Saturday, April 16, 2011

New Orleans Hornets' chances against L.A. Lakers are on Chris Paul's shoulders

The payoff is now — for the monitored minutes, for the deference to teammates and for meticulous caretaking in practice.

For the New Orleans Hornets to have any chance to extend the Lakers in their best-of-seven series — not to beat L.A., but at least force it to break a sweat and play more than four games — then all the aforementioned things Chris Paul has done have to combine to allow him to be a one-man wrecking crew.

He must be the kind of unstoppable force he was during the Hornets' 12 postseason games of 2008, when he strafed Dallas and San Antonio for 24.1 points, 11.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, capping a 56-win regular season with two playoff series that showcased why he finished second in the league's MVP balloting.

That's not an unfair or unrealistic expectation.

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