By Alejandro de los Rios

There are many ways too look at tonight’s victory - the fact that it was Boston’s first loss to a Southwest Division team; That the Hornets outplayed the best team in the league and stayed atop the Western Conference; How David West outplayed Kevin Garnett (whom coach Byron Scott had called one of the best three power forwards in the history of the game) to the tune of 39 points.

I’m going to go with this: 18,280. That’s the number of fans in attendance tonight, all of which stayed standing for the final 9 minutes of the fourth quarter. In case you’re wondering, the Hornets record for attendance is 18,582 on 4/2/05 against Miami.

Talking to several people in the Hornets organization and people who’ve been around the team all season, the general consensus is that this if this wasn’t the loudest the Hive has been all season, it’s never been louder. Well, everyone said that except coach Scott. Read the rest of this entry »

by Alejandro de los Rios

With apologies to the Hornets pre-game announcers, I’m Live at the Hive right now reporting on the most important game for the Hornets this year — it’s Hugo’s Birthday! (And apparently some really good team from Boston is also in town).

In case you’re wondering, you don’t have to mark this day on your calendar as it’s done every year at random games. Also, no one I talked to in P.R. could tell me when the tradition originated, but it sure is a lot of fun. Season ticket holders George Rosevally (left) and Troy Peloquin (right) seemed to know that tonight was a special occasion and came dressed in their Mardis Gras costumes.

Also here are mascots from the Rockets, Pacers, Magic, and Celtics were in attendance tonight and festivities included musical chairs and a half-time dunk competition. I question the integrity of both competitions as Hugo won both on the basis that it’s his birthday. Save for Lucky, the Celtics mascot, the out-of-town mascots are acting as surrogates for Hugo in different parts of the Arena, doing what mascots do, which in some cases involves giving lap dances. Read the rest of this entry »

By Alejandro de los Rios

In case you missed it, the Boston Celtics are in town to play the Hornets. Not to wander into hyperbole but this game is Ultra-Mega-Gigantor-Huge. So big they should’ve rented out the Superdome for more seating. So big, the Hornets have already projected a standing room only crowd. So big that 289-pound babies have been sighted:

All right, enough of that. All you need to know is that this game matches up the two best teams in the NBA and could be a possible NBA Finals preview (then again, considering how the Western Conference has played out this year, every game on Boston’s West Coast trip could be considered a Finals preview). Read the rest of this entry »