The history making train that is the 2007-2008 New Orleans Hornets basketball season continues to chug along.
A 99-94 win over Dallas at the Hive not only moves the Hornets into the second round but it give the Hornets their first ever seven-game playoff series.
"It's big but I'm not going to reflect yet," said head coach Byron Scott on a night he received the NBA's Coach of the Year Award. "We still got some work to do. We still got another series ahead of us. When the season is all the way over then you get a chance to kind of look back and reflect on some of the things you were able to accomplish during the season. Now is not the time to do that, we want to keep playing."
"The crowd was unbelievable," said point guard Chris Paul. "We really feed off their energy. When the crowd is on their feet and they're screaming and yelling, we feel like the sky is the limit for us." The crowd fed off of Paul who continues to amaze in the postseason offering up a triple-double as his latest sign of possible greatness. Paul had 24 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds.
Listen Chris Paul and David West
"He's a special player Chris Paul," said Dallas head coach Avery Johnson. "He's relentless. He's strong. He's intelligent. He has a bright future. He and his coach have great chemistry. He seems like he's very coachable. He pretty much dominated us this series."
The Hornets were impressive in their five game dispatch of the Mavericks, especially considering that nationally the Hornets were getting no love or respect, as many picked the Hornets to lose the series. "At the beginning of this series there wasn't a whole lot of people that picked us to win it. Very proud of the way our guys have handled all of the adversity as far as people doubting us, very proud of the way that they've come out to try and prove everybody wrong."
Scott's team may have surprised the so-called experts but to the team they just sent on summer vacation, winning the series came as no shock. "When you got really got really good point guard play, good center play with Chandler getting double-double and West as another go-to guy, hey you can do some damage against anybody," Johnson said of the team he feels can make a serious run for an NBA title. "They have just as good a chance as anybody. They were a number two seed for a reason."
"When you win 56 game in this Western Conference this year, that's kind of like winning 64," Johnson added. "They did a terrific job and when you got a point guard like this, the sky is the limit."
Paul indeed is doing some amazing things on the basketball court. The six-foot guard is now one of seven players to average 24 points, 12 assists and 2 steal in a playoff series. Paul joins Tim Hardaway, Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Johnny Moore on the distinguished list.
Without question a reason for Paul's performance is his confidence in his abilities and more importantly his team, "We joke on each other all day, every day but when it's time to step on that court we understand that we're playing for each other," says Paul. "We're just happy when this guy gets a dunk or this guy gets a shot. It sound real cliche' but we're all playing for that coming goal but it's really a true feeling for our team."
Now the Hornets will play what has been the ultimate example of team play the last few season in the San Antonio Spurs. Head coach Greg Poppovich heads a team that won last year's NBA Championship the way they've won two previous title, with a true team mindset. The Hornets will have to quickly move away from their series win and begin focus on what will not only be a big challenge on the court but for sure will once again hear the doubts from the national media about winning the series.
Judging by the way the Hornets reacted from the game five win, the team's focus seems to be where it needs to be, "We expect to win. We're not going to pop champagne bottles or anything like that, we expect a lot from ourselves," said Paul. "We're trying to set a new standard here with our organization and that this isn't like a fairy tale for us, this is something that we're trying to keep going."
Game 1 between the Hornets and Spurs is Saturday night at the Hive.
Fans are highly encouraged to sign up for Bee-Mail, the Hornets free weekly e-mail newsletter, to be eligible for the Bee-Mail pre-sale on Thursday, May 1 at 12 p.m. Fans can sign up for Bee-Mail by visiting Hornets.com and will be sent a link and password via e-mail to access the pre-sale.
Bob DelGiorno &Monica Pierre
