NEW ORLEANS - The Sixers are coming home 3-2 after their 101-93 victory over the Hornets. They werent a game above .500 last season until their 61st game.
Thaddeus Youngs steal at the 5:12 mark of the fourth quarter gave New Orleans their 11th turnover of the game. Youngs dunk that followed gave the Sixers a three-point lead at 86-83.
Jrue Holiday was sensational in the fourth quarter, making 5 of 6 field goals for 14 of his team-high 23 points.
With 2:28 to play in the third quarter and the Sixers down 63-61, Spencer Hawes picked up his fourth personal foul. It was unfortunate because Hawes was the Sixers leading scorer at that point with 15.
Rookie Nik Vucevic hurt his back during pregame warmups and was unavailable to play. Couple that with Marreese Speights being traded earlier in the day, and Doug Collins was thin with big men. Elton Brand did a great job when sliding over to play the center position, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Tony Battie played four first-half minutes, his first game action this season.
Turning point
The 6-0 run the Sixers had to start the third quarter sounds minor but it closed the Hornets deficit to one point in two minutes and 12 seconds worth of game time. The game was close from that point on. It was a big improvement over the way they started the first quarter when they struggled to score.
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Hawes continued his outstanding play with yet another double-digit scoring performance. Hawes entered the game shooting 68 percent from the floor. He made 8 of 12 field goal attempts for 17 points, 11 of which came in the third quarter.
Hawes did have his four-game streak of double-figure rebounds snapped as he grabbed just seven.
Eric Gordon and Jarrett Jack combined to score 41 points for New Orleans. However, Gordon was limited to just two points in the final quarter.
Stat-egic
Through three quarters, the Sixers had forced seven turnovers but had scored zero points off them. In the fourth quarter, they caused six New Orleans turnovers and scored 13 points off them. It was a big reason the Sixers scored 34 points in the final frame.
Take a bow
Evan Turner was a big reason the Sixers came back from 14 down in the first half. In 15 first-half minutes, Turner scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds. By games end, Turner had 21 and six respectively.
Andre Iguodalas follow slam with 1:30 to play gave the Sixers their largest lead of the game to that point at seven. It was just his second made field goal of the game, but even a 2-of-10 shooting night could still garner him play of the day.
Gordon returned to New Orleans lineup after missing four games because of a bruised knee and made 5 of 6 field goal attempts in the first quarter for 11 points. Gordon came into the game averaging 20 points, albeit having played in just one game. He had his average at the end of the third quarter. Gordon has averaged at least 20 points each of the previous two seasons.
Whats next?
The Sixers will play their home opener Friday night against the Detroit Pistons. The Sixers are the last of the 30 NBA teams to play their first home game. Detroit comes to town with a record of 2-4 after a loss to the Bulls Wednesday night.
E-mail Dei Lynam at dlynam@comcastsportsnet.com.