East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbooks) - Chris Paul's runner with 2.6 seconds left gave the
New Orleans Hornets an 84-82 win over the
New Jersey Nets at the Izod Center.
Paul finished with 27 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Hornets, who scored 16 of the game's final 19 points to escape with their second straight win. Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 12 boards for New Orleans, which blew a 12-point halftime lead only to rally to win for the sixth time in eight outings this season.
Richard Jefferson had a game-high 32 points, but went scoreless in the fourth quarter for the Nets, who failed to hold on to an 11-point lead with under five minutes to play. Jason Kidd added 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for New Jersey, which has dropped two straight after winning three in a row.
Down 11 points late in the fourth quarter, the Hornets came storming back. Paul started the game-ending 16-3 run with a three-pointer at the 4:25 mark.
During the run, David West scored five points and Morris Peterson tied the game at 82-82 with a four-point play with one minute left.
New Jersey had two chances to regain the lead, but Nenad Krstic missed a pair of free throws with 42 seconds remaining, and after Kidd got the rebound, Krstic missed a jumper in the paint with 18 seconds on the clock and the Hornets got the rebound.
Coming across midcourt, Paul found himself with the ball. He ran the clock down and then went to the rim, hitting the runner over Kidd with 2.6 seconds left.
After a timeout, Kidd inbounded the ball on the other side of half court and Antoine Wright missed a turnaround jumper from the top of the arc as time expired.
Krstic ended with 12 points and 10 boards and Wright also had 12 points for the Nets, who had won seven of eight against the Hornets coming into the game. New Jersey also played its first game without guard Vince Carter, who suffered a grade one right ankle sprain in the Nets' last game.
West finished with 13 points and eight boards and Peterson had 10 points for New Orleans, which ended a two-game road trip perfect.
Ahead 26-21 after one quarter, the Hornets opened the second quarter with an 11-4 run to take a 37-25 lead. Chandler scored the final six points of the run, capping it with an alley-oop dunk at the 6:25 mark.
Peja Stojakovic added a three-pointer nearly 1 1/2 minutes later, increasing the lead to 13 points, and New Orleans cruised into halftime with a 49-37 cushion.
Jefferson took over in the third quarter for the Nets, scoring 16 points in the frame. He scored 10 points during a 12-2 late in the period that turned a 59-52 deficit into a 64-61 lead after his three-point play with 2:24 to play.
Later, after the Hornets retook the lead at 65-64 thanks to a pair of free throws by Chandler, Kidd sent the Nets into the fourth with a 67-65 edge courtesy of a three-pointer with 56 seconds to play.
New Jersey continued to build a lead in the fourth, scoring 12 of the first 15 points in the stanza to take a 79-68 advantage. Sean Williams scored six points during the run, which was capped by a Wright driving layup with 4:52 to play.
Game Notes
New Orleans improved to 4-1 on the road this season...Stojakovic tallied 12 points for the Hornets...New Orleans hit 9-of-10 free throws and 11-of-17 three-pointers...New Jersey hit 16-of-21 free throws and 4-of-14 threes...New Jersey ended a four-game homestand 2-2... Carter was on the bench with his foot in a boot, and there is no timetable for his return.
