Who: <font color="teal">New Orleans Hornets</font> and <font color="red">Philadelphia 76'ers</font> Where: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana When: Wednesday, March 17th Time: 8 pm Eastern Time TV: NBALP, CSN <u>Records:</u> <font color="teal">Hornets (35-31, 3rd in Central Division)</font> <font color="red">Sixers (28-39, 5th in Atlantic Division)</font> <u>Likely Starters</u> <u>Key Matchups</u> This matchup is going to determine the Hornets' pace. Snow is a defensive stalwart, and if he can successfully check Baron Davis, the Hornets' will be hard-pressed to find buckets. At the same time, Baron must make a concerted effort to prevent Snow from getting his occasional long and midrange jumpers that he loves slipping into the Sixers' offense. Ditto for this matchup, though its from the other side. Iverson is coming off of an injury, and how he does against the Grizzlies on Tuesday night could determine how he comes out on Wednesday in New Orleans. If Wesley can force Iverson inside, AI might be tentative to bang with the trees coming off of his injury, and he may look to pass more. That's not necessarily a good thing for the Hornets, but its better than getting lit up for 50. Dalembert is very inconsistent with his play; some nights he comes out sluggish and weak, and struggles to put up any numbers at all, while other nights he looks like a potential all-star with relatively huge numbers. If Magloire can keep him in check, then the Hornets will have a huge advantage in the paint. <u>Keys to the Game</u> <font color="teal">Hornets</font> -Make Allen Iverson beat the team by himself. This is a gamble, because he's shown that he can do it, particularly against the Hornets(see the '00 and '03 playoffs), but that's so rare that the gamble is worth it. Iverson's poor shot selection will hopefully keep the Sixers behind, and allow the Hornets' more balanced attack to prevail. -Own the paint. The Sixers are already fairly weak on the inside, so there's no point in giving them freebies. <font color="red">Heat</font> -Don't make Allen Iverson beat the Hornets by himself. He might be able to do it, but its unlikely fresh off an injury. Get everyone(Snow, McKie, Dalembert, Thomas) involved and taking shots, especially Thomas. He seems to rebound better when he gets his shots, so hopefully that will continue. -Hit the paint. The Hornets have a big advantage on the glass, so the Sixers need to neutralize that as much as possible. <font color="green">Starman's Prediction:</font> The Sixers are a good team, and proved in last year's playoffs that they can beat the Hornets, but this isn't their full team. They're missing both Robinson and Coleman, and that's gonna hurt them. Hornets by 5.
I hope the Hornets can pull this one out, really. A loss here for Philli can make their playoff hops seem distant.
Hornets by 9, another thirty point game by Baron, and like I say, if someone else steps up and helps him out they should win. Magloire is always the most likely candiate and he needs something like 20 and 10. Wesley needs to find himself and give the Hornets 15 or more while also making his shots. Hornets can't lose anything and need to have a push onto the playoffs.
It's around that time when the Hornets start to breeze through the rest of the schedule. They always finish off the regular season hot. I think the last game against the Warriors was just the beginning.
