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DC dishes out 20 assists along with 16 pts, 3 steals, 1 rbd as the New Orleans Hornets beat the visiting Stephen Curry and his posse, the Golden State Warriors in a shoot-out, 135-131.
Rookies make it happen for Hornets in win over Warriors
By Larry Holder, for NBA.com
Posted Monday March 8, 2010 11:56PM
NEW ORLEANS (NBA.com exclusive) -- Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton counted their fingers trying to figure out when the last time the New Orleans Hornets actually won a game.
The Hornets came into Monday night's game slumping at the worst time of the season, losers of their last four games and six of their last seven.
So you could imagine the relief in the locker room as the Hornets knocked off the Warriors 135-131 at the New Orleans Arena despite falling into the trap of playing Golden State's run-and-gun style.
The Hornets can thank the young legs of their rookie duo for playing a young man's style of basketball.
Collison, New Orleans' first-round pick, tied an NBA single-game season-high with 20 assists and also added 16 points, which was huge with Chris Paul still on the mend with a knee injury and his return nowhere in sight. Phoenix's Steve Nash accomplished the 20-assist feat twice this season.
"The guys really helped me find them by them being in great position or finding a way to get open in the halfcourt game and knocking down shots," said Collison. "It makes it easy for me to hit them. Mo(rris) Pete(rson) did a good job, David West, Marcus, just go down the list."
Thornton, the Hornets' second rounder, came off the bench and played his typical spark-plug role scoring 28 points in only 29 minutes to help give New Orleans a viable option off the bench.
"This win is big, man, for us it was a boost of confidence we really need at this point," Thornton said. "I couldn't remember the last time we won a game. We knew coming in that Golden State is a run-and-gun team.
"They pride themselves on getting the ball up early. ... My teammates are looking for me during crunchtime. I just take it upon myself to deliver when it's time."
With the Hornets inching closer to the brink of becoming a lottery team, Collison said there's no room for error. It's to the point where the Hornets have to win at any cost.
"It was real important for us to get this win," Collison said. "We've been so close to win games and we couldn't let this one slip away, and especially not at this point in the season where we stand. They've got real good shooters and they shot the ball well. We did our job well enough in protecting the paint, but we played into their strategy too much."
Through all of the successes by Thornton and Collison, West and Emeka Okafor came up with several timely shots. West scored 28 points, while Okafor went 10-for-12 from the floor for 22 points.
"They are a difficult team to beat because their plays are so unorthodox so this was a definite step forward for us," Hornets coach Jeff Bower said. "We had good patience, good tempo and we got the ball moving. I thought we were real big up front, especially with David West rebounding."
Bower couldn't have been more spot on, as West's 13 rebounds and Okafor's 11 boards led New Orleans to outrebound Golden State 44-23.
Peja Stojakovic added 16 points, but left the game in the second half with a strained right groin. His playing status is questionable for Wednesday's game in Oklahoma City. Peterson scored all 12 of his points from behind the 3-point line.
The Warriors didn't venture away from their run-and-gun style even though they only dressed eight players with Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrins, Ronny Turiaf and Vladimir Radmanovic nowhere to be found on the bench.
If you were looking for defense between the Hornets and Warriors on Monday night, you got nothing and liked it as both teams nearly shot 59 percent from the floor. The lack of defense and the up-tempo pace contributed to the tight game throughout nearly all of the fourth quarter.
Golden State had seven players in double figures with Reggie Williams and Anthony Morrow each scoring 28 points. Corey Maggette and Devean George chipped in 18 points apiece as well.
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