Hilton Armstrong gives New Orleans Hornets a lift before getting hurt in win over Golden State Warriors
After each start in place of injured center Tyson Chandler, Hilton Armstrong appears to be gaining confidence. By halftime Sunday night against Golden State, Armstrong had already achieved his first career double-double.
But even after scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds in the Hornets' 99-89 victory in front of 16,351 at the New Orleans Arena, Armstrong could not avoid experiencing a setback.
Armstrong was unable to play in the fourth quarter after cutting the tip of his right ring finger when he tried to block Ronny Turiaf's dunk early in the third quarter. It has not been determined if he will be available to play Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets.
"I was so mad at myself after I blocked the shot and my finger bent back on the rim and just split open,"
said Armstrong, who received five stitches in his finger. "Hopefully I can come back for the next ballgame. I wished I would have had a couple more minutes to put something up."
With mounting injury problems, including Peja Stojakovic, who has missed 10 consecutive games with back spasms, and the Hornets (44-25) in a fight for playoff positioning in the Western Conference, Coach Byron Scott has been waiting for several weeks for Armstrong to make an impact.
Before replacing Chandler in the lineup last week, Scott said it could be Armstrong's last opportunity to show what he can do after underachieving during several previous chances. Instead of playing timid, Armstrong played like he is a capable contributor.
Armstrong scored six of the Hornets' first 12 points, and the Warriors did not appear to have an answer. Armstrong backed into Turiaf to score several times. He stayed aggressive and made four of his first five shots. He had 10 points and 10 rebounds during the first half.
With that kind of contribution, All-Stars David West and Chris Paul did not have to overextend themselves to keep the pressure on the Warriors, who entered as worst defensive team in the league, yielding 112. 2 points per game.
However, despite leading by 20 early in the fourth quarter, West and Paul were unable to get a much-needed rest after the Warriors narrowed the deficit to 98-87 with 1:33 remaining. Paul played 39 minutes before finishing with a game-high 27 points. West played 41 minutes and scored 23 points.
"I knew coach sort of wanted to leave us in there to play the first three or four minutes to try and put them away and then take us out,"
Paul said. "But it didn't work out that way. It was a good win for us. We knew this was a team that was not going to give up, and we still came out with a win."
It was the Hornets' third consecutive victory and they moved within a game of the second-place San Antonio Spurs in the Southwest Division. The Hornets entered Sunday as the fifth seed in the Western Conference, and they have won 10 of 12 at home.
Behind Armstrong, the Hornets easily scored in the post and they kept the Warriors firing blanks from long range. Warriors guard Stephen Jackson grimaced in frustration for most of the game, and he looked even more angry after he shot two airballs. The Warriors entered with a 6-28 record on the road but they defeated the Hornets 91-87 on Jan. 30 at the Arena.
The Hornets never were really threatened after they built a 27-20 first-quarter lead. Even when Scott sent in his backups at the start of the second quarter, they went on an 11-2 run to take a 38-22 lead.
Backup point guard Antonio Daniels efficiently ran the offense with Paul on the bench. Daniels, who has struggled in recent games, made both of his shots and finished with five points.
Ineffective play from the bench has forced Scott to play Paul and West extended minutes for nearly every game since the All-Star break. The Hornets easily extended their lead to 74-51 with 3:34 remaining after Paul's 3-pointer. Paul scored 12 points during the third quarter.
"Anytime you get a big lead, the thing that scares you the most is that you tend to relax,"
Scott said. "So complacency has a little bit to do with it. We had talked about coming out aggressively in the fourth quarter."
Backup Ryan Bowen ran down loose balls, made a putback and layup to score four of his six points in the second quarter. But just before halftime, Bowen left the game with a separated left shoulder and did not return.
"I injured it on the first play I was in the first quarter when I ran into Corey Maggette,"
said Bowen.
Bowen, who heard cheers when he hustled off the court after the injury, said he plans to play against the Nuggets. The Hornets made 50 percent of their shots in the second quarter while holding the Warriors to 5-of-13 shooting. The Hornets held Golden State almost 20 points under their league-leading 108.8 scoring average.
"New Orleans is playing for seeding,"
Turiaf said. "So right now, they are playing at a very high level. In the second half, we started moving the ball a little more and got some easier shots."
