Hornets Lose to the Timberwolves

The final score belies how well the Hornets competed for much of the night, buoyed by strong performances by Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson and magisterial ones from Greivis Vasquez and Austin Rivers.

- Rivers finished with 27 points on 14 shots (5 of 6 from three and 4 of 4 from the line). I don't know how sustainable this kind of deep shooting night really is, but Rivers was shooting (great shots) with a ton of confidence. Needless to say, this was the best we've seen him play, and if his three pointer can progress to an above average level, his hesitation dribble on the perimeter becomes that much more lethal.

- In the midst of yet another horrifyingly poor defensive performance, I thought Anthony Davis had arguably his best defensive night of the year. Indeed, Nikola Pekovic pushed him around with ease, getting post position frequently, and abusing him when did. Davis was not great with man-defense, and he likely won't be for the foreseeable future. But tonight, we saw the lengthy, energetic, rotating help defense dervish that dominated college basketball a year ago. If Davis the help defender can continue to develop like this, the man-defender can wait a little bit longer.

- Greivis Vasquez finished with 15 points (14 shots) and 17 assists. Combined with Brian Roberts' 9 point, 4 assist night, this was the best production from the point guard position New Orleans has seen all season.

- Robin Lopez did not have a single defensive rebound in 25 minutes of play. Minnesota rebounded 38% of their own misses (league average is 27%). These two things are probably related.

- Late night and I need to get to sleep, but what were your thoughts on the game?

Canis Hoopus