Brett Martel / Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- C.J. Miles and Devin Harris each scored 18 points, and the Utah Jazz defeated the New Orleans Hornets 90-78 on Monday night.
Paul Millsap scored 16 points and Gordon Hayward added 14 to help the Jazz win for only the second time in 12 games.
Chris Paul, who went scoreless for the first time in his career in a loss at Memphis a night earlier, had 15 points. Marco Belinelli, who had 13 points, was the only other starter in double figures for New Orleans, which shot 37.8 percent (28 of 74) while dropping its second straight.
The Hornets (46-35), who are already playoff-bound, now hold the eighth seed in the Western Conference, a half game behind Memphis (46-34) and 1 1/2 games behind Portland (46-33).
The Grizzlies and Trail Blazers, who each have two regular-season games left, meet in Portland on Tuesday night. The Hornets, who have tiebreakers over both Portland and Memphis, play their regular-season finale in Dallas on Wednesday night.
The Hornets never led and were never closer than six points in the second half in scoring their fewest points in a home game this season.
The Jazz, which shot 55.2 percent (37 of 67) and outscored the Hornets 38-28 in the paint, led by as much as 17 on Millsap's 6-foot runner in the fourth quarter.
Miles, who had scored 12 points in his last three games combined, was 6 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. The Jazz also blocked eight shots, with Derrick Favors blocking three.
The final margin might have been even more lopsided if the Hornets had not outrebounded Utah 42-32, with 13 offensive rebounds leading to 10 second-chance points.
Hornets reserve Willie Green and Jason Smith each added 12 points for the Hornets.
Utah scored the first eight points of the game, with Harris hitting back-to-back 3s, and the Jazz took their first double-digit lead later in the opening quarter, when Hayward scored as he was fouled to make it 21-11.
The Jazz went up by 12 when Miles, who had 10 points in the first quarter, hit his second 3.
When the first quarter ended, Utah was shooting better from 3-point range (4 of 6) than the Hornets were on free throws (3 of 8).
New Orleans briefly trimmed its deficit to 29-26 when Paul set up Quincy Pondexter's 3 from the corner early in the second quarter, but the Jazz responded with Hayward's 21-foot jumper and Favors' dunk. Utah gradually rebuilt its lead to as much as 12 when Miles scored his 12th point of the half on a short floater before Paul's free throws made it 47-37 at halftime.
New Orleans was fortunate to be that close, having shot 38.5 percent (15 of 39) to that point, well off Utah's pace of 58.3 percent (21 of 36).
Notes: Former Hornets owner George Shinn attended his first game since selling the club to the NBA last December. After donating $500,000 to the Salvation Army in New Orleans earlier in the day, he sat in his old courtside seats and received a warm ovation when he was introduced to the crowd during the first half. ... The Hornets announced they their "Believe in Blue" campaign has raised $200,000 to help victims of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. ... The teams split their season series 2-2.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
