Hornets coach Byron Scott is shaking up his rotation in hopes of improving the productivity from his shaky bench.
Scott has had a very short bench in recent games, and the reserves have routinely squandered leads or dug holes in the second quarters of games. Forward James Posey has been getting starter-like minutes, and point guard Antonio Daniels and forward/center Sean Marks have been staples off the bench. But beyond those three, Scott has been reluctant to go to the bench.
Players such as center Hilton Armstrong and guard Devin Brown have been as likely to not play as get off the bench. Swingman Julian Wright was in a similar position until an injury to starting forward Peja Stojakovic thrust Wright into the starting lineup.
Scott turned to Brown and seldom-used forward Ryan Bowen to use their "energy" to light a fire under the second unit in the game at Washington on Wednesday night.
The Hornets' bench outscored the Wizards' bench, 30-18, as New Orleans won 109-98 to improve to 18-6 in games in which their bench outscores the opponent's bench. It was a substantial improvement over the previous game in which the Hornets' bench was outscored by the Hawks' bench 26-7 in an 89-79 loss Monday night in Atlanta.
"They were OK," Scott said of the bench as a whole. "Devin did a good job and Ryan did a very good job, but otherwise we still have work to do."
The biggest concern for Scott is finding a dependable backup to All-Star power forward David West. Also, Scott often finds himself playing All-Star point guard Chris Paul the entire second half.
"We just have to play better as a team for 48 minutes," Paul said. "We're only playing well for about 32-35 minutes."
Still, the Hornets won for the eighth time in nine games to improve to 40-23.
HORNETS 109, WIZARDS 98: The Hornets overcame a poor start defensively to pull away from the Wizards on Wednesday night in Washington. The Hornets did the reverse of what happened to them on Monday in Atlanta. In that game, the Hornets enjoyed a 28-20 lead after one quarter, then saw the Hawks seize control and take an 89-79 victory.
On Wednesday night, the Hornets trailed, 28-22, after one quarter, then seized control and rolled to a victory that evened their record at 1-1 halfway through their road trip.
"Coach (Byron Scott) really laid into us after that first quarter," point guard Chris Paul said. "At the beginning of the game we were pretty soft. We played a lot better defense beginning in the second quarter."
The Hornets outscored the Wizards 23-18 in the second quarter to get within a point at halftime, then outscored them, 40-22, in the third quarter, and held off the Wizards down the stretch.
