Game 12 Recap: Thorton’s 30 not enough

LA CLIPPERS 102 – NEW ORLEANS HORNETS 110

CLIPPERS        22     31     22     27          102

HORNETS       29     29     26     26          110

A nice breakout game for Al Thorton went to waste as the Clippers (4-8) were not able to put any defensive pressure on the Hornets who had their way again even without Chris Paul. This game looked similar to the one both teams played last week. The Hornets were able to shoot in rhythm and outrebound the Clippers 51-36 (8 more offensive boards too). The Clipper bench was outscored 36-16.

David West led the Hornets with 24 points and 10 rebounds to give interim coach Jeff Bower his first win. Bower, the Hornet’s GM, fired Byron Scott and named himself the coach of this sinking ship. Devin Brown chipped in 16 pts, Peja Stojakovich had 15 and Emeka Okafor pulled down 14 rebounds.

The Clippers were led by Al Thorton with 30 points on 12-17 shooting. Baron Davis had 23 points and 9 assists while Chris Kaman didn’t score his usual 22 points and only finished with 17 points. Kaman scored 11 of those in the first half. In his first game back in New Orleans since being traded last summer, Rasual Butler finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds.

Either the Hornets are just one of those teams the Clippers don’t match up well with or they can’t sustain the defensive and rebounding effort necessary to pressure teams to have to guard them. The Clippers have been losing a lot of these games because they are giving up offensive rebounds and second shots to the opponent who are generally capitalizing and scoring. It makes it easier for the opponent to guard you if they can play the game of percentages in that although you score a bucket they can also score at will and know you won’t make 50% of your shots.

Back to the drawing board. Next game tomorrow night at Memphis.

Tags: Al Thorton, Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Chris Paul, Devin Brown, Jeff Bower, Peja Stojakovic, Rasual Butler