It’s time we have that talk about the Birds and the Bees!

After laying an egg for the final few quarters against James Harden and the Rockets, the Atlanta Hawks flew over to the Big Easy just in time for the New Year’s Day celebrations. After a beatdown, some beignets and probably a little booze, can they summon up enough energy to laissez les bon temps rouler against the 7-23 New Orleans Hornets? Hornet fans will hope to see their team stem a six-game home losing streak at the oddly-unsponsored New Orleans Arena.

The league’s second lowest scoring team (91.6 PPG) is thrilled to have Eric Gordon back at The Hive for what should be his first meaningful stretch in a Hornets uniform since David Stern gifted Chris Paul to the people of La-La-Land. Returning after a year of dealing with arthroscopic surgery and a bone bruise in his knee, Gordon didn’t disappoint in his first appearance of the season, offering up 24 points and 7 assists in a comeback win against the then-freefalling Bobcats. If you enjoyed Harden getting whistles from every possible angle last night, know that on Saturday, Gordon shot 5-for-13 but got just as many of his points from the line, shooting 12-for-14.

Despite the Hornets’ offensive woes without Gordon, you can’t blame Ryan Anderson. What Carlos Delfino did to the Hawks last night is just another day at the office for Ryno, who leads the NBA with 3.2 treys made per game and led the Hornets in scoring despite coming off the bench behind the uni-browed top draft pick Anthony Davis. Consistent with most shooters who don’t put the ball on the floor much, Anderson has the third-lowest turnover percentage (6.2%) in the NBA. With Davis and Robin Lopez (7^th in the NBA for FG%; 9^th in BPG) down low and Jason Smith (4^th in the NBA for FT%) backing them up, it does puzzle me why Coach Monty Williams doesn’t consider going big and playing the 6’10” Anderson more at small forward. Maybe opponents get around him on defense, but look at who’s waiting for them when they do. The Hornets current corps at the 3-spot consists of Al-Farouq Aminu, a Norcross High alum who has improved in spots but has lost Williams’ confidence in recent weeks, and Lance Thomas, who took Aminu’s starter spot but has been scoring and rebounding less ever since.

You can’t complain about the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week either (sorry, Kobe and KD!) Greivis Vasquez went on a little tear with 21 PPG, 10 APG, and 6.3 RPG for the Hornets last week as they pulled off two road games against fellow substandard opponents in Charlotte and Orlando. He’s managed to rise to fourth among NBA players in assists per game (8.8) despite a lot of questionable recipients and moving parts among Williams’ rotation. Among players getting more than 30 minutes per game, only Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash have higher turnover rates, a stat which is usually excused in their cases. Vasquez’s assist percentage (46.2 assists per 100 possessions) ranks him right between Rondo and Chris Paul. Although Eric Gordon comes off the bench again tonight, his return will take a lot of the pressure off the Venezuelan as well as rookie Austin Rivers (34.6% on two-point shots), so expect less erratic and more efficient play from these two going forward.

There’s not much to quibble over with Davis either. He’s averaging close to a double-double (14.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG) and is one of just eight NBA players averaging over one block (1.94) and one steal (1.12).

Passing teams like the Hawks (23.2 APG, 3^rd in NBA) have made hay against the Hornets’ defense. Opponents have 23.4 assists per game (2^nd most in NBA) and just 12.6 turnovers (4^th fewest). Josh Smith can not only impact the game with passes (6^th among NBA forwards with 3.6 APG) but with swatting some Bugs as well. New Orleans’ players get their shots blocked 6.9 times per game (3^rd most in NBA).

Spraying the Hornets with threes may not be as effective as it was at the start of the season. Just two weeks ago, N’Awlins was the only team giving up threes at more than a 40% rate. Now it’s down to where the Hawks’ opponents are (37.8%), which is still top five but dropping quickly. Instead, you will want to bang with the Hornets and get trips to the line. New Orleans is 3-14 when they get called for 20 or more fouls, 2-14 when they watch their opponents shoot 20 or more free throws.

Despite being slightly shorthanded at times, the Hawks have managed 100 points in regulation in its last four games. The Hornets have yet to win a game where they’ve given up 100 points or more (0-13). However, just one of those games came in their last six contests.

Go Hawks!

~lw3