The New Orleans Hornets really are exceptionally fun to watch on almost any night, but especially last night as Chris Paul and his teammates managed to beat LeBron James and Cavaliers. (Highlights.)
Cleveland was down one with about 15 seconds left. That's when LeBron James did what just about nobody does. With the entire stadium knowing he must be stopped, and four Hornets prepared to collapse into the lane to help Peja Stojakovic (who, these days, is often surprisingly effective guarding elite scorers) James got himself a layup.
Cavaliers by one. Hornets timeout. 7.7 seconds left.
Chris Paul, at this point, had 19 assists. He also has a knack for shooting little floaters in the lane. With the clock running down near zero, Paul jitter-bugged his way into the paint, drawing with him, in the words of Ron Hitley of Hornets247 (great game re-cap, by the way) "the entire city of Cleveland."
Watch the highlights, and you'll find yourself thinking that Paul's about to throw up an off-balance, hand-in-face prayer. The clock is flirting with buzzer time, and Paul has left his feet, and seems to have not much going on until ... he flips around and fires a pass backwards, back where he has just come from. It's not a crisp pass, it's more a hopeful, floater type.
David West is all alone at the top of the key.
Was that by design? Did Chris Paul really know West would be waiting there? The Akron Beacon-Journal's Brian Windhorst quotes Paul making it sound like it was no sure thing. "I call David West the '17-foot assassin.'" says Paul. "I knew he would be somewhere behind me, so when I saw him I was like: thank goodness."
James said that Paul is the best point guard in the league for the simple reason that he has eyes in the back of his head.
You know the rest of the story: An open jumper for the 17-foot assassin. 20 assists for Chris Paul. Less than a second left, and Cleveland has no timeouts. LeBron's full-court heave hit the shot clock, and the Hornets are one step closer to finishing the season atop the West.
Good game.
