The New Orleans Hornets was the last undefeated NBA team still standing this season until it lost 95-98 against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night.
After three weeks of competition in the NBA regular season, the Hornets have managed to maintain a streak of eight consecutive wins. Because of this impressive record the Hornets were able to get atop of the Southwest Division with a .889 winning percentage. The San Antonio Spurs also boasts the same winning percentage, but with the difference of fewer home wins.
Over the past six seasons, the Hornets have had an irregular performance. The 2004-05 was among their worst seasons ever, finishing fifth in the division with a winning rate of .220.
During the next two seasons New Orleans ended with a winning percentage below .500, .463 and .476 respectively. The team did not show any improvement in its records and only managed to climb to fourth place in the division.
The Hornets' best season was 2007-08 when they were able to ascend to the top of the Southwest Division. With a winning percentage of .683 overall, New Orleans won the division title. The following season, the team went down to its old habits and with 46 victories and 33 defeats finish fourth in the division with a winning percentage of just (598).
During the 2009-10 season, the New Orleans Hornets went on to play 82 games. The franchise won 37 and lost 45 and finished in last place in the division with a low average of .451 wins. The Hornets were able to link two consecutive wins over the last ten games. But it didn’t help, for they lost seven out of those ten.
New Orleans looked for ways to turn around its team and make it a winner and decided to change the head coach. The Hornets dissociated themselves from the services of Jeff Bower and took the risky decision to hire rookie coach Monty Williams.
Williams was a professional basketball player who was part of 5 teams in the NBA from 1994 to 2003. This is his first year as coach. Not only did he had to debut with the big guns but had also the complicated task of improving the Hornets’ game.
The new coach has made a good job during the first twenty days of the season. He managed to get the team out of trouble, and it led to a series of eight consecutive wins.
The Hornets began their participation in the NBA 2010-11 season with a win against the Milwaukee Bucks, then kept its good rhythm against the Denver Nuggets and finished the first week, defeating San Antonio Spurs.
During week two, the Hornets beat the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and Milwaukee. The third week, the LA Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers fell to the Hornets new game plan.
For the fourth week New Orleans was the only undefeated team in the NBA, but the Dallas Mavericks came up to stop the Hornets on their feet.
The Hornets dominated the first two quarters, hitting the halftime break with 52 points, five more than the Mavs. From the third quarter on, Chris Paul -the Hornets key-player- remained off the field due to his untimely personal fouls. The absence of Paul affected the Hornets’ performance and eventually the Dallas Mavericks won fair and square by 95-98.
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