New Orleans pushed its win streak to three games and now have won seven of its past eight after beating Charlotte 105-89 Wednesday night.

And still Byron Scott wasn’t happy.

He didn’t exactly have reason to be.  The Hornets (12-6) led by 31 heading into the fourth quarter before the second unit allowed Charlotte (7-15) some hope.

The period led to a post-game lashing by Scott.

Photo by Alex Brandon / The Associated Press

New Orleans' Chris Paul, right, tries to strip Charlotte's D.J. Augustin, a Crescent City native, during the Hornets' 105-89 win Wednesday night.

“I told them I wasn’t happy and I wasn’t going to accept us playing this way,” Scott said. “Basically, their job is to come out and do what the first team did and that’s compete every single night.”

He added, “I just wasn’t happy with it and that’s a shame because I thought we played great for three quarters and we played the fourth like it didn’t matter. And it does matter.”

Regardless, New Orleans – honoring the 40^th anniversary of the city’s ABA Buccaneers by wearing throwback uniforms – won Wednesday’s game in the paint, beating up a young team on its way to outrebounding Charlotte by 13 before the backups came in. The Hornets finished with 48 to the Bobcats’ 38.

Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic continued their outstanding play. Paul finished with 15 points and 15 assists and picked up a steal in third quarter to extend the NBA’s current longest streak to 102 consecutive games with a steal.

Stojakovic contributed 17, mostly coming on 3-pointers, of which he sank 5-of-6.

“The first three quarters I thought we played great,” Scott said. “Very competitive. Did a real good job on pick-and-roll defense. Did a real good job of controlling the paint.

“It was one of the most complete three quarters we’ve played all season long. Too bad we couldn’t top it off in the fourth quarter.”

The game broke open late in the first quarter and early in the second. After Charlotte’s Matt Carroll sank a jumper that cut a one-time 13-point lead to three.

And then the Hornets got rolling and didn’t back off.

First James Posey made a 3-pointer from the flank. A defensive stop led to a Sean Marks dunk and a 29-21 lead.

Morris Peterson then nailed a jumper to begin the second quarter, followed by another Marks field goal.

And what had become a three-point lead turned into a nine-point advantage. It only got worse for the Bobcats.

Emeka Okafor’s dunk brought it back to seven, but that didn’t stop New Orleans’ momentum. Devin Brown made two free throws then added a jumper.

David West hit a technical foul free throw, then Peterson sank two more shots from the charity stripe before nailing one more 3-pointer.

When all was said and done, New Orleans led 43-26 and the Hornets only extended the lead until the second unit coughed up a 31-point fourth quarter lead.

But by the time the Bobcats attempted a comeback, too little time was left and the Hornets held on, getting back at Charlotte for three-point loss in November.

“They sustained their defense a lot better than the first game,” Charlotte head coach Larry Brown said. “They’re a different team. I’ve watched them the last couple of weeks. They’re starting to play like they played last year.”

Charlotte’s D.J. Augustin, a New Orleans native, scored a game-high 28 points.

“I had all of my support here,” Augustin said. “Everybody from New Orleans came to see me play and support me. It was great.”

Now the Hornets travel to play the big boys. New Orleans is on the road Friday night at defending champion Boston, winners of 12 straight games to get to an NBA-best 20-2 record.

Despite playing five games against some of the NBA’s worst teams – Memphis, Oklahoma City and Charlotte – Scott will take the wins heading into the season’s biggest test yet.

“I don’t care if five out of the seven teams were from the Louisiana high school district,” Scott said. “It’s still a win. We want to try to capitalize on that and keep the momentum going. I think everybody understands we are playing the best team in the league in that first game on this road trip.”

Notes:

Peja Stojakovic scored his 12,000th-career point. … The Hornets had a season-high 10 blocked shots. … Morris Peterson’s 16 points was the most he has had since scoring 10 points against Miami on Nov. 8.

Bradley Handwerger can be reached at bhandwerger@wwltv.com or 504-529-6439.