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Come April, odds are good we'll look back at November and December and rue the should-have-been wins. Thankfully, this won't be one of those, but it sure was close.

Where to begin? At a glance, it's difficult to say how we were in this game at all. New Orleans was unforgivably passive, perhaps more so than in any game all year. The 25 three point attempts and countless long two's speak to this; Minnesota attempted just 9 triples, instead opting to parade around in the paint all night. Additionally, the Hornets visited the line a paltry 10 times in 91 trips down the floor. Chris Paul and David West combined for two free throw attempts. I could go on and on about this- in fact, more on this a bit later (esp. re: Paul)- but first, the key plays that led to the win.

#1- Paul's Lay-Up (Duh)

The game-winner obviously stands out. The Hornets were clearly at a disadvantage with under 10 seconds left and the Wolves with a foul to give. In such circumstances, even a catch and quick move to get free could be easily negated. Tim Floyd and Jeff Bower showed terrific understanding of this. Instead of employing the "pass to Paul, let him do something" technique, they did one better. The original inbound play called for Posey to inbound, Paul to catch, Posey to cut right baseline, and Paul to hit him. Unfortunately, the inbound itself was well defended by Minnesota. Paul couldn't handle a tough inbounds pass, and the play was lost. Minnesota opted to foul CP at that point. Hindsight being 20/20, the Wolves may rue the decision, but it was certainly the right call.

After the subsequent timeout, Jim Flower's decision to go with the same play call was quite gutsy. It would have been one thing if the previous play had disintegrated right at the inbound. Instead, Posey tossed it in and made his run right to the rim. Everyone knew that if Paul had made the catch, Posey had the layup (Minny commentators- who are awesome- saw it right away). The additional wrinkle, of course, was CP as the in-bounder. "Watch the inbounder" is one of basketball's biggest cliches, but Flynn turned away anyway, and that was that.

#2- Brewer's Discounted Shot

This, over at our fellow SBN site, Canis Hoopus, amuses me.

The shot's timing was indiscernible in real time, though it did feel like Corey Brewer had taken his time, a little too much. I'm glad the NBA has its replay system; after seeing a plethora of missed calls in the MLB playoffs and the whole Henry deal in international football, it's clear that fans of the NBA and NFL have it good. Of course, it's easy for me to sit here and say this after the Hornets won by one. Kudos to the Minny commentators for also spotting it quickly and explaining it.

#3- Posey's 3 Drawn Charges

All three happened early on in the fourth (Ramon Sessions at 9:30, Ryan Hollins at 8:10, Corey Brewer at 7:22) but all three were huge. Seriously, I can't overstate how much impact these drawn charges had on the game. He drew three charges in four consecutive possessions! In just over 2 minutes, Posey converted 6 Minnesota points to Hornets possessions (not all 3 shots were going, but Minnesota rebounders were lurking free, on each). The combined value of Posey's three drawn charges is right up there with Paul's lay-up and Brewer's discounted jumper.

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More photos » by Layne Murdoch - NBAE/Getty Images

Finally.

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19 games into the season: we've fired a coach, hired a GM, hired a "fired" college coach, had the media call out our city as not befitting of our star player, been linked with a trade wherein we'd essentially give away our starting center for free, lost our best player "indefinitely," had our second best player utterly fail to step up in his absence, and seen a newly minted starter perform so poorly he no longer cracks the bench rotation. 

Even your average, full season gone horrifically wrong does not include such a plethora of pitfalls.

The Hornets started out the gate, stumbled, fell on their faces, and the race looked over just as it began. But as the dust finally settles, nobody is actually that far ahead. Yes, we're 12th in the conference, but the 8th place Spurs are a mere 2 games ahead. Two of the teams between us and the playoff chase are the Clippers and the Kings, which needs no further comment. The obvious parallel to two seasons ago is probably worth mentioning at this point, with the Hornets in possession of an injury ridden, but talented roster (2006-2007 and November 2009) and subsequent explosion with good health (2007-2008 and December-???? 2010).

There is reason to believe that not only has the nadir passed, but also that the team is better off for having lost Chris Paul to injury.

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More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

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That rookie label, it doesn't really matter." - Lil Dimes

Amen, Darren.

Ahead of the game, I was focused on one thing: the NBA's rookie PER leaders facing off, in Brandon Jennings and Marcus Thornton. Both had sustained high levels of basketball for multiple games, and I figured both would be on the floor with the game on the line. 25.2 points/36 minutes versus 25/36 minutes. The off-the-dribble revelation versus the off-the-ball machine. Buckets North versus Buckets South.

Instead, both guys found themselves watching a third rookie steal the show. One watched from the comforts of his warm-ups and the bench, and the other watched from a little bit closer, but ultimately, watch was all they could do with this guy on the floor.

The end-game statistics will say Darren Collison wasn't overtly spectacular. His 18 points on 12 shots, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 turnovers barely edged Jennings' 14 points on 15 shots, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 turnovers.

But Collison provided two things tonight that the box score won't tell you about: resilience and high leverage performance. The two went hand in hand.

Consider Dimes' initial play. Among other things, he missed multiple lay-ups, had a discontinued dribble in the first, threw the ball away on back-to-back possessions in the second, traveled in the third, and lost the ball to a huge, momentum-shifting, late-game, fast-break slam by Hakim Warrick. His first 28 minutes of the game had seen him produce 10 points on 10 shots, and just 6 assists versus 5 turnovers. It was not a good night, by any measure, regardless of the fact that Jennings had been just as mediocre, across from him. His finish, though, and his ability to shake off a mediocre game, was thoroughly impressive. His last 8 minutes saw him produce 8 points on two shots, 2 assists versus 0 turnovers, and a huge strip of Brandon Jennings.

Collison could easily have folded when Warrick through down that dunk. He had struggled immensely, and the spectre of Devin Brown loomed large from the bench. Instead? He canned another critical three pointer and played huge offense and defense with the game on the line. Throughout the game, Dimes made rookie mistakes; down the stretch, he made plays that most veterans in this league won't make.

Team Thornton was established a few nights ago; now it's Dimes' turn. Team Collison, rise!

Game bullets thoughts after the jump

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