76ers smother Hornets to new single-game low with 77-62 win
NEW ORLEANS - There is ugly, and then there is incredibly ugly.
The Philadelphia 76ers explained the difference an adverb can make Wednesday night, forcing the New Orleans Hornets into 24 turnovers and holding them to just 23 made field goals and the fewest single-game point total in franchise history in a suffocating 77-62 victory at the New Orleans Arena.
The 76ers (2-2), who snapped a two-game losing streak, held the Hornets (2-2) to just 25 points in the second half as New Orleans hit just 9-of-32 from the field (28.1 percent). The 24 turnovers led to 26 Philadelphia points - one more point than the Hornets scored in the second half.
"It's rough," said Hornets forward Jason Smith, who had four turnovers. "We can't play like that. We have to play as efficient as possible. Twenty-four turnovers on our part is almost giving them the game."
The Hornets' previous low-water mark in the franchise's 25-year history was 65 points in losses to Miami in 2000 and to Boston in 2003. They played without the NBA's No. 1 pick Anthony Davis, who is nursing a mild concussion, and first-round pick Austin Rivers, who has a sprained index finger.
"We didn't have the same juice that we normally have," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "I told our guys since we've been here that there's one way that we play. ... We have to play with more force. You don't deserve to win a game after you turn the ball over that many times."
76ers coach Doug Collins said he was mystified by his team's lackluster first-half effort. Philadelphia trailed 37-36 after committing 14 turnovers.
"I didn't say anything (to the team)," Collins said. "We were just so hesitant and indecisive in the first half on offense. We had 14 turnovers, and I told our guys we had a playoff game last year when we had five (turnovers) under the greatest pressure you can have. It was just carelessness."
Collins said the key to the game was the 76ers' defensive pressure in the final 10 minutes of the second quarter and first 10 minutes of the third.
"We really just tried to pick it up," said 76ers guard Jrue Holiday, who scored a team-high 14 points and was one of five 76ers in double figures. "Coach kind of reamed us here at halftime. We tried to pressure everything. We tried to talk and rotate. I really think pressuring them and pushing their offense to the three-point line really helped us."
It hardly mattered that the 76ers played without centers Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown and shooting guard Jason Richardson. In addition to Holiday's 14 points, they got 14 from Evan Turner, 12 each from Lavoy Allen and Thaddeus Young, and 11 from Spencer Hawes.
The 76ers took their biggest lead of the game, 65-47, with an 8-0 run in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. The Hornets scored two points on their first nine possessions of the quarter, and at one point they had more turnovers (24) than made field goals (20).
With the Hornets committing five turnovers and missing three shots on their first eight possessions of the second half, the 76ers went on a 10-0 run to take a 46-37 lead. Allen keyed the spurt with a pair of short jumpers. Ryan Anderson finally ended the streak with an 18-foot jumper, ending a 4:13 drought to close the gap to 46-39.
The 76ers forced eight turnovers and held the Hornets to 4-of-15 shooting and 10 third-quarter points in building a 57-47 lead. Jrue Holiday had four assists in the quarter. The 76ers' defense was so dominant that the Hornets had 18 field goals and 18 turnovers in the first three quarters.
Both teams played shorthanded and combined for 24 turnovers in a forgettable first half in which the Hornets took a 37-36 lead. Jason Smith came off the bench to pace the Hornets with eight points, and Greivis Vasquez, averaging 9.7 assists per game, had five points and six assists.
The Hornets failed to take advantage of their size advantage, however, preferring to shoot from the perimeter, making just 14-of-37 from the field (37.8 percent). Evan Turner led the 76ers with eight points, and Spencer Hawes had seven off the bench.
Al-Farouq Aminu was the only Hornet in double figures -- barely -- with just 10 points.
NOTES: Collins said he was thrilled to be 2-2 after not having scored more than 88 points in the first four games. ... After being fined $25,000 for criticizing the NBA's concussion policy, Williams said before Wednesday night's game that his remarks were "inappropriate." Davis suffered a mild concussion last Friday in a victory over Utah and was not allowed to travel the next day to Chicago because of the league's stringent concussion protocol. He will have to be cleared to play by an independent neurologist after completing a series of physical tests. The league fined Williams for saying: "It's just that now you treat everybody like they have on white gloves and pink drawers. It's just getting old, but it's just the way the league is now." Williams said Wednesday those remarks were intemperate. "I work in a business where you just can't say anything you want to say," he said. "What I said was inappropriate, and you have to deal with the consequences." ... Although Davis was in the Hornets' locker room before the game, bouncing a tennis ball, he declined to comment on his health. ... Also sitting out was Rivers (sprained left index finger), the Hornets' other No. 1 pick. The 76ers played without Bynum (sore knees), Brown (left ankle) and guard Jason Richardson (left ankle). ... Eric Gordon, who played in just nine games for New Orleans last season, flew to Los Angeles for "intensive" rehabilitation of his right knee. He is expected to miss four to six weeks.
