Bob Licht

JEKYLL AND HYDE

Jamal Mashburn was supposed to be the hero. The injured Hornets all-star returns from a two game absence to start Game 5 of their First Round playoff series against the Sixers, battles a broken middle finger on his shooting hand, and leads the team in scoring to help stave off elimination.

All of that actually happened on Wednesday night.

But because George Lynch drank some special potion between the third and fourth quarters that transformed him from a blue-collar scrapper into a go-to offensive machine it was Lynch not Mashburn who stole the show.

In a series highlighted by one Hornets reserve after another stepping up and playing the role of hero, veteran George Lynch provided the fourth quarter knockout punch on Wednesday that forced the series to return to New Orleans for Game 6 on Friday.

Lynch, acquired with Jerome Moiso and Robert Traylor from the Philadelphia 76ers two years ago in the Derrick Coleman deal, scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth frame as the Hornets won 93-91 to cut the series deficit to 3-2.

The 10-year veteran, who started for Larry Brown’s Eastern Conference champs in 2001, basically became…well… Mashburn. Ironically, Lynch filled in for Mashburn as a starter in the previous two games and scored just 12 points on five field goals. He matched those numbers in one quarter on Wednesday.

Remember all of those games Mashburn won in the fourth quarter this season? Well, that’s how Lynch looked in Game 5. Entering the final stanza, Lynch had exactly four points and one rebound in 12 minutes. And nearly four minutes into the final frame he still had four points. But at the 7:50 mark, Lynch buried a three pointer to give New Orleans a 78-76 lead. The Hornets would never trail again in the contest.

The seven-minute stretch that followed would be the highlight of Lynch’s two-year Hornets career. He scored 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting (including a pair of threes), grabbed five rebounds, and secured two steals. And when the flurry ended so did Philadelphia’s hopes of clinching the series in five games.

It was reminiscent of Moiso’s fourth quarter play in Game 3. You remember that don’t you? He looked like a future star with 10 points and seven rebounds to key the first Hornets win of the series.

Fans at the New Orleans Arena responded with an impromptu standing ovation when Moiso entered the game for the first time in Game 4. Perhaps Lynch can expect the same on Friday.

Lynch didn’t don Mashburn’s #24, didn’t steal Jamal’s fade away jumper, didn’t pretend to be an all-star point forward.

All he did was save the season with one of the most remarkable seven-minute stretches in Hornets post-season history.