Not so seventh heaven: Hornets 90, Celtics 78

Robin Lopez and the Hornets were just too much for Paul Pierce and
the Celtics on this night.

All good things must come to an end. As much as we all hate to hear it, it's just reality. And the reality is that the Celtics (20-18) winning streak was going to come to an end at some point, and unfortunately it ended tonight at the hands of the Hornets (13-26) as they fell 90-78.

After a superb opening quarter, it was all down-hill for the Celtics. The Hornets went on to outscore the Celtics 70-53 in the final three frames. Greivis Vasquez and Al-Farouq Aminu led the charge for New Orleans with 15 and 18 points respectively.

In the first of what should be many family affairs, Austin Rivers got the best of his father and had himself a nice game, scoring 8 points in 23 minutes. His entrance into the game in the first quarter got the Hornets going. Before Rivers stepped on the floor, New Orleans trailed 18-9. From then on, the Hornets went out to outscore Boston 81-60.

Here's a recap:

The good:

* The Celtics played a nice first quarter. They looked energized, forcing turnovers at will and dominating in the fast break department. The first quarter was a positive for sure.

* I liked Boston's tempo to begin the game. Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley set the tone by suffocating their opponents and running the floor.

* Coming into tonight, New Orleans was among the leaders in three-point shooting. Tonight, Boston held New Orleans to 11.8% from beyond the arc.

* Although his shot was not falling, Paul Pierce gave the game what it needed. He saw that Boston was struggling on the boards, so he did more than his share by grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with 12 points for his third double-double of the season.

The bad:

* The Hornets ended up edging the Celtics in just about every category. I'll start with rebounding. They outrebounded Boston 45-32, including 11-6 on the offensive glass.

* This doesn't happen often, but Kevin Garnett got outplayed tonight. Badly. Garnett showed his age and then some tonight. He led the Celtics in scoring with 15 points, but his plus/minus was atrocious, something I would have never thought I'd be typing. He was a team-worst minus -26. 11 of his 12 shots came outside the paint, which could be a reflection of tiredness. Robin Lopez had his way with KG, as he scored 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds against the Big Ticket. That was a bit concerning.

* The Celtics got turnover-happy in the third quarter. 7 of their 15 came in the quarter. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett accounted for 4 turnovers in the first 3 minutes of the quarter as part of an 8-0 New Orleans run to start the third.

* New Orleans beat Boston up in the paint, outscoring them 48-32.

* Boston's bench came back down to Earth, scoring only 31 points. The 31 is deceiving because Jason Terry led the bench with 12 points, but they all came in the third quarter.

* Coming into the game, Boston needed to make a concerted effort of stopping the New Orleans' backcourt. You would've thought that the Celtics would've had it easier when Eric Gordon was not in the starting lineup. Instead, the backcourt of the Hornets destroyed the Celtics. Vasquez had 15 points, Rivers had 8, and they combined for 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

* The Celtics finished the game 4-of-18 from the free-throw line. What's worse is that Boston missed their last 7 from the line. Over their last two games, Boston is 18-of-41 from the line for a dismal 44%.

* Boston shot way too many jumpers. 48 of their 74 shots came outside the paint. They only connected on 18 of those 48 fora mere 37.5%. For some reason, Boston just didn't have the legs, and lots of jumpers is the clear-cut sign of tired legs.

Boston will look to regroup tomorrow at practice before hosting the Chicago Bulls on Friday night to wrap up their five-game homestand.