Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 28, 1993                   TAG: 9304280033
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Jack Bogacyzk
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HORNETS HONING UP FOR CELTICS, 1ST PLAYOFF SHOWING

The Charlotte Hornets are in Boone, N.C., boning up for their first NBA playoff appearance, but they aren't studying history. In sizing up their first-round opponent, the Hornets aren't looking up into the banner-filled Boston Garden rafters.

"We really like our matchup with the Celtics," said Dell Curry, Charlotte's sixth-man shooter from Virginia Tech. "We match up much better with them than any of the other teams we could have played. What's just as important is that we started playing well at the right time."

The Hornets' first postseason appearance comes in their fifth season, the best-of-five opening series starting Thursday night on the Garden parquet. Charlotte's preseason goal was a .500 record and the playoffs, but a fifth seed and a 44-38 finish exceeded expectations.

"Just two weeks ago we were just hoping to get into the playoffs," said coach Allan Bristow, another former Tech star whose front-office and bench presence has made Charlotte one of the more promising teams in the league. "Now, we're hoping to make some noise."

No small factor was Bristow's April 1 move to start former Richmond star and Danville native Johnny Newman at small forward, replacing David Wingate. It put more scoring potential into the Hornets' motion offense, and they won nine of their last 12 games.

"We went through a rough stretch about a month ago where we were right on the edge for making the top eight [and the playoffs]," Curry said. "So, we've been in a situation where we've had to have playoff basketball for a few weeks now. That's helped."

Charlotte became the first of the four recent NBA expansionists to reach .500 after getting lucky in the lottery and securing needed power in Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning with the first and second picks in back-to-back drafts.

Johnson and Mourning are only the third teammates to average double-doubles in the past decade. The others with that points-rebounds accomplishment were Akeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson with Houston in 1983-84, and Charles Barkley and Moses Malone the next season in Philadelphia.

The arrivals of Johnson and Mourning gave Charlotte a draft trifecta, following the choice of guard Kendall Gill in the 1990 draft, not long after Bristow arrived as general manager.

After owner George Shinn orchestrated the selections of Rex Chapman - he wasn't a wonderdog - and another enigma, J.R. Reid, in Charlotte's first two drafts, Bristow convinced Shinn that the Hornets really weren't going anywhere with the owner making personnel decisions.

Then Bristow left the front office for the bench, installed the motion offense with more shots, and with Johnson and Mourning as tough to play as 5-foot-3 point guard Muggsy Bogues - the NBA leader in assist/turnover ratio for the fifth straight year - the Hornets had a future. Their eight-man rotation averages only 26.6 years of age, by far the youngest team in the playoffs.

Charlotte has sold out 194 straight home games, and Hornets apparel sales rank second in the NBA to the Bulls - yes, even better than Shaq's Magic show. Now, the Hornets have success on the floor, too. Only Orlando's 20-win improvement was better than Charlotte's plus-13 this season.

Charlotte could have played New York, Chicago or Cleveland - and gone down in sweeps after 0-2 starts on the road. Although Boston won three of four with Charlotte this season, the Hornets won the last meeting, at the Garden. Charlotte went from 9-32 on the road last season to 22-19 this year. The Knicks and Bulls were the only other Eastern Conference teams with winning road records.

The key matchup will be Gill and Newman against Boston's Reggie Lewis. Bogues' push-it style will test the Celtics, whose defense in transition is as slow getting back as Charlotte's. And, despite the board scores of Mourning and Johnson, Charlotte is the worst defensive rebounding team in the NBA - allowing an incredible 17 second shots per game.

The Celtics have won six of seven and 15 of 21, but if Charlotte can get a split in Boston, the Hornets have a chance. That's more than they would have had with another first-round pairing.