• Image captured from seatgeek.com
• The Hornets' average ticket prices reflect that of the second-worst team in the NBA

There hasn't been much positive stories to write about the Hornets in the past few months and, with a record that puts them dead last in the Western Conference by five games, it's not hard to see why. Aside from Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza, the roster is filled with journeymen and first- and second-year players that most people would have trouble recognizing if they wore their uniforms out on the street (Pop quiz: Name five players aside from the two I just mentioned that are currently on the active roster).

The Hornets have seemingly plunged into irrelevancy in New Orleans for the time being. Since Chris Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Hornets have seen the player they traded for (Eric Gordon) watch most of the games this season on the sidelines with a knee injury (the latest report says he'll be out another six weeks after having surgery) while the Saints rewrote the NFL's offensive record book and the Superdome hosted the BCS National Championship game. Now, with Mardi Gras in full swing, the Hornets won't host a home game until 15 days away. Really, it's no wonder that the Hornets have the lowest average ticket price in the league.

But while there's no denying that New Orleans is home to a pretty bad basketball team - at least as far as win-loss record is concerned - it's not all doom and gloom for the Bees. For one, the Hornets beat the Utah Jazz last night 86-80 in a scrappy (neither team shot better than 43%), sloppy (there were a combined 30 turnovers) and surprisingly thrilling (the winner wasn't obvious until the last 30 seconds) game. Sure, it's just the fifth win in 28 games for New Orleans, but they did it with just eight players on the roster against a Utah team that's very much in the hunt for the Western Conference's last playoff spot. This team, at the very least, is still trying to win games.

A cynic would be quick to point out that the Hornets probably don't even want to win at this point. After all, between them, the Charlotte Bobcats (3-25) and Washington Wizards (6-22) the race to see who will have the highest odds to land the No. 1 pick in this summer's NBA draft is pretty tight. But while looking at the big picture may be the only way to console die-hard fans looking for some sort of silver lining in what is an otherwise completely forgetful season, it doesn't mask the fact that losing sucks and no amount of gimmicky lineup announcements or theme nights will make up for the fact that no one wants to pay good (even cheap) money to see a team lose every night.

Coming into tonight's game, the Hornets had made a habit of playing competent-to-competitive first-halves and then completely falling apart in second halves. But last night, the Hornets opened the third quarter by outscoring the Jazz 20-4 and, while Utah was able to hang in the game late, New Orleans never really let it slip away. Ironically enough, the Hornets did it on the back of Chris Kaman, a player that the Hornets publicly put up for trade just a few weeks ago. To top it off, last night was also the game in which the team puts on its annual Mardi Gras celebration and everyone got to enjoy the weirdness that is life-size king cake baby.

Of course, barring some Jeremy-Lin-with-the-Knicks-type miracle, the Hornets are not going to get magically better overnight, so wins like last night's are probably still going to be few and far between. The Hornets have been ravaged by injuries and, thus, haven't been able to find a rhythm or a consistent roster all season (thought it's hard to imagine how much better the team would be with so much untested talent on the roster). After the Hornets started the season 2-0, I wrote that eventually the team would endure a serious reality check at some point in the season. Little did we know, that reality check would last all season long.

• Photography by Jonathan Bachman
• Jarrett Jack drives to the lane for two of his 21 points in the Hornets win over the Celtics Wednesday night

If a week ago, anyone had said that the the New Orleans Hornets would be undefeated after two games, with one win coming on the final buzzer on the road and another coming in the form of a dominant performance against the Boston Celtics in front of a sold-out home crowd, it would be hard to take them seriously.

And yet here we are. The Hornets are a surprising 2-0 for the second year in a row under head coach Monty Williams and once again a team everyone thought was going to be bad to just-a-bit-better-than-bad shows that it can play ball. Normally, because the NBA season can be so long, you'd have to take the Hornets 97-78 win over the Celtics last night with a grain of salt. But with a lockout-shortened 66-game season, every game counts more than ever and the Hornets will take every win they can get.

Not that people should be planning any championship parades. The season-opening against Phoenix, though thrilling, came against one of the few teams picked to finish as bad or worse than the Hornets. Last night's win against Boston, though uplifting, came against a team that's opened their season with three road games in four days in New York, Miami and here, with the last two coming in the past 48 hours. At the very least, though, the Hornets have proven capable of taking advantage of teams not playing their best.

Williams has been quick to point out that the lockout ended only recently, and the reduced preseason has left teams shuffling their lineups and with players having to adapt quickly to NBA competition. Last night, the Hornets seemed liked they've been playing together non-stop for years on end, playing solid team defense and rarely missing assignments. Boston, meanwhile, managed to make just over 37 percent of their shots and looked more and more tired as the game wore on.

New Orleans had five players score in double figures last night, with Jarrett Jack leading the way with 21 points and 9 assists. Carl Landry has picked up were he left off last season after he replaced an injured (and now departed) David West and added 20 points and 11 rebounds. Most importantly, when Landry and Jack sat, the team didn't fall apart and after taking the lead in the first quarter, New Orleans never looked back. In the end, there was just no denying the fact that Williams had his players ready to play while Boston looked liked a disheveled version of its former self.

Of course, all of this could just be a mirage created by the shortened preseason, the rapid-fire regular season schedule and the lack of time to teams have had to scout each other since the lockout ended. After all, the Hornets barely even had a set roster as little as two weeks ago, not even Williams could tell how well his team would perform when the real games started (for his part, Williams downplayed expectations throughout the preseason, saying what a young team needed most was practice time that the Hornets didn't have. That lack of practice time and breaks to study film could well come back to haunt this team). It stands to reason that, eventually, other teams that have properly scouted the Hornets will bring them back to Earth.

For now, Hornets fans should bask in their team's second-straight surprising start to a season. And, even if this team does start to regress and ends up being as bad as everyone predicted, they have a solid base of young talent to build around and two draft picks next year to help the cause. All in all, it's fun time to be a Hornets fan.

Fancy that.

In his first press conference as a Los Angeles Clipper, Chris Paul took an extended moment to talk about how much the city of New Orleans means to him, as well as pledging to continue to stay active in the community here. Paul also said that the Crescent City will always have a special place in his heart.

Not special enough to have signed an extension here, but alas, details.