Hornets win home opener against 'tough' Kings

NEW ORLEANS (NBA.com Exclusive) -- Questions are still abound as to how good this year's Hornets will actually be with so many changes to the team's starting lineup.

A loss to the revamped Spurs on the road to commence the season is understandable and almost expected. A loss in the Hornets' home opener would have been quite another, especially to a Kings team not too many people would consider as a playoff contender.

The mood of the locker room certainly didn't indicate the Hornets escaped with a 97-92 win over the Kings at the New Orleans Arena on Friday night. The Hornets understand they are far from a finished product.

Chris Paul would be the first person to tell you that the team isn't playing the type of basketball it anticipated going into this season. But you have to start winning somewhere.

"In this league, you'll take them however you can get them," said Paul, who scored a game-high 31 points, but only tallied four assists. "We definitely understand we've got to improve. ... This team here is going to be a process. We're not ready for the finals today or nothing like that. We have an opportunity to work every night and get better, hopefully build to that."

West almost appeared glum following the win.

"(Sacramento) is a tough team, and this was a tough win," West said. "We've still got a lot of things to correct just in terms of being more effective."

The Hornets' lack of chemistry was on full display for the vast majority of Friday's game as it seemed like it was Sacramento's to win. And even in losing, Kings coach Paul Westphal had encouraging remarks for his team knowing Sacramento had New Orleans right where it wanted them.

"I'm very proud of them," Westphal said. "They proved they could compete. ... We were in position to win the game. They closed the deal and we didn't. ... When we learn how to think together, we'll start winning these games. With the effort they gave, we deserved to win."

After being run off the court by the youthful Thunder in the opener, the Kings were the quicker, fresher team as the Hornets couldn't keep tabs on Sacramento.

The Kings were either draining 3-pointers or making easy lay-ups with players like Kevin Martin, Jon Brockman and Sean May cutting to the basket. Andres Nocioni made it happen from beyond the arc going 3-for-6 from 3-point range leading to his 16 points off the bench.

Then there was Tyreke Evans playing nothing like a rookie as he led the Kings with 22 points with a couple of his shots late in the fourth quarter to give Sacramento the lead

The Hornets shipped off two starters from last season with Tyson Chandler and Rasual Butler leaving the team via trades, and a third if you count Peja Stojakovic moving from the starting lineup to coming off the bench.

The Hornets have replaced one nicely as new center Emeka Okafor came up huge on both sides of the floor in the final minute. His put-back dunk on a missed Paul layup pushed the Hornets ahead 93-92 with 43.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Then Okafor displayed his defensive prowess by blocking two shots in the final 10 seconds with New Orleans up 95-92 to preserve the win.

Through two games, it's easy to say Okafor's offensive skill set is a vast improvement from what former Chandler brought to the court. The Hornets actually make a concerted effort to feed Okafor on the post as he finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

The other two starters still remain a work in progress. Julian Wright showed flashes of solid play on both sides of the ball, but had some breakdowns in the process. And who should see significant minutes at shooting guard my linger longer than the Hornets would like.

It's that chemistry that concerns many of the Hornets players and coach Byron Scott.

Scott said the Hornets aren't even in the same vicinity than the Spurs or the Lakers going into Friday's game. His assessment was still pretty spot on even after a win.

"We won, but how we played wasn't good enough," Scott said. "We allowed them to come in here and dominate. ... We got lucky and got a win."