One week after the Hornets recorded two straight sellouts, the Arena saw one sellout and one below-average attended game.

But the end result was a gain of nearly 100 fans to their average this season. And yes, I know, I read the Times-Picayune story recently saying team owner George Shinn is looking for a new deal that would make the attendance null-and-void in regards to staying in Louisiana.

You know what? No new deal is in place, and that means until further notice, New Orleans needs to continue selling out. There are 50 games left in the deal for the Hornets to average nearly 14,800 fans at the Arena.

So, here are the new numbers (and remember the deal begins counting from Dec. 1, 2007).

Through 25 games, the Arena is seeing 13,830 fans. What is helping is five sellouts in the past eight games. That's an increase of an average of 1,000 fans since the end of January.

The Hornets at 19-6, and have won four in a row at home, and 6 of their past 8 home games.

On weekday games (those played on Mon-Thurs), the Hornets are averaging 13,126 for 12 games.

On weekends (those played on Fri-Sun), New Orleans gets an average of 14,480 fans for 13 games.

Moral of the story, I guess the Hornets need to play on Friday, Saturday or Sunday!

Here's the key for the rest of this season: New Orleans hosts defending NBA champion and West rival San Antonio on Wedneday night. The Spurs are currently second in the West.

Who are they second to? Los Angeles, who just so happens to be coming to the Arena on Friday.

A sellout in the Arena is 17,188. To make the average eclipse 14,000 for the first time this season, roughly 17,200 fans need to fill the seats for the next two games.

But to continue getting fans rear ends into seats, the Hornets need to at the very least split these two games.

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