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Archive for Friday, January 18, 2002

Charlotte officials announce plans to move to New Orleans

January 18, 2002

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— Baron Davis stood in front of his locker and shouted his opinion on the Charlotte Hornets' planned move to New Orleans.

"I ain't answering any questions about the arena," Davis yelled. "Ask me about the game, but don't ask me about anything else because I don't care!"

The Hornets showed little reaction to Thursday's announced move, which came hours before their 93-88 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Allen Iverson, coming off a career-high 58-point performance, scored 33 and hit two free throws with 11 seconds left to seal Philadelphia's win.

It was a crushing loss for the Hornets, who had enthusiastically talked before the game of winning it to improve to .500 for the first time since they were 7-7 on Nov. 28.

"It's so frustrating because every time we get here, we stop playing the type of basketball that got us this close," Davis said. "We just can't seem to get over the hump and it's extremely frustrating."

The streaking 76ers have now won six of their last eight games.

Aaron McKie scored 22 for Philadelphia, which held the Hornets to 36 points in the second half. No one else on the Sixers scored in double figures, but Iverson said everyone did their part, reminding him of last year when Philadelphia went to the NBA Finals.

"We're getting better, the chemistry is getting better on both ends of the floor," Iverson said. "We've got to get back to playing harder than everybody else. We didn't have all the best players last year, but we played harder than everybody. We're starting to do that again."

Lee Nailon tied his career-high with 27 points for the Hornets. David Wesley scored 23, Davis had 13 points and 11 assists and P.J. Brown had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Earlier in the day, team owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge participated in a festive news conference in New Orleans to announce their plans to move the team there. NBA owners still must approve the move, and a vote won't happen for another few months.

Heat 92, Blazers 90, OT

Portland, Ore. Eddie Jones scored 25 points, including a desperation three-pointer that banked in late in the fourth quarter to force overtime, as Miami defeated Portland. The win was Miami's third straight and sixth in nine games.






Spurs 102, Jazz 98

San Antonio Tim Duncan scored 35 points and went 17-for-17 from the free throw line to lead San Antonio past Utah. Duncan grabbed an offensive rebound over Scott Padgett after Antonio Daniels missed a free throw, and his two foul shots with 15 seconds left put the Spurs ahead by four points.






Mavericks 108, Grizzlies 97

Memphis, Tenn. Dirk Nowitzki scored 32 points and Steve Nash added 20 points and 10 assists as Dallas beat Memphis. Four of Dallas' starters finished in double figures to give the Mavericks their fifth victory in six games.






Bulls 94, Hawks 91

Atlanta Ron Mercer hit the go-ahead basket with 37.3 seconds left and added two free throws as Chicago won on the road for the first time this season. The Bulls, who were 0-18 away from the United Center, handed Atlanta its fifth straight loss. Chicago won for just the second time in nine games.

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