Not a work of art, but they'll take it

Clearly the Hornets are under construction, the completion date unknown this season as to when the hammering will stop.

On Friday night, at least they showed they're capable of winning while all the nails haven't been driven and none of the serious painting has commenced.

The 97-92 win over Sacramento in the home opener Friday night at the New Orleans Arena hardly was a work of art. We shouldn't expect any team to be machine-like in performance in the second game of the season, and the Hornets weren't. A team that surrenders 21 offensive rebounds usually is lucky to not lose by that many points.

But it was a win, and New Orleans needs every one of those it can collect until all the parts mesh and fit together.

"That's not good enough, to allow a team to come in here and dominate us under the basket," Hornets Coach Byron Scott said after watching his team get outrebounded 52-43. "They were more physical than us.

"We've got to do a much better job of being a little more tough and physical."

That's gospel.

A better product than the Kings, whose 17 wins last season were the fewest in the NBA, might've taken advantage of the Hornets. A better opponent would've handed the Hornets their second loss in as many games.

But after the season-opening head-stomping at San Antonio, New Orleans at least gave itself a favorable result on which to focus. Absent clean cohesion and execution, at least the Hornets achieved the ultimate goal.

Plus, they got another glaring example of what new center Emeka Okafor can do.

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