Wow! Coming off of two big wins in a row (Charlotte, 103-86, and Miami, 107-92), when the Portland Trail Blazers come to the Ford on Friday 1/6/06 we have a great opportunity to do something to do something we’ve not done all season, win 3 in a row and get closer to .500 – the Hornets are now 14-17 and are 9-5 in OKC ... and our attendance is now 18,720, getting closer to San Antonio’s 18,797 average.

The Blazers are 10-22, last place in the Northwest division of the Western Conference, one of the weaker divisions in the NBA (the 1st place Timberwolves are 15-14, 2nd place Jazz are 16-16, 3rd place Nuggets are 16-17, 4th place SuperSonics are 14-17).

Earlier in the season, the Blazers put together a string of 6 losses in a row. On the road, Portland is 4-12 and they have currently lost 4 in a row (@ S.A. 1/4, 75-106; @ Dallas 1/3, 81-95; at home v Clippers 1/1, 94-100; and at home v. Memphis, 90-93. But, before that string, Portland had 3 wins in a row, something the Hornets have not done so far: 12/23 @ Minnesota, 91-83; 12/26 @ Sacramento, 105-92; and 12/28 at home v. Philly, 95-91. And, let’s not forget that Portland whipped the Hornets in Portland on 12/2 in 95-88 in OT.

The Blazers don’t have a superstar but they have 5 players averaging more than 10 points a game. Darius Miles (#23, 6-9, East StLouis HS, Ill) 18.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg but he’s only played in 15 games this year and is out indefinitely for knee surgery; Zach Randolph (#50, 6-9, Michigan State) 18.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg; Juan Dixon (#3, 6-3, Maryland) 11.5 ppg, 2 rpg; Ruben Patterson (#21, 6-6, Cincinnati) 11.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg; and Sebastian Telfair (#31, 6-0, Lincoln HS, NY) 10.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg -- he may or may not be playing, having missed at least 8 with a ligament sprain in his right thumb; ESPN is releasing a movie about him – see http://movies.monstersandcritics.com...trical_release



Portland doesn’t support its team so well – it’s in 30th place with 14,055 average attendance at its 19,980 capacity Rose Garden Arena:



So, GO HORNETS ... LET’S GET THAT 3 WINS IN A ROW before we go on the road to Atlanta ... presently a 7-22 team ... and then, after Atlanta, we could be 4 wins in a row!