The 24-year-old point guard finished with 16 points, 15 assists, eight steals and six rebounds. He hit 6-of-13 field goals and even added a blocked shot. The Hornets were led in scoring by Devin Brown’s 19 points, while Emeka Okafor had 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, who are now 2-17 on the season, were led by Al Jefferson’s 20 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. After winning the first game of the season, the T’Wolves have now lost 17 of 18.

Entering the season with championship hopes, the Hornets are just 8-11. The injury to Paul didn’t help matter — although they were struggling even before he went down. Now that he’s back and now that there’s a new coach in place, it’ll be interesting to see if the Hornets can return to one of the top spots in the Western Conference.

Chris Paul is healthy once again (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: EveryJoe

Chris Paul Returns and Dominates

Love broke the fourth metacarpal bone after colliding with a teammate. As a rookie he averaged 11.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.6 blocks in 25.3 minutes per contest.

“Fortunately,” remarked Love, “it’s my non-shooting hand.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the Timberwolves alter their lineup with Love not available. Al Jefferson will be one of the starting bigmen. The other will likely either be Ryan Gomes or Ryan Hollins.

It’s been an interesting offseason for Minnesota. They used their first two picks in the 2009 NBA Draft to select a pair of point guards. The team then wasn’t able to get Ricky Rubio to sign. To replace Rubio, Minnesota signed Ramon Sessions. Now the T’Wolves will have to find a way to replace Love for the next six weeks.

Kevin Love - Minnesota Timberwolves (Image: Zuma Press)

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Kevin Love Injury Update – Broken Hand

Could Amare Stoudemire get traded for Al Jefferson? (Image: Newscom)

Supposedly, the Minnesota Timberwolves want to shake up their roster and that could include trading Jefferson. If they do want to trade Jefferson, getting Stoudemire in return could be one of their better options. However, Minnesota trading Jefferson and the sixth overall pick makes too much sense for the Suns.

After getting the basketball world in an uproar, Boston.com later reported that a different source claimed that the Stoudemire for Jefferson trade wasn’t going to happen. But, according to the report, the Suns remain interested in potentially trading Stoudemire.

For Phoenix, a trade this offseason appears to be a necessity. They can’t afford to return the same core that missed the playoffs last season. If Stoudemire isn’t the one traded, expect a Shaquille O’Neal trade or even a Steve Nash trade.

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Amare Stoudemire Trade – Al Jefferson?

Kevin McHale is out in Minnesota (Image: Zuma Press)

During his reign in Minnesota, McHale is known mostly for his failures. Despite having Kevin Garnett on the team for more than a decade, McHale the general manager could never put enough talent around him to make it to the NBA Finals.

Last season, McHale was asked to go from general manager to head coach. He was actually doing a really good job until star power forward Al Jefferson was lost for the season with a torn ACL.

The Timberwolves apparently wanted to go in a different direction. Who will be the next coach? One possibility is Bill Laimbeer, who recently resigned from the Detroit Shock of the WNBA. The timing of that resignation and McHale leaving could be a coincidence — but maybe not.

Post from: EveryJoe

Kevin McHale Era Over in Minnesota

In: Ray Allen
Out: Devin Harris
There’s absolutely no way that Devin Harris should have made the All-Star team before Ray Allen. Allen is having a great shooting year despite not getting his usual amount of shots. Harris, on the other hand, gets tons of shots and tons of plays called for him on a bad team. You’d think the coaches would recognize the sacrifices Allen has made to make the Celtics a championship team while also recognizing that Harris is a product of his system.

In: Mo Williams
Out: Jameer Nelson
The Magic are having a good season but having three All-Stars is going overboard. As for the Cavs, they too are having a very good season but they have only one All-Star. The fair thing to do would be to swap in Mo Williams and swap out Jameer Nelson. That would give each team two players in the All-Star game … which would be more than fair.

In: Al Jefferson
Out: David West
The coaches simply got lazy with the selection of David West. He’s a great player but he’s not playing as well as last season. Al Jefferson, on the other hand, is playing as well as any forward in the Western Conference. He also has the T’Wolves playing great basketball while West remains a talented role player.

Post from: EveryJoe

NBA All-Star Snubs – Who Should Have Made It