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West, Paul lead Hornets past Lakers 116-105

The AP reports: David West scored 15 of his 40 points in the final period to outscore Los Angeles by himself, and New Orleans beat Los Angeles 116-105 to snap the Lakers’ 15-game home winning streak. The Lakers led 92-89 entering the fourth quarter before shooting just 5-of-21, including 3-of-11 from 3-point range while being outscored 27-13… West shot 14-of-23 from the floor and 12-of-13 from the foul line in matching his career high. He also grabbed 11 rebounds as the Hornets (21-10) won for the 16th time in 21 games and avenged two losses to the Lakers in New Orleans earlier this season.

InsideHoops.com notes: Also for the Hornets, Chris Paul shot 11-of-24 for 32 points, 15 assists, no turnovers and 3 steals. Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 8 rebounds. Rasual Butler had 10 points and 6 rebounds. The Hornets shot 50.6%… For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant shot 14-of-22 for 39 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists (4 turnovers). Derek Fisher had 19 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, though he took 18 shots. Lamar Odom came off the bench for a mere 12 points and little else. Pau Gasol shot 3-of-8 for 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. The Lakers shot just 41.9%.

Nuggets blow lead, recover to beat Hornets 105-100

The AP reports: Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points, including a layup with 56.5 seconds left, and the Denver Nuggets blew a 26-point third quarter lead before recovering to beat the New Orleans Hornets 105-100 on Saturday night. J.R. Smith scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for Denver. Chris Paul had 30 points and 11 assists, and David West had 21 points for the Hornets, who had their four-game winning streak snapped… The Hornets played without center Tyson Chandler, suspended for one game for an altercation with Portland’s Joel Pryzbilla on Friday night. Hilton Armstrong started in place of Chandler and had 17 points.

Granger leads Pacers past Kings, 122-117

The AP reports: Danny Granger couldn’t quite keep up with Kevin Martin’s scoring pace, but unlike Martin, he made the most important shot of the game. Granger scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, making all six of his free throws in the final 1:30, to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings 122-117 on Saturday night. Martin led Sacramento with a season-high 45 points. He made 13 of 24 shots, 12 of 12 free throws and a career-high seven 3-pointers, but missed two critical 3-pointers in the final minute… T.J. Ford had 16 points and seven assists, and Troy Murphy had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana. Bobby Jackson had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Brad Miller had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Kings, who have lost eight of nine.

Tyson Chandler suspended, Joel Przybilla fined

Tyson Chandler of the New Orleans Hornets has been suspended one game without pay for throwing an elbow and striking Portland’s Joel Przybilla in the neck. In addition, Przybilla has been fined $7,500 for his role in the incident and assessed a Flagrant Foul Penalty One for a forearm to the chest of Chandler, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, in which Chandler was also assessed a Flagrant Foul Penalty Two and ejected from the game, occurred with 6:16 remaining in the third period of New Orleans’ 92-77 win over the Trail Blazers last night at the Rose Garden.

Chandler will serve his suspension tonight when the Hornets visit the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center.

PJ Brown is retired

The New Orleans Times-Picayune (Jimmy Smith) reports: For all those NBA teams — the Hornets included — who were hoping for yet another comeback by veteran forward P.J. Brown, there’s no good news in the new year. Brown said Wednesday he is officially retired. “My career ended June 17,” Brown said of the day he became a world champion when the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2008 NBA title. Brown had left a voice message to The Times-Picayune to that effect nearly five months ago, on Aug. 7, but would never use the “R” word.

Paul’s triple-double leads Hornets over Wizards

The AP reports: Chris Paul had 15 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds, tying a franchise record with his seventh career triple-double, and New Orleans beat the Washington Wizards 97-85 on Tuesday night… Rasual Butler scored 21 points and David West 20 for New Orleans, which led most of the way and never trailed by more than a basket in its third straight victory… Antawn Jamison scored 22 for Washington, while Mike James added 16 points and seven assists against the team that traded him to the Wizards this season. James struggled defensively against Paul, however, fouling out in the fourth quarter, when he also was called for a technical for arguing with officials… Tyson Chandler had 11 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, while James Posey added 14 points.

Hornets struggling

The New Orleans Times-Picayune (John DeShazier) reports (via blog) on the current state of the Hornets: Getting steamrolled by the better teams isn’t earning the team any brownie points on the national scene. It’s not doing much for their image locally, either, because the folks in New Orleans are the ones who bought the season tickets with the expectation that their team would be among the elite and would challenge the Lakers for Western Conference supremacy. Their record says they are. Only the Lakers, at 25-5, have fewer losses in the West and for that, the Hornets are to be commended. The schedule is about to get particularly difficult, with consecutive road games against Portland, Denver, the Lakers and Utah following Tuesday’s game against Washington in New Orleans Arena. Those four games will be two back to backs, with the Portland-Denver and Lakers-Utah games separated by a two-day break. But the Hornets, with a 2-2 split on the trip, still could walk out of that blender in relatively decent shape.

Paul, West lead Hornets past Pacers 105-103

The AP reports: Chris Paul scored 11 points in the game’s final 3:36 and David West hit a 17-foot fadeaway jumper with 2.5 seconds remaining to help the Hornets rally for a 105-103 win over Indiana on Sunday night. Paul and James Posey scored 19 points each for the Hornets (18-9). West added 18 points, Rasual Butler scored 15 and Peja Stojakovic had 12… Danny Granger led Indiana (10-20) with 34 points. Roy Hibbert scored 19 before drawing his fifth foul with 6:46 to play in the third quarter. He did not return. Troy Murphy had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Pacers, who led by as many as 12 points early in the third quarter. No other Pacer scored in double figures.

Dec 26: Hornets 88, Rockets 79

The AP reports: Chris Paul and his Hornets teammates had a lousy Christmas, so they took it out on the Houston Rockets. Paul had 26 points and 10 assists, and New Orleans snapped a two-game skid with an 88-79 victory over Houston on Friday night. David West added 23 points and Rasual Butler 13 for the Hornets, who took an early lead and never trailed, mindful of their dreadful, 88-68 loss in Orlando on Christmas Day… Yao Ming had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Houston, which dropped its second straight game. Tracy McGrady was held to 11 points, missing nine of his 11 shots from the field… Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 12 rebounds, including a crucial tip-in with 2:32 left and a late offensive rebound on a tip-out to Paul that helped seal the victory.

Dec 25: Magic 88, Hornets 68

The AP reports: Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points to lead the Magic to an 88-68 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday in a matchup of division leaders… However, Stan Van Gundy said he understood how his team could build a 61-31 halftime lead and then shoot 23 percent in the second half… Dwight Howard had 12 points and 15 rebounds in Southeast-leading Orlando’s sixth-straight win. Rashard Lewis added 18 points and Jameer Nelson 14… David West had 13 points for New Orleans. Chris Paul and Devin Brown each added 12. Paul, the NBA steals leader (3.7 average), snapped his league-record string of 108 games with at least one… With Peja Stojakovic also out for the fourth straight game with back spasms, the Hornets were weak up front, and the Magic took advantage.

InsideHoops.com says: The Magic stomped the Hornets something nasty. It was 29-14 after the first quarter and 61-31 at the half. For the game, Turkoglu hit 4-of-6 three-pointers for 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists (but 5 turnovers). Rashard Lewis on 12 shots had 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Jameer Nelson hit 4-of-6 threes for 14 points, 3 assists and 2 steals. Dwight Howard shot just 4-of-15 for 12 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks. Orlando shot just 40.5% but the Hornets were just 33.3%.