With Desmond Mason out for the season the Hornets needed someone to step up, and Butler is doing exactly that again.  In his last 7 games, Butler is averaging 11.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.6 blocks per game.  He also has hit 18 of 39 (46.2%) of his three-point shots in those 7 games.  Butler is a very valuable player for the Hornets as he stepped up his game earlier in the season when the Hornets really needed him to and he’s doing it again.

Jannero Pargo has played well off the bench for the Hornets.  In his last 5 games, Pargo is averaging 28.4 minutes, 18.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  His shooting has been right on target as he’s hit 56.3% of his shots from the floor in those 5 games.  He’s also hit 13 of 20 (65%) from three-point range.

Rasual Butler has been outstanding in his last 5 starts.  In those 5 games, Butler averaged 39.6 minutes, 17.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  He has also been shooting well as he hit 51.4% from the floor and he also nailed 11 of 26 three-pointers.  Both of these guys have been big keys to keeping the Hornets season afloat during the major rash of injuries that stung the Hornets.

With all the injuries that the Hornets have suffered this season they needed someone to step up on offense and Desmond Mason has been that guy lately.  Mason has been hot his last 7 games as he’s hitting 51% from the floor in those games.  Mason has averaged 18.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game over the last 7 games.  The Hornets need Mason to keep playing at this level until they start to get some of their injured players back.

When the Hornets traded for Tyson Chandler, all they wanted him to do was play defense and rebound.  He’s been great at both of those things.  Chandler is averaging 5.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game so far this season.  Chandler is nailing 67.6% of his shots from the floor, but most of them are dunks and putbacks.  He must improve his free-throw shooting because he’s only hitting 32.6% of his free-throws for the season and that is downright pitiful.

The Hornets have enough players that can score, so Tyson Chandler can focus on what he does best which is playing defense and rebounding.  Chandler has only averaged 5.6 points per game, but 12.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.  Chandler’s whole offensive game is put-backs and dunks which explains his 66.7% shooting from the floor.