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Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - New Orleans Arena
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 @ 5:50 pm (PT) - Toyota Center TV: FSN Prime Ticket / RADIO: 710 ESPN Clippers Basketball. It's more than a game. To sign up for the 2008-09 season call (888) 895-8662 or click here to purchase online.
NEW ORLEANS, April 15 (AP) -- The New Orleans Hornets gathered in front of their bench, wearing ball caps and T-shirts commemorating the first division championship in the franchise's 20-year history. While the latest sellout crowd roared its approval, they stayed on the court for almost a half-hour to celebrate the moment. David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 12 during a decisive run in the third quarter as the Hornets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 114-92 on Tuesday night. New Orleans will have at least the No. 2 seed in the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference. Three seasons after going 18-64, the Hornets clinched the rugged Southwest division, which has four 50-win teams. "A lot of people had us not even getting in the playoffs,'' New Orleans center Tyson Chandler said. "I don't think any of us believed that. We all believed that we're one of the better teams in the conference. If you win this division it says a lot about the team because this is the best division in basketball.'' After losing three of its last four, New Orleans struggled for a half against the reeling Clippers before putting them away with 26-6 spurt in the third quarter. The Clippers have lost six in a row and are 4-25 in their last 29 games. Hornets coach Byron Scott earned his 300th career victory. The Hornets finished 30-11 at home for the third time in franchise history. The club record is 32-9, set in 1997-98, but all those seasons came in Charlotte, their original home. This was their most significant victory in New Orleans, where they moved for the 2002-03 season and played for three years before Hurricane Katrina forced them to Oklahoma City for all but 10 games during the previous two seasons. "It's a big step for us,'' West said. "We just talked about wanting to improve and being one of the elite teams, and I think we kind of validated ourselves with the ability to come into a tough season and win the toughest division in basketball.'' Trailing 56-51 after Cuttino Mobley's 3-pointer early in the third quarter, the Hornets scored 12 of the next 14 points to take the lead for good, then pulled away quickly. Paul started the run with a lay-up off a Clippers turnover. Peja Stojakovic, who missed his first six 3-pointers, hit two in a row to give New Orleans a 63-58 lead. Paul followed with four consecutive baskets to extend the advantage to 71-62, and Morris Peterson gave the Hornets their first double-digit lead, 74-62, on a 3-pointer with 3:11 left in the quarter. Sixteen seconds later, Chandler was fouled on a dunk and hit the free throw, making the score 77-62. "We definitely came out in the third quarter and picked up the intensity defensively,'' Paul said. "We can do that every night if we really put our mind to it. That's the only way we're going to be successful in the playoffs.'' New Orleans led by at least 12 the rest of the way and poured it on in the fourth quarter, going ahead by as many as 31. Paul finished with 22 points and 12 assists, while Chandler added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie Julian Wright scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a thunderous dunk. Rookie Al Thornton led the Clippers with 26 points. Corey Maggette contributed 13 off the bench. "We were in it until the second half, when Chris Paul broke us down a little bit and we didn't have an answer for that,'' said the Clippers' Elton Brand, playing only his seventh game since returning from a ruptured Achilles' tendon that sidelined him before the season. "We tried different defensive schemes, but he's a heck of a player.'' West got 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the first quarter, but received little help from his teammates as the Hornets trailed 51-49 at the half. New Orleans, the third-most accurate 3-point team in the NBA, hit only 2-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first half. Thornton had 11 points in the first quarter for the Clippers, who connected on 4-of-5 3-pointers in the opening half. "Needless to say, at halftime I was not very happy,'' Scott said. "We were allowing them to get pretty much everything they wanted. Watching the tape, I think they understood my point. Luckily in the second half we came out and played much better.'' Copyright 2007 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
Postgame Quotes
On the game... “In the first half, (David) West got off to a great start. Then we went to zone, and did some good things and got ourselves into the game. Our guys played hard. Then in the second half, Chris Paul was able to take over. He was able to get inside our zone, and he made shots. After that he did a good job of orchestrating, and getting guys involved for them as well. We didn’t move the ball as well, we turned the ball over some, they started getting into the open court and they built their lead up.”
On the play of David West...
On his team’s effort...
On the Hornets playoff chances... “They are a really, really strong playoff team. Chris Paul is having an MVP-type season. They say David West wouldn’t do this or that without Chris Paul, but that’s definitely not true. He creates a lot of shots for himself and keeps knocking them down. Chandler played good and I like them and I think they have a lot of talent.”
On the game...
On the game... “David West killed us. He was really hot in the first half. I thought he was going to have a hundred points tonight. They have such a good team. Thank God, Peja wasn’t making a lot of shots tonight. They have so many weapons on the floor. Chris Paul is definitely the best point guard in the league right now: getting in the paint, spreading the defenses, putting his teammates in a position to score.”
On the Hornets chances in the playoffs...
On the crowd since he played here... “We didn’t win like these guys. We had guys that played hard and the people that came to the game, they were behind us. But if you don’t win, you’re not going to get the crowds that they’re getting now. It’s a good building to play in, I’m sure, for those guys.
On his game...
On starting slow tonight... “At halftime I was not very happy…We were allowing them to get pretty much everything that they wanted…dunking, easy swing baskets, open jump shots. Our transition defense wasn’t the best. Watching the tape and addressing the team, I think they understood the point afterwards as far as what we were trying to do and what this game meant to us. Luckily, in the second half, we came out and played a much better game.”
On David West...
On winning the division... “It feels great. It’s obviously my first divisional championships and the organization’s first divisional championship. It’s a lot of hard work that has paid off. It’s just the first step of building blocks and we have a lot more we want to accomplish, but right now we want to celebrate this victory. It’s important to recognize all the hard work we put in. The ultimate goal in the regular season is to win the divisional championship and we accomplished that. It’s important to celebrate and to reward yourself for the hard work that was put in.”
On the third quarter turnaround...
On winning the division... “It feels good to know that all the hard work paid off. We knew all along we had a good team and we had to stay healthy and get good production from our bench, we knew we would be a tough team to beat. Just to come out and prove it means a lot for this organization.”
On the bench play... Postgame Notes
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