shots, an injury which we shall not reference (lest it become more serious), and a couple of rookies running all over the place. For the Blazers, last night was about bricking shots but still finding a way to win.

By the way, I don't think I can over emphasize the amount of poor shooting we saw in this game. Both teams combined to miss over 100 shots... without factoring in the clangers from the charity stripe. Combined percentage from the field for both teams: 37.3%. Even worse, from deep both teams managed to hit only 5 of 27 shots from deep (which is roughly 18.5%)... Oof.

You know what? This is depressing. Let's just move on to the bullets.

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On the eve of Coach Jeff Bower's first game, I thought I'd wade through previous Hornet coaches and how they did their first time out.

Byron Scott, November 3, 2004 (Game 1): The Hornets lost at home to the Dallas Mavericks by 15. New Orleans actually would not win its first game for another 19 days, on its tenth game of the season at Utah. Oddly enough, New Orleans would only win in Salt Lake City once more over the next five+ years.

Tim Floyd, October 29th, 2003 (Game 1): A little more than a year before Scott got his start, Floyd debuted for the Hornets in an overtime win against the Hawks at home. This iteration of the Hornets would actually win its first three before losing to those same Hawks on the road, five days later.

Paul Silas, March 9th, 1999 (Game 16): The Hornets trounced the Boston Celtics at home by 18, a day after Dave Cowens left the team. Suiting up for Charlotte that day: Brad Miller and Ricky Davis. Silas would last as coach until the end of the '03 season, overseeing one of the more successful eras of Hornet basketball. Silas took over a 4-11 team, leading it to a 22-13 record down the stretch (lockout season).

Dave Cowens, November 2nd, 1996 (Game 1): Cowens took over a 41-41 team from the year before. On his first game, the Hornets swept aside the Toronto Raptors by 11, at the Hive in Charlotte. The team would go on to win 54 games before losing to the eventual champion Michael Jordans in the first round.

Allan Bristow, November 1st, 1991 (Game 1): This one's well before my time; Bristow's Hornets lost the season's first game to the Boston Celtics on the road, by 3. The leading scorer for the Celtics? Larry Bird.

Gene Littles, January 31st, 1990 (Game 41): I don't remember much about Littles other than that his was among the first basketball cards I ever owned. The Littles era started stunningly poorly- a 34 point loss at the Spurs, the sixth in a 9 game losing streak.

Dick Harter, November 4th, 1988 (Game 1): And of course, Dick Harter oversaw the inaugural game of the franchise, a 40 point loss at the Hive. That Hornets team would find the perfect antidote a few days later, beating the Clippers by double digits. Some things never change.

So basically, coaches have gone 3 of 7 in their first games with the Hornets. This is the part where, if I were a commentator, I would tell you that the Hornets have a 3 in 7 shot of winning their game tomorrow. You know, historical evidence and what not. Statistics suck, but 20 year old empirical evidence? Ooh, give me some of that.

Seriously though, who knows what's on tap. Maybe the change lights a fire under our guys, and they go out and beat a very good team. Maybe we lose by 59.

Whatever happens, Jeff Bower becomes the eighth coach in Hornets' history tomorrow, and it's sort of exciting.

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

From one mess to the next.

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My fandom in various sports is highly diverse and sort of crazy. I'm a New York Yankees fan in baseball, a Denver Broncos fan in football, a fan of the New Orleans Hornets in basketball and a general fan of the Pacific-10 in college sports. I haven't even been to half these places. But those last two things have given me pretty good perspective on new assistant coach Tim Floyd.

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Looks like the move has been made, and will be officially announced later today, per ESPN.

More analysis of the firing should follow, but for now, this million word piece is just as applicable now as it was in May.

These were my thoughts back then:

In my mind, the best option is to roll the dice on Scott. Hang on to him, regain some health, field a solid defense, allow good and healthy players to self-correct some offensive shortcomings, and hope the front office can draft a solid rookie to Scott's liking. Byron has his flaws, but in an offseason promising to be among the most turbulent the franchise has ever seen, a little stability can go a long way.

And a 3-6 start hasn't exactly changed my mind. More than anything, this firing seems like a "light a fire under the players" sort of deal. Will it work? I doubt it; firing Scott isn't nearly as imperative as finding a new coach.