(Sports Network) - Anthony Davis' first game as a pro was a loss, but the New
Orleans Hornets look to rebound Friday when they host the Utah Jazz in the Big
Easy.
Davis scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 29 minutes Wednesday when
the Hornets fell to the San Antonio Spurs, 99-95. Davis played some at small
forward and left the game's best coach impressed.
"He is very talented, and they are going to be very scary in two or three
years," said Spurs' head coach Gregg Popovich. "They are going to be a very
good team. They have great young guys, they're well coached, and they're going
to be good."
Davis wasn't the only Hornet who played well on Wednesday. Al-Farouq Aminu
netted 17 points, Jason Smith came off the bench with 12 and offseason
acquisition Ryan Anderson scored 11.
Davis' fellow first-round pick, Austin Rivers, only had seven points, but he
started at the shooting guard in place of the injured Eric Gordon, who is out
indefinitely with a knee problem.
The Hornets shot a decent 43.8 percent from the field against the Spurs, but
San Antonio shot 47.5 percent, which is too high a number to give up to a good
team.
The Jazz bested the Dallas Mavericks, 113-94, on Wednesday thanks to great
frontcourt play. Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap both had double-doubles and
the new pair of Williams', small forward Marvin and point guard Mo, both had
21.
The Jazz blew the doors off the Mavericks in the third quarter when Utah
outscored Dallas, 37-13.
"We played better, certainly than we did in the first half," said head coach
Tyrone Corbin. "Everybody on the floor understood at halftime that we were
better than what we demonstrated at the end of the second quarter."
The Jazz held the Mavs to 37.6 percent shooting from the floor in their
season-opener, but what was more spectacular was that the Jazz shot
fractionally better from the 3-point line (42.9 percent) than they did in
overall field-goal percentage (42.7 percent).
But the story for the Jazz in the opener was Mo and Marvin Williams. They were
both picked up in offseason trades with Mo coming from the Los Angeles
Clippers and Marvin from the Atlanta Hawks.
The two combined for 42 points, five rebounds, seven assists, only three
turnovers. They shot 14-for-29 from the field, 4-for-7 from the 3-point line
and a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line.
"They have been super all training camp and it's going to transfer all season
long," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said of the two Williams'. "These guys are
very proud guys, they are true professionals. They take it personal and they
go out there and make sure they try and get stops on the defensive end and let
the offense generate from there."
Utah has won six of the last 10 against the Hornets, but lost three of the
last four in New Orleans.
The Sports Network