Do the Hornets have to play Game Five?

After losing a 58-point squeaker at home tonight, the New Orleans Hornets have served very clear notice that they really don't like trying very hard to win playoff games while Byron Scott is coaching them. Either that, or they all have swine flu, or binding golf and fishing commitments for the weekend. How else do you get punked like that, on your home floor, in a game that could have tied your best of seven series at 2-2?

I wrote the other day that Detroit might have been the worst playoff team I've seen in some time, but after tonight's Turd Taco, I'm willing to reconsider for the Bugs. Tonight, they turned the ball over twice beyond an acceptable amount, played as little defense as you'll see outside of Phoenix, and lost by over a 2-to-1 margin in every quarter but the second.

Normally in a blowout loss, the teams trade buckets in garbage time. Not tonight. Up 88-50 after three, the Nugs kept the pace up with a 33-13 final quarter barrage, as Chis Anderson continued to have his revenge, and the Hornets showed that their bench players shared the starter's commitment to excrement.

NBA teams generally have some heart, and Paul hasn't gone down with a Kobe-esque fade-out no-care effort in an elimination game. But there's a first for everything, and if this is his, Byron Scott should't take too much time in packing up his FEMA trailer. He's lost his team, and considering how good they were just a year ago, that's a terrible thing to lose.