Nets Feel Hornets Sting
The Charlotte Hornets had lost for the first time in nearly three weeks the night before and were playing without their leading scorer for the third straight game.
It didn't matter Saturday.
The Hornets returned to their recent relaxed style and cruised past New Jersey 97-82 a day after their nine-game win streak was snapped at New York.
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The win pushed the Hornets moved into a three-way tie with Toronto and New York for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Charlotte plays New York at home Monday and at Toronto Tuesday.
Hornets point guard David Wesley, who had 19 points and nine assists, stressed the importance of avoiding stress down the late-season stretch.
"We just need to stay loose," said Wesley, who led Charlotte with 19 points and nine assists. "Tonight it wasn't 'We've got to get a win,' it was 'Let's go out and play basketball."
"We didn't want to go out tense and stressing. You can't win big games tight."
The Hornets looked loose as they shared the scoring load in the absence of leading scorer Eddie Jones. Jones has missed the last three games with a cut right ring finger and hopes to be able to play Monday against the Knicks.
Six Hornets scored in double figures, with Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman scoring 16 each, Bobby Phills and Chucky Brown adding 14 each and Eldridge Recasner chipping in 10. Campbell added 13 rebounds.
But interim coach Paul Silas who has won 18 of 28 games since taking over for Dave Cowens in February sent the praise straight to Wesley.
"David's been the force behind all this," Silas said. "He's been given a lot more responsibility as far as play-calling and he's doing an excellent job so far. He's feeling really good about himself and how he's running this club."
The Nets, already been eliminated rom playoff contention, were led by Stephon Marbury, who had 30 points and nine assists. Keith Van Horn added 22 points for New Jersey.
The pair combined to take 42 of New Jersey's 81 shots, but the rest of the Nets were just 13-of-39 from the floor combined.
"If my shot is there, I'll take it," Marbury said. "I don't force anything."
Charlotte led by 11 points in the second quarter, but New Jersey's reserves helped the Nets cut the deficit to 55-53 at halftime.
Aside from starting forward Van Horn, who scored six points during the Nets' 13-4 run over the last five minutes, New Jersey rallied with backups Elliott Perry, Lucious Harris, Chris Carr and Mark Hendrickson.
The Nets made just 6-of-24 attempts from the floor in the third quarter as Charlotte pushed its lead back to 80-67 at the end of the period.
"We got a little stagnant out there tonight," Nets coach Don Casey said. "We didn't move the ball as well as we should have."
Notes: The win was Charlotte's fifth in a row at home. ...The Hornets' bench outscored New Jersey's 24-15. Charlotte is 7-2 this season when its reserves outscore the opponent's. ... Campbell recorded his 10th double-double of the season, nine of them coming since being traded to Charlotte. ... One disappointed fan held up a sign saying he had come from Seymour, Ind., to see Jones play. ... The Nets featured four former Hornets Saturday night: Kendall Gill, Scott Burrell, Perry and Jamie Feick.
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