NBA preseason: Heat 97, Hornets 81
Thursday, October 15, 2009
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com
In Kansas City, a similar story unfolded tonight for the Hornets, who fell behind early, shot poorly for the majority of the evening and continued to struggle in preseason. New Orleans dropped to 1-4 in preseason, with three more exhibition contests remaining. The Hornets host the Pacers at 7 p.m. Saturday in the New Orleans Arena.
A few additional notes from the loss to Miami:
* Bobby Brown turned in another productive game for the Hornets, leading all scorers with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting. The bulk of his points came after the outcome was decided.
* Hornets radio's Gerry Vaillancourt mentioned this a few times during the game, but New Orleans' offense was stagnant. The Hornets only had 11 assists on 29 baskets, a very poor ratio. For comparison's sake, over the course of the 2008-09 regular season, 55 percent of New Orleans' baskets were assisted.
* In his first preseason start, Marcus Thornton tallied nine points in 24 minutes. He was 4-for-12 from the field. However, he struggled mightily on the defensive end.
* Peja Stojakovic is having a preseason to forget. His 0-for-7 shooting tonight dropped him to 5-for-28 from the floor over the five games, just 18 percent.