Hornets Close in on Eighth Seed With Blowout Victory: Hornets 106, Celtics 88

Mar 20, 10:50 AM

Current Headlines: By Darnell Mayberry, The Daily Oklahoman

Mar. 20--Anyone who's followed the Hornets this season likely would be hard pressed to remember the last time the team had a night this easy.

The Hornets licked their wounds from what's already become a forgettable month by serving the bottom-feeding Boston Celtics a 106-88 thumping before a sold-out crowd of 19,164 on Monday night at the Ford Center.

The Hornets improved to 30-37 and pulled within a game and a half of the eighth seed by outscoring the Celtics 31-9 in the second quarter, turning a five-point, first-quarter deficit into a 17-point cushion at the half.

Most impressive about the Bees on this night, however, was how they finally succeeded in building on momentum. They extended that 17-point advantage into as much as a 30-point lead in the final seconds of the third quarter, a frame that's been unpredictable for them all season.

"We've been up on teams, but we've always let them back in the game," David West said. "We didn't want to do that coming out of the half. We were up 17, and we didn't want to come out and let them make it a ball game. And we didn't."

The Celtics never pulled closer than 18 points, the game's final margin, and the Hornets walked off the court with their second win in nine tries this month. Boston fell to 20-47.

The Celtics' point total was the fewest the Hornets have allowed since defeating the Houston Rockets 87-74 on Feb. 3 at Toyota Center. The Hornets also allowed the Celtics to shoot just 43.9 percent. It was the lowest mark by an opponent since the Sacramento Kings shot 40.3 percent on Feb. 14. That was the Hornets' last easy victory, a 110-93 rout.

This blowout couldn't have come at a better time for the Hornets, who flew to Memphis following the game for tonight's matchup with the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies, the league's worst team at 17-50, shocked the Hornets 108-104 when the teams last played on Feb. 13.

"It feels very good," said Chris Paul of Monday's triumph. "Especially going into a tough game (tonight) against Memphis. This was a must-win situation for us, and so is (tonight's). Every win we get now is very important. So we have to win as many games as possible to even give ourselves a chance at the playoffs."

One pleasant sign for the Hornets is that reserve forward Rasual Butler continues shooting the ball well. He scored a team-high 18 points by making five of seven 3-pointers Monday night.

Tyson Chandler finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, his 28th double-double. Paul scored 15 points with six assists and five rebounds, West had 12 points and Desmond Mason added 11. The Hornets shot 52.6 percent from the field and made 10 of 17 3-pointers.

The Celtics got a game-high 28 points from Paul Pierce but next to nothing offensively from anyone else. Rookie guard Allen Ray scored 12 points off the bench, and former Oklahoma State signee Gerald Green was the only other Celtics player in double digit scoring with 11.

"Every time we play against Boston, Pierce is being aggressive and getting to the free-throw line," West said. "But we were able to limit those other guys. We just didn't let those guys get going and we were able to pull it out."

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