Charlotte lost a close one to the New Orleans Pelicans in overtime, 125-122. Charlotte’s still hasn’t won an overtime game this season. There were 18 ties and 24 lead changes in this game. New Orleans came into this game with a record of 2-6 since acquiring DeMarcus Cousins in a trade with the Sacramento Kings during the All-Star weekend. The Pelicans won despite Cousins not returning to the court after picking up his fifth foul with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Cousins seemed frustrated most of the night scrappy with Cody Zeller, who dunked over Cousins on a fast break. Backup forward Frank Kaminsky was out again due to left shoulder sprain, the Hornets were also without Johnny O’Bryant who was out due to right ankle sprain, who had been playing well for the Hornets before getting injured. Charlotte had a chance to win at the end of regulations after Davis missed baseline jumper with eight seconds left, but a poor end bound pass and good defense would force overtime. After a turnover by Batum (shocker) and missed a three-pointer, Davis drove the line and made a floater to put the Pelicans up five with 20 seconds in overtime. Batum scored on a layup to cut the lead to 123-120, Holiday would add two free throws to put the Pelicans up two scores. After a layup by Belinelli, Holiday was called for traveling in the backcourt with 1.8 seconds left giving Charlotte a chance to send the game into double overtime, however, Walker’s long three-point attempt was off the mark at the buzzer.
The MVP for the Hornets this game was again Marvin Williams who scored season-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Marvin Williams followed up his great performance Friday against the Magic, with another fantastic performance in this game. Marvin Williams has been struggling from beyond the arc the entire season but has made up for it on his defense and grabbing rebounds, an ability to drive to the basket and hit floaters and get fouled and make free throws. I was glad when the Hornets re-signed Marvin last offseason and he hasn’t disappointed in my opinion. Charlotte Hornets did not play Hornets style of basketball in this game. Hornets attempted 46 three-pointers, the Hornets never shoot that many three’s in a single game. On top of that, the Hornets defense was terrible, I understand that Davis is an All-Star and is one of the top up-and-coming players in the league. But when he’s the only player scoring for the Pelicans late in the game, the player who defending Davis should not leave him for any reason, but that happened numerous time late in this game, which he took advantage of. Including the floater to put New Orleans up by five with 20 seconds left in overtime. If the Hornets want to make the playoffs there going to make smarter decisions on the offense side and learn how to control a team best player. The leading scorers for the Hornets were Kemba Walker with 14 points 12 assists 8 rebounds, Nicolas Batum with 24 points 8 assists, Jeremy Lamb with 14 points and Marco Belinelli with 12 points. The leading scorers for the Pelicans were Anthony Davis with 46 points 21 rebounds, Jordan Crawford with 19 points, Solomon Hill with 16 points, Jure Holiday with 15 points and 13 assists. Charlotte Hornets (29-37) play at home Monday night against the Chicago Bulls, the who are in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
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