Hornets at Clippers
THE STORY: The last time Chris Paul faced his former team, the New
Orleans Hornets did their best to knock his new team down. The Los
Angeles Clippers are in the middle of a scrum in the Western Conference
and did not help themselves by suffering a loss at the West-worst
Hornets. That setback, along with a sub-.500 record over the last month,
has led to speculation about coach Vinny Del Negro’s job security.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, CST (Hornets), FS Prime Ticket (Clippers)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (12-36):
New Orleans forward Jason Smith was given a two-game suspension for a
flagrant-2 foul in Thursday’s 97-90 home win over Los Angeles when he
lowered his shoulder and sent Blake Griffin flying into the cameras
along the baseline. Smith, who apologized after the game, will being
sitting Monday. The Hornets finally got a player back Saturday when Carl
Landry returned after a 23-game absence because of a knee injury and
scored 15 points in a loss to San Antonio. Chris Kaman, who collected 20
points and 10 rebounds in Thursday’s win over the Clippers, missed
Saturday because of illness and is day-to-day.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (27-21):
Paul was held to 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting in his return to the big
easy and Los Angeles shot only 39 percent as a team. The Clippers are
8-12 since Feb. 18 but snapped out of a three-game slide with a 101-85
home victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. That kept Los
Angeles in fourth place in the West, though it is only 1½ games in front
of the ninth-place Denver Nuggets. The Clippers allowed 104.3 points
during their three-game slide and reports surfaced last week that Del
Negro had lost the locker room. The coach met with general manager Neil
Olshey before Saturday’s game.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. New Orleans has taken nine of the last 10 in the series.
2. Landry has averaged 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds in 14 career games against Los Angeles.
3.
After giving newly acquired Nick Young the nod for three games, the
Clippers moved guard Randy Foye back into the starting lineup Saturday.