Paul’s Homecoming Ruined, Bobcats Edge Hornets 92-89

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap

New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul grew up about 90 minutes from his team’s opponent, Charlotte; and as such, he wanted to impress his family and friends – all 500 of them (he sprung for tickets for all of them). Against the Charlotte Bobcats Friday night, he notched yet another 20-10 effort (his 5th straight 20-10 performance), but it was not enough as New Orleans rallied from a deficit to nip Charlotte 92-89 at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Bobcats coach Larry Brown did some alterations to his lineup, starting rookie point guard D.J. Augustin; New Orleans held Charlotte to only seven points in the second quarter as the Hornets shot a miserable 3-of-17 and missed all 5 three-point attempts. As a result, the Bobcats went into halftime with a 47-35 lead. But the Hornets would come back with a vengeance as they erased their deficit to take a 5-point lead going into the fourth quarter; but the Bobcats weren’t quite finished as they fashioned a 14-2 run, capped by a trey by Augustin, which gave Charlotte an 85-78 lead with 2:54 left in the game. New Orleans’ Peja Stojakovic drained a pair of 3-pointers which got the Hornets to within 90-89 with 14 ticks left on the clock; but the Hornets’ Raymond Felton made a pair of free throws and Paul would miss a long 3-pointer, sealing the win for Charlotte.

The Bobcats were led by Jason Richardson and Felton with 20 points each – with Richardson adding 5 rebounds, an assist and 2 steals while Felton added a rebound, 3 assists and a steal; Emeka Okafor notched a double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, an assist and a steal. The Hornets were led by Paul and Stojakovic – with Paul adding 3 rebounds, 10 assists and 6 steals while Stojakovic added 7 rebounds, an assist not to mention 6 three-pointers. Charlotte (2-3) plays again on Sunday as they continue their homestand, hosting the Toronto Raptors while New Orleans (3-2) returns to the Big Easy to host the Miami Heat on Saturday night.

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