Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers have to be a little relieved that the Hornets are no longer a Western Conference championship contender, because they have had more than a few problems with the mighty Chris Paul over the years.

But the Hornets aren’t in great shape economically and made some bad decisions in the belief that they were close to an NBA title (James Posey was not going to put them over top, no matter how impressive his Celtics championship run was). Things are on the downturn in New Orleans — I don’t even think they’ll make the playoffs — so Derek Fisher probably won’t have to chase Paul through all those picks in the postseason.

Here is Phil Jackson’s thumbnail to containing Paul anyway: “Try to wedge him into holes.” The Lakers fear Paul getting the ball in any sort of space in the middle of the court, because he can create so well for himself or others there.

One thing that can mess up Paul’s game, through no fault of his own, is when New Orleans isn’t making 3-pointers, which are critical to spacing the floor to give him room to operate.

Jackson likened Paul’s game a bit to Isiah Thomas’, saying: “Physically the way he moves.”

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