Paul Does It All Hornets Blot Out Suns 118-113

Chris Paul scored 28 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and the New Orleans Hornets defeated the Phoenix Suns 118-113 Saturday night. The loss for Phoenix ended a four game winning streak, for the Hornets it was their sixth consecutive road win. Both teams were missing key starters, New Orleans was without forward David West who bruised his?left hip in Friday nights win over the Golden State Warriors. Phoenix lost guard Raja Bell for the night early in the first period due to what is being described as “flu like symptoms.”

Both teams shot well for the game Phoenix with an impressive 53.2% from the floor, while New Orleans shot at 49.5% for the game. The Hornets however were 11-27 from outside the arc, while the Suns?hit just 7-21. New Orleans had a slim 3 point?lead at the end of?the first quarter 34-31, but Phoenix got hot in the second quarter leading 68-57 as the two teams went to their respective locker rooms. The Hornets though came back strong in the second half cutting the lead down to just 3 points at at 93-90 at the end of the third quarter, and then outscoring Phoenix in the final period 28-20 to seal the victory.

Paul shot 11-26 from the field, 5-6 from the line played the entire 48 minutes of the game and the point guard committed just 1 turnover. Peja Stojakovic scored 23 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1?assist, Mo Peterson scored 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists. Tyson Chandler had his second double-double in back to back games, scoring 19 points, grabbing 11 boards, 2 steals, and Jannero Pargo scored 19 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal.

Leandro Barbosa came off the bench and led Phoenix with 28 points,?3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. Steve Nash had a double-double, ?23 points, 11 assists, 3 rebounds, as two of the best point guards on the planet faced off against each other. The Grant Hill comeback tour continued with Hill getting 17?points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal, Amare Stoudemire also scored 17, 8 boards, 5 blocks.?Boris Diaw scored 11 points off the bench, 4 assists, 3?rebounds, and Marcus Banks also came off the bench to score 11 points, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 rebound. The Hornets are now 23-11 while Phoenix is 23-10.