Rookie Darren Collison had 22 points and 11 assists for his first double-double, and the New Orleans Hornets won their third straight while snapping the Atlanta Hawks' seven-game winning streak, 96-88 on Saturday night.
Fellow rookie Marcus Thornton scored 21 for the resurgent Hornets, who made 12 of 17 3-point attempts. Peja Stojakovic hit five from long range and finished with 17 points, while David West had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Jamal Crawford scored 20 for the Hawks, who became the second straight division leader to lose in New Orleans after Phoenix fell to the Hornets on Thursday night.
Marvin Williams added 17, and Josh Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but Atlanta went 4 of 22 from 3-point range.
New Orleans led throughout the second half, withstanding every Atlanta surge. Collison and Thornton, drafted in the first and second rounds, respectively, showed poise when it mattered, as they have in three straight games.
After Maurice Evans' driving layup as he was fouled pulled Atlanta to 59-56, Collison came back with a 3 and fast-break dunk. When Crawford's jumper made it 64-60 late in the third quarter, Collison hit his second 3, then West followed with a driving layup off the glass and Thornton a breakaway dunk to make it 71-60 heading into the fourth quarter.
Thornton created shots with slashing moves to the hoop and took open jumpers with confidence and without hesitation. He scored 10 points in the final period, notching one three-point play on a tough driving layup into a crowd and later hitting his second 3-pointer of the game to make it 81-71.
Joe Johnson had 14 points, and Al Horford had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hornets outshot the Hawks 43.5 percent to 37.2 percent. Emeka Okafor had 10 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Atlanta jumped out to a 10-2 lead largely because of poor early shooting by New Orleans, which started 1 of 11 from the field. Hawks starting guard Mike Bibby left the game during that stretch with a sprained left ankle.
Soon after, Stojakovic got in rhythm from long range, hitting four straight 3-pointers during a 16-3 run that gave New Orleans an 18-13 lead.
New Orleans continued to pull away for much of the second quarter, going ahead 45-31 after Okafor's block sent Collison the other way for a fast-break layup.
Atlanta responded with a 9-0 run, highlighted by Williams' 3 and dunk to close the gap. Collison's jumper as the shot clock wound down gave the Hornets a 49-42 lead at halftime.
NOTES: Hornets reserve center Hilton Armstrong played for the first time since spraining his shoulder in practice last Monday. ... the Hawks won the only other meeting this season 121-98 in Atlanta one week ago. ... Okafor has had at least one block in all but one game this season. ... Collison has scored in double figures in six straight games. ... The Hawks had won two straight on the road coming in. ... Smith, who came in leading the NBA with 34 blocks, added three more.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
