Hornets vs. Spurs, Game 1
Long night, late morning.
By Aggrey Sam
This will be quick.
–Got to the game just before tip. Saw the other half of the GreyTone crew as he was walking in. Sychronized like swimmers. Or Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte. Or Julian Wright and Ryan Bowen.
–Sea of yellow in the Hive tonight, as every fan was given a “Fan Up” T-shirt as they came in, as well as a mini-Peja head on a stick. Tone wants both. This is the loudest I’ve ever heard this place.
–Tyson Chandler is an animal. Five boards in the first two minutes or so.
–Hornets start game on an 8-0 run. Spurs timeout.
–Tone confuses Reggie Miller for Mark Jackson. You’re better than that.
–Spurs storm back. Tony Parker isn’t playing. Not literally. In fact, he’s playing very well.
–The CP “homecooked” Hornets jerseys are quite a popular item. Not for me.
–Bonzi is the sixth man tonight instead of Pargo. I don’t like messing with team chemistry, but I guess the coach of the year should have some leeway. He was a Spurs killer in Sac-town, during another contract year.
–Bruce Bowen hits three treys in the first quarter, including a non-corner shot to beat the shot clock with 6 seconds left, before CP takes the ball coast to coast to beat the horn. Spurs up 27-23 after one.
–This happened while I was getting red beans and rice after the quarter. Long delay.
–Melvin Ely is in the game to start the second quarter. Maybe Byron thinks practicing against a team for a year means a player knows their secrets.
–Bruce Bowen writhing in pain is humorous to GreyTone. Suspect flagrant called on Bonzi.
–Fin and Peja think they’re back in Dallas and Sac-town, respectively. That’s a good thing.
–Bowen hits his fifth trey of the half, an and-one. 17 points to lead all scorers at the break. Meanwhile, Duncan has three and three on 1-6. Bizarro World. Spurs up, 49-45.
–No rhythm to this game. It’s like three in one, with the first quarter followed by the delayed second quarter and now the second half. Oh yeah, I saw Craig Sager outside at halftime. Nice guy, though he seemed disappointed, as his gold suit was muted by all the yellow shirts in crowd.
–Peja is leading the Hornets charge with his shooting, along with Dave West’s ever-steady blend of post and mid-range work and Tyson’s general inside play and energy.
–Bowen is suddenly cold. Things gets worse after he fouls CP on the break, which incites a mild brouhaha.
–Hornets go up eight, 74-66, after three. CP isn’t having a vintage game, but the aforementioned trio and an overall team effort is getting it done.
–A Spurs timeout leads into one of the best Honeybees routines I’ve seen in a while. They later do this thing I call “The T-Shirt Dance,” which you would only understand after seeing it. Maybe it’s not that complicated.
–CP starts turning it on late and blows the game wide open toward the end. The highlight: His fake pass spin move around Bowen on the break. Missed the finger roll, but he was fouled and it was a hell of a move.
–Hornets win, 101-82. CP finishes with 17, 13 dimes and four steals (seemed like twice that), West gets a blue collar 30 and nine boards, Tyson has 10 and 15 and Peja drops 22. TP has 23 and five dimes in the loss, Manu adds 19 and seven, Timmy ends up with five and Bowen doesn’t score after the break. And the GreyTone duo hits Frenchman Street.
–Maybe the Spurs just had a bad game, maybe the Hornets were extra hype for the first game of the series and maybe the fire messed up the flow of the game, but I’m now thinking the Hornets can win this thing in less than seven. As in six. Seems optimistic, but I could see them defending home court again Monday and stealing one in Texas. Also, the Suns are really bad. The Spurs are not what we thought they are.
25 Responses to “Hornets vs. Spurs, Game 1”
May.4 at 4:51 pm
The Last Kings Fan says:
First!
And the “homecooked” jerseys remind me of my grandpa’s sweater vest he wore to church….
May.4 at 5:12 pm
Tariq says:
Nice work, Aggrey. I actually thought Melvin Ely did a very good job against Duncan.
May.4 at 5:14 pm
Tariq says:
Also, Bruce Bowen writhing in pain is humorous not only to GreyTone, but to good-hearted people everywhere.
May.4 at 5:18 pm
Tariq says:
“I’m now thinking the Hornets can win this thing in less than seven. As in six.” I REALLY hope you’re right, but I’m still not convinced. For me, Game 1 only had the capacity to reveal one thing: if the Hornets had lost, it would have been a quick series. A NO victory really doesn’t reveal that much to me.
May.4 at 5:22 pm
namik says:
is anyone still making the “David west is an all-star because of CP” argument?
May.4 at 5:40 pm
B_Easy24 says:
Come on on now are u serious? the Horents taking it in six yeah. This first win was fluke, the Spurs are gonna get extra mad and whup dey ass in game two so ya’ll better stay tuned.
May.4 at 5:58 pm
TADOne says:
A 19 point win is hardly a fluke. That being said, the Robot will not score 5 points again, that much I am sure of. Then again, CP3 can also improve upon his performance. I think Hornets in 7.
May.4 at 8:31 pm
thesubwayconnection says:
Anyone got a link to a clip of that foul?
May.4 at 8:54 pm
Joel O's says:
The Spurs make adjustments. They were down something like 8-0 to begin, and a timeout and a few minutes later had tied up the game. You’d really expect them to do the same, but on a much bigger scale, and make the adjustments to make Game 2 a much closer affair. It’ll be interesting to see how the Hornets respond to that.
May.4 at 9:54 pm
CPlessInOKC says:
D West is mean and strong and while Chandler is guarding TD, West is going to jump in there and annoy the crap out of a less athletic Duncan. Duncan wont score single digits again but West and Chandler are going to make a point out of holding the big man down which HAS to happen for the Hornets to advance
May.4 at 10:44 pm
Sesa says:
Quick question!
How many slime that Marv’s throat contains?
Hearing Marv’s clear his thorat for 20 minutes makes me wonder…
May.5 at 5:34 am
Tariq says:
David West should have a monster series, but I’m wondering if Peja can keep reproducing his Sacramento form.
May.5 at 8:31 am
BETCATS says:
“Maybe it’s not that complicated.” That had me laughing my @ss off
May.5 at 8:55 am
Solito says:
Don’t write them off just yet. The Spurs are dangerously cold blooded. The Hornets have to many hot heads. This will get interesting…
May.5 at 9:01 am
Cheryl says:
Rice and beans at the concession stand? Man, I need to catch a game at the Hive! I have no favorite going into this series–I’ll be happy with whoever wins it. I’m going to simply enjoy the play of both teams. That said, wouldn’t a Lakers/Hornets WCF be amazing? That’s a matchup I’d love to see.
May.5 at 9:12 am
Tariq says:
This is my favorite Round 2 series. Even though I always want the Spurs to lose, I have to say it’s EXTREMELY fun to root against them. I’ll miss them when Duncan is gone.
May.5 at 9:47 am
maio says:
There’s something fishy going on with New Orleans winning all these games.
May.5 at 10:01 am
Tariq says:
maio: I assume by “something fishy”, you mean “they have a hell of a team”? P.S.
I’m not sure, but I think you commented on a piece about the Suns’ elimination by saying: “Nevermore! Nevermore! Quoth the raven: nevermore!” Nice.
May.5 at 11:03 am
ciolkstar says:
How many slime that Marv’s throat contains? Winner for least intelligible sentence of the week from Sesa!
May.5 at 11:08 am
ciolkstar says:
Sorry. If the Spurs can take game 2 (which is entirely possible) they’ll have a huge advantage in the series. The Hornets HAD to win games 1 and 2 in order to keep this from being a 5-6 game route. They’re still just holding court. Tim and Manu both struggled, and the game was a lot closer than the final score suggests. I just hope the Hornets are as certain that the Spurs are “done”. Don’t Sleep.
May.5 at 11:11 am
TADOne says:
I don’t think ANYONE is writing off the Spurs yet. It has only been ONE game. But, the Hornets looked pretty impressive. Game 2 tonight will tell a lot in this series.
May.5 at 11:50 am
maio says:
@Tariq: I remember writing something like that but I believe it referred to death of smallball. So - yeah.
The Hornets are obviously well balanced but beating the Spurs? Fishy.
May.5 at 12:08 pm
Fredo says:
Remember: these are division rivals. They don’t really have secrets from one another. The Spurs have beat the Hornets’ azzes in the 504. And the Hornets have gone into the SA and put a beatdown on the Spurs. I still think 7 games. I still think Hornets.
May.5 at 2:19 pm
Diesel says:
Hornets in 6 fo sho. West’s mid range game is pulling Timmy away from the basket so Tyson is free to dominate the boards. Long defenders like Bonzi & Peterson are slowing Manu, and CP3 can keep up with Parker’s quickness. This was no fluke.
May.5 at 7:01 pm
The Promise says:
exctly on point Diesel. This is nowhere near over, but, like TAD said, tonights game will have a big say on how this series goes. If the Spurs win tonight, it will go to 7 games. If the Hornets win again, I think they will close it in 6. But there is a lot riding on tonghts game if you are a Spurs fan. The Hornets have all the tools to beat them, with a point guard that not only puts the pressure on Parker on defense while slowing him down when hes on offense. Tyson Chandler and Melvin Ely did an amazing job on Tim, holding him to 1 for 9 shooting, but I think he will do better tonight, it was probably one of those night for him…everybody has them…that being said, bad as I hate to say it, the Spurs will get back on track and tie this series up tonight.