Wild Wild West Leads Hornets Over Rockets 87-82

David West scored 26 points, and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Chris Paul scored 19 points, and had a game? high 11 assists, as the New Orleans Hornets stung the Houston Rockets Sunday 87-82. Houston center Yao Ming also recorded a double-double, a game high 30 points, and a game high 16 rebounds, but it was not enough for the Rockets to blast off.

The Hornets came out buzzing in the first quarter as they led 26-18 at the end of the period, and had a 46-39 lead at the half.? Houston came out of the locker room as the aggressor, grabbing a 63-58 lead going into the final period. Tyson Chandler stepped up big in the fourth quarter defensively, stripping Yao of the ball twice late in the final quarter. Chandler has shown a lot of maturity season on both sides of the court, showing that he may one day fulfill the potential that would justify him being a lottery pick in the NBA Draft. New Orleans got the lead back at 81-78, and never trailed again in the contest.

West shot 12-27 from the floor, 2-2 at the line for his 26 points, along with his 12 rebounds, he had 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. Paul along with his 19 points, and 11 assists, had 3 rebounds, 2 steals, Jannero Pargo scored 10 points, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 block. Chandler only scored 7 points, but had a team high 14 boards, 2 steals,2 assists, 1 block.

Yao shot 11-24 from the field 8-11 at the charity stripe for his game high 30 points, along with his 16 rebounds, he had a game high 4 blocks, 1 assist. Rafer Alston scored 12 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, Luther Head playing for the injured Tracy McGrady had 11 points, 4 boards, 1 assist. Aaron Brooks came off the bench to score 11 points, 3 assists, 1 steal. New Orleans is now 25-12, Houston is now 20-18.

2 Responses to “ Wild Wild West Leads Hornets Over Rockets 87-82 ”

Comments:

Russ Loede says:
January 13th, 2008 at 8:51 pm

What I’m hearing is YAO, Once Again, got NO CALLS to go his way down the stretch! He Got Hacked in KEY, Crucial Situations ~ PAUL got the GW but those bad calls going against Yao/Houston won the N.O. Hornets the game. They are 15-5 on the ROAD! Why aren’t they getting the good Home Attendance in a good city like New Orleans? (Host City 4 All-Star Game). That has to affect their play @ home. I wonder if Houston will continue to play well when T-MAC gets BACK HEALTHY…?
Hornets look like the “real deal” and a true, legit contender in the West. I mean the Rockets & Jazz are on the outside looking in for the Playoff Picture this season!!!

Russ

Russ Loede says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

Houston was up 82-81 actually, after two, clutch (I guess you can say…) YAO FT shots from the charity stripe. Then PAUL took over on the next ensuing possession/opportunity w/ a GW lay-up past Skip 2 my Lou for what proved to be the end of Houston’s 5-game win streak. PAUL sealed the deal and I have to say he has VASTLY Improved his offensive set of skills, as a much better scorer, overall shooter, and decision maker. Whether it be Dropping Off Dimes & Helpers to his teammates playing alongside of him, PAUL continues to FLOURISH, Grow, though not vertically (he STILL can FLUSH), and GAIN Superstar status with his stardom getting better by each game he plays, changing the way teams playing vs. these Hornets, and with each nite he steps foot onto the floor, PAUL could NOW be called the Best PG in the Game (Considered he’s very young, the team he has lifted, and he’s only going to get better, we haven’t seen the finished product just yet). He is a LEADER & now can be called upon during cruchtime with the final shot. On Top of that, Paul SHOULD be #1 in some, if not all the early MVP Lists!