Hornets vs Mavericks (11/05/2015)

Behold! The mighty shall journey to the land of dust and desert. To the land of cows and cactus. They shall face the mighty, struggle, and they shall overcome (They did!). I watched the Mavericks and the Hornets, and I had these thoughts:

• The Hornets always seem to have one hot hand in the first quarter lately. The last couple of games it's been Nicolas Batum, and this night it was Al Jefferson. He finished the opening period with 11 points on six shots. Really nice showing for him as he looked bouncy early, and late. He finished the game with an incredibly efficient 31 points on 18 shots.
• The shooting. It was pretty poor from 3 pt range (I have slight issues with Batum’s shot selection. Likes to dribble into them a lot.) The team finished with 6 three point baskets on 27 attempts (22.2%)
• The energy of Marvin Williams this season has been awesome, and it's really a testament to him working so hard in the off-season. I was an advocate of Cody Zeller being a starter again, but Marvin has really earned his minutes. He is leading this team in 3 pt makes, and in rebounding. He has turned himself into a great offensive stretch 4 for this team. (I still want a rim protector though.)
• Speaking of a rim protector, Powell killed us at the rim in the first half. BUT, the Hornets dominated points in the paint 58 to 36.
• Bench scoring came totally from 3 people. Zeller had 11, Lin had 7, and Lamb scored 16. Those were the only bench points, period. I don’t think it is a terribly big deal, as Hawes played 18 minutes in a supporting role, but the more the ball can be moved around the court, the better.
• Final Note: Zeller almost got killed for the second game in a row. That young man does not care about his body. Last game Noah tried to give him the people’s elbow, and tonight Deron Williams shoved him in the air on a fast break. Ouch.

Summary: The Hornets won their second game in a row! They are looking pretty smooth on offense, and the added fire power is definitely a big reason for that. The team really took control of this game during the 3rd quarter, where they outscored the Mavericks by 10 and never gave up that lead. The Hornets will try to continue their excellence against the very excellent San Antonio Spurs next.

Let me know what you think! Any thoughts on my thoughts?