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Charlotte Journal: Hornets Lose Because EJ Has Bad Game
An interesting different perspective....
Celtics defeat Hornets
Charlotte overcomes 20-point deficit before
falling short
By John Delong
CHARLOTTE JOURNAL REPORTER
BOSTON As goes Eddie Jones, so go the Charlotte
Hornets.
Three games into the 1999-2000 season, that seems
to be the situation, especially after the Boston
Celtics held on to beat the Hornets 103-100 last
night at the Fleet Center.
Jones was the star in season-opening wins over
Orlando and Indiana at home earlier this week, but
he struggled mightily from start to finish last
night and couldn't produce in the final seconds on
the play that ultimately decided the outcome. With
the Hornets trailing by one and in possession with
17.9 seconds left, Jones had the ball stripped
from him by Boston's Kenny Anderson as he worked
for a potential game-winning basket.
Anderson then hit two free throws from there for
the final margin.
It was symbolic of Jones' -- and the team's --
struggles much of the night. The Hornets fell
behind by as many as 20 points in the third
quarter before rallying in the fourth, but it
seemed like they were never in synch.
''I definitely stunk it up tonight,'' Jones said
afterward. ''Normally they can count on me, but
that stunk. I didn't show anybody anything
tonight. It seems like everything I did tonight, I
did wrong. I just didn't bring my game tonight,
and I think the rest of the team saw how hesitant
I was and maybe it was like a virus or
something.''
The loss dropped the Hornets to 2-1 and kept them
from getting off to a 3-0 start for the first time
in franchise history.
And it clearly bothered Coach Paul Silas.
As impressive as the Hornets were in beating
Indiana 98-89 in Charlotte on Thursday night,
that's how sluggish they were for three quarters
last night, falling behind by nine at halftime and
then watching the Celtics score the first 11
points of the third quarter for a 69-49 lead.
''We've got to come and play hard every night,''
Silas said. ''This has got to be a lesson for us,
that we can't take anyone for granted. I'm not
saying that we did, but we did not play with the
energy level needed to beat this team.
''The way I look at this is, it's a loss, period.
I admire their effort coming back the way we did,
because we could have chucked it in. There's no
quit in them. But it's still a loss and the fact
is, we should have played better.''
David Wesley led the Hornets with 17 points, Bobby
Phills had 15, and rookie Eddie Robinson came off
the bench to score 14 and spark the team in the
first half when others were struggling. Elden
Campbell scored 13 and Anthony Mason had 11 points
and eight rebounds.
Jones, who came into the game as the Hornets'
leading scorer at 23.0, finished with eight
points, two rebounds, two assists and three
turnovers in 30 minutes.
Still, with the Hornets in possession with 17.9
seconds left trailing 101-100, Silas decided to go
to his star -- even though the Hornets had come
back largely by working the ball to Mason and
Campbell in the post.
''You want to put the ball in your best player's
hands,'' Silas said.
''My thinking is he can get to the hoop, he's
going to get fouled, and he's going to make his
foul shots.''
It didn't work out that way. Jones got the ball on
the left wing isolated against Adrian Griffin, but
Anderson slid over from the top of the key and
slapped the ball away as Jones began his drive.
''I was trying to go to the hole and I just lost
the ball,'' Jones said. ''I never turn it over
with the game on the line like that. It shouldn't
have happened tonight. I'm really happy Paul stuck
with me and gave me the opportunity at the end,
but the fact is I wasn't aggressive all night. I
don't have any excuses, I just didn't get the job
done.''
Silas wouldn't let Jones take the hit totally. He
blamed Wesley for bad spacing on the deciding
play, getting too close to Jones -- which allowed
Anderson to sneak up on Jones.
''This is disappointing,'' Jones said. ''After the
way we played Indiana, I knew it was going to be a
tough game tonight.
''I made sure I got my rest, and I came ready to
play. But I didn't play well at all tonight. None
of us did.'' Anderson led the Celtics, 3-0, with
24 points and Tony Battie finished with 18.
The Hornets will close out this brief two-game
road trip on Sunday afternoon at Toronto.
CHARLOTTE _ Phills 6-14 2-2 15, Mason 4-8 3-5 11,
Campbell 6-10 1-4 13, Wesley 5-7 5-6 17, Jones 2-7
4-4 8, Robinson 6-10 2-3 14, Coleman 2-7 2-2 6,
B.Davis 2-6 0-0 4, Fuller 1-3 4-6 6, Miller 2-3
2-2 6. Totals 36-75 25-34 100.
BOSTON _ Walker 7-17 0-0 15, Griffin 3-7 2-2 8,
Potapenko 3-7 0-0 6, Anderson 6-13 11-14 24,
Pierce 5-15 4-6 15, Battie 8-13 2-3 18, Williams
2-2 2-4 6, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Cheaney 4-6 0-0 8,
Barros 1-5 0-0 3, McCarty 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 39-87
21-29 103. Charlotte 31 18 22 29_100 Boston
37 21 23 22_103
3-Point Goals_Charlotte 3-12 (Wesley 2-2, Phills
1-4, Campbell 0-1, B.Davis 0-2, Jones 0-3), Boston
4-12 (Anderson 1-1, Barros 1-2, Pierce 1-3, Walker
1-4, McCarty 0-1, Griffin 0-1). Fouled out_None.
Rebounds_Charlotte 50 (Mason 8), Boston 54
(Griffin 10). Assists_Charlotte 24 (Wesley 7),
Boston 23 (Potapenko 7). Total fouls_Charlotte 24,
Boston 27. A_16,582 (18,624).
Published: November 6, 1999
© Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc.
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