Halftime

David West and Bobby Brown combined for 24 points to pace the Hornets into a 58-53 lead at the break.

While New Oreans has led for most of the first half, the Hornets could never quite take complete control fo the game. New Orleans pushed its lead to as many as 14 points before the Clippers brought the lead down to just four points with less than 2 minutes to go in the half.

And after the Hornets pushed the lead back to eight, former Hornet Rasual Butler hit a 3-pointer with 1 second left on the shot clock to make the difference five points at halftime

 

Hornets Projected Starters (3-8)

G Devin Brown, G Darren Collison, F David West, F Peja Stojakovic, C Emeka Okafor

Inactives: Ike Diogu, Chris Paul and Hilton Armstrong

Clippers Projected Starters (4-7)

G Rasual Butler, F Marcus Camby, G Baron Davis, C Chris Kaman, F Al Thornton

 

Quoting General Manage/Head Coach Jeff Bower

"We had a great practice yesterday. We were able to go back and put a heavy emphasis on a few things."

Bower, who coached his first practice as head coach since replacing Byron Scott on Thursday

 

"It puts a premium on team play with movement and execution."

Bower, talking about what happens with CP3 out of the lineup.

 

"One of the things we're trying to do is limit and minimize the number of rotations we have to get in. The only way to do that is do a better job guarding the ball. If we're not able to stay in front of the ball, you get in trouble. We've emphasized that pretty heavily."

Bower, discussing what the focus is on defense.

 

Notes

Rookies Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton have averaged 25.7 points per game the past three contests.

Los Angeles has lost 10 regular season games in a row to the Hornets, beating them last in 2007 in a game in Oklahoma City.

Devin Brown scored 25 points the last time these two teams played. It tied a career high.

These two teams will play two more times this season after tonight: Jan. 13 in New Orleans and March 15 in L.A.