What? You thought he’d never play?
Glad to see our team come back from a big deficit tonight.#Hornets
— Eric Gordon (@TheofficialEG10) December 30, 2012
The New Orleans Hornets’ highest-paid player (he’ll make $58 million over the next four seasons) finally made his season debut Saturday night with 24 points and seven assists, helping Hornets overcome a 21-point first-half deficit and extend the Charlotte Bobcats‘ losing streak to 18 games with a 98-95 victory.
From Steve Reed of The Associated Press: “On a late possession, Gordon drove the lane drawing attention from defenders and passed the ball outside where Anderson knocked down a 3-pointer to push New Orleans’ lead to six. Roger Mason, who had all 13 points in the second half, added another 3-pointer on the next possession because of the attention the Bobcats were paying to Gordon.”
The Bobcats are one game away from a winless December. They haven’t won since Nov. 24 and are closing in on their franchise-record 23-game losing streak to close the 2011-12 season.
Gordon, who hadn’t played since April 22 following arthroscopic right knee surgery, was 5 of 13 from the field and 12 of 14 from the free throw line. He had two steals and two turnovers.
One extra item of note from this game: Charlotte coach Mike Dunlap picked up the first technical foul of his NBA coaching career.