With a 114-92 regular-season victory over the LA Clippers on Tuesday night at the Arena, the Hornets won their first Southwest Division championship in franchise history and clinched a second-place finish in the West. The LA Lakers beat Sacramento 124-101 on Tuesday night to win the West and the No. 1 seed.
The victory over the Clippers before a sellout crowd of 17,388 gave the Bees their 13th sellout, a franchise record, and resulted in team owner George Shinn to raise his fist in celebration when it was announced during the final quarter.
With the win, Byron Scott recorded his 300th career victory as a head coach. He has 151 wins as Hornets head coach.
David West, an All-Star, played like an All-NBA forward with 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting. He had 20 points in the first quarter, just two shy of a franchise record. West finished with 8-of-8 FTs and had 5 boards in 33 minutes. The game was his 10th 30-plus point performance of the season.
Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler both scored double-doubles, moving the Bees to 25-3 on the season when the two accomplish the feat. Paul finished with 22 points and 12 assists, his 30th 20/10 game of the year, as well as 2 steals, extending his streak to 79-straight games this season and 83 contests dating back to last season.
Tyson grabbed four offensive boards against the Clippers and is just three shy of breaking the franchise record for offensive rebounds in a season (323) set by Larry Johnson in 1991-92.
The win assured the Hornets of a matchup with Dallas or or Denver when the conference playoffs begin this weekend, The Hornets close out their regular season against the Mavericks on Wednesday night at Dallas in a nationally televised (ABC) game.
Rookie Julian Wright came off the bench to score 14 points on 3-of-3 shooting and 7-of-7 (career best FTM) in 18 minutes.
The sellout lifted the club's average attendance to pass the magic 14,735 opt-out number in the team's lease agreement.
SAINTS TO PLAY TWO MONDAY NIGHT HOME GAMES
The Saints' 2008 schedule was announced by the NFL on Tuesday and features two Monday night home games -- against Minnesota on Oct. 6 and Green Bay on Nov. 24 -- and a season-opening home game against TampaBay on Sept. 7.
The Saints will play a third straight game at Chicago on Thursday night, Dec.11 and a 42-day stretch between Superdome games in October and November.
The Saints already knew they were "awarded" a "home game" in London against San Diego on Oct. 26.
MILES TO BE WAITER
Les Miles, women's basketball coach Van Chancellor and AD Skip Bertman are among a handful of LSU coaches and administrators who will serve as waiters at the Baton Rouge Children's AdvocacyCenter second annual Celebrity Waiter Event on Wednesday night at Walk-on's.
The dinner, which benefits the Baton Rouge Children's Advocacy Center, runs from 7 to (:30 p.m.. The cost of of the buffet-style meal is $75.
Other celebrity waiters include" Gen. Ron Richard of the Tiger Athletic Foundation, gymnastics coach D-D Breaux, swimming and diving coach Adam Schmitt and the nine assistant football coaches.
In addition to the coaches, former Tigers players Matt Flynn, Craig Steltz, Patrick Fisher, Peter Dyakowski and Gant Petty are all scheduled to take part in the event.
There will also be live and silent auctions. Among the items being auctioned include: 2 tickets to the LSU vs. Alabama football game, 4 tickets to Kathy Miles' suite for the LSU vs. Appalachian State game, a football signed by Glenn Dorsey, and many autographed items.
Off the typewriter...
One pressboxer has referred to Tigers quarterback Ryan Perrilloux as "LSU's Britney Spears."...For the record, however, Miles said the junior's initial suspension was solely for academic reasons and was not reinstated until the day after the spring game was because of classroom performance. Said the coach, "If a guy has a slow start to a semester, then he's liable to be suspended. Ryan has worked hard in the classroom since then. He has done the things we've asked of him.
"We didn't turn our back on him, but you can't let him hold you back either. That won't happen here.. We'll find a way."
The coach defends his handling of Perrilloux and said his critics don't know what is going on with the LSU program.
"That's all team business," said Miles. "It has little to do with people around the country. This about a promise I made to a mom and brothers in Perrilloux's home that I would do everything I could to help this young man fulfill his dreams of getting his degree and playing football for LSU. If he wants to pursue those dreams on the field and continue to work hard, we're not going to restrict him.
"The suspension itself was a tremendous punishment."
Soundbites...
Don Banks, SI.com, on why he'll watch the Saints-Chargers game on television this season: "No mater how much the NFL tried to hype the historic Giants-Dolphins game last October in London, it still seemed like an afterthought due to the presence of the sad sack Dolphins. But his year's England-based game should stand on its own two feet. The Chargers and the Saints have two of the most high-powered offenses in the league and you can make the case the game is a possible Super Bowl preview without sounding like a complete idiot. It's be the added bonus of Drew Brees facing off against his old team and the added bonus of Reggie Bush facing off against his hometown Chargers."
