Carl Landry touched good form this game against the Magic, reaching 17 points while Marco Belinelli, Jason Smith and Jarrett Jack all reached double figures, and ended the match with 17, 14 and 11 points respectively. The team played well compared to their stint up till now in the NBA. With 4 wins and 15 losses the team seemed completely down and out before Magic game, which is now one of the major upsets in this year’s NBA. Monty Williams seemed to be in a good place mentally while he excitedly reported of the teams fighting spirit. The coach felt that the team’s fighting character got portrayed from the match in which they were the clear underdogs. He feels that their path had been riddled with hurdles but this thumping win, holding back the Hornets to 67 while his team went onto score 93, comes as a huge boost to the team and the fans. He believes that this much needed win would surely restore the faith amongst their fans in the players and the team. This admirable grit of the Hornets has been duly noted and respected by even Dwight Howard. He later in his statement complimented the Hornet team on their sheer hard work despite their team’s bad overall record.
On the other hand, we noticed a quite grim picture at the Dwight Howard locker room. He was flushed and apparently shocked to get outplayed so comprehensibly in a game in which most of the people who had tuned in, felt it was for the Magic’s for the taking. A livid coach exasperated that the team ought not to play if they are not too keen on performing on the court. The coach sternly remarked that the it would be better off for the team that the players that are unwilling to play it out ‘hard’ on the court should not make a presence in the locker room wearing the team jersey. He also went onto state that he isn’t pinning the loss on anyone on particular given that everyone including him should take responsibility and own up to their poor show. Things have suddenly taken for a downslide with the Magic’s since the game before the Hornets, where in the Boston match, the team shockingly lost after they had a 27 point lead. The team is in a ghastly slump going six straight quarters without having scored twenty points in any match quarter. Even their coach Stan Van Gundy sang on the same lines stating that it has been one of their worst defeats, and rates it among the top three losses since his commitment with the team.
The Hornets won without their seven foot star Chris Kaman, who stayed back on request of Dell Demps, the general manager due to certain transfer issues. On the other team, Jameer Nelson was missed since he played only about eleven minutes into the game before taking leave after being jabbed on the jaw by Jack from an accidental collision. Injuries and shock defeats have seriously dented the Orlando spirits, but there’s still much left in NBA and in the side.
