NEW ORLEANS – A little more than a week ago, the Hornets posted a 28-point win against the Clippers.
Eight days later and without Chris Paul, New Orleans again beat the Clippers.
But this one was much closer.
The Hornets held off Los Angeles 110-102 at the New Orleans Arena Tuesday night, ending a three-game losing streak that saw New Orleans lose by an average of 17 points.
“Everybody knows we needed one bad,” rookie guard Marcus Thornton said. “It was big for us to come home and get a win with the home fans behind us.”
With Paul on the bench, General Manager/Head Coach Jeff Bower said before the game everyone was going to have to be involved.
The whole team was, as New Orleans improved to 4-8. Los Angeles fell to 4-8.
Everyone who played for New Orleans scored, including getting 36 points off the bench. Bobby Brown and Marcus Thornton each had 12 points as substitutions, while David West added a team-high 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds.
New Orleans’ four guards combined for 52 points in Paul’s absence.
“You don’t want to have all the pressure on David West,” Brown said. “He’s a good player; he still had a double-double tonight. From the guards’ perspective, that’s what we’re trying to do. Help as much as we can so we can win.”
But the biggest factor in the win might just have been rebounding, where the Hornets won the battle 51-36. New Orleans grabbed 19 offensive boards to Los Angeles’ 11.
“The effort and the results from that effort from the standpoint of rebounding has been a major area for us all year,” Bower said. “We’ve talked a lot about it these last few days. Tonight to have an advantage of 51-36 against a team with a lot of size obviously is really a tribute to our front line.”
“Our inability to maintain the offensive glass (hurt us),” Clippers forward Marcus Camby said. “Those guys were coming and getting big offensive possessions, put-backs and shots like that. They really dominated us inside.”
With Los Angeles keeping the game close – for much of the game, the Hornets’ lead bounce between double figures and four points – it took West, the lone captain playing, to instill some comfort for the Hornets..
West putback a missed James Posey dunk, giving New Orleans a 101-91 lead. After trading possessions, West hit a long jumper, staking the Hornets to a 103-91 lead.
But Los Angeles wasn’t finished off yet. The Clippers’ Baron Davis and Rasual Butler both hit treys, sandwiching a Devin Brown free throw to pull the Clippers within 104-97.
Two Al Thornton free throws cut further into New Orleans’ lead, making it a five-point game with 38.5 seconds to play.
But Peja Stojakovic’s free throws sealed the game, pushing the lead to seven points at 106-99 with 30.1 seconds left.
The 110 points are the most for New Orleans since scoring 112 against the Clippers on Nov. 9.
“We tried to emphasize spacing and ball movement and penetration and playing the game that is available to us,” Bower said. “We did a pretty good with being able to get in the seams and kick out and hold our spacing so the floor is wider.
“I thought we got some good looks instead of struggling and fighting with stationary guys.”
Devin Brown scored 16 points, Darren Collison added 12 and six assists and Peja Stojakovic finished with 15 points.
For the Clippers, Al Thornton had 30 and Davis put in 23 points. Los Angeles’ bench collected only 16 points.
New Orleans now has a day to get ready for the Suns, who come to the Arena on Thursday. The Hornets lost to Phoenix by 20 points earlier this season.
