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What hasn’t been mentioned much in the NBA blogosphere is the fact that despite their on-the-court success, the New Orleans Hornets are a banged-up team; they’re without the services of David West (back issues) and in their game against the Indiana Pacers Monday at New Orleans Arena, they lost starting center Tyson Chandler (left ankle) in the second quarter not to mention that Chandler’s backup, Hilton Armstrong, left in the third quarter with a sore knee.  What all of this meant was that the offensive weapons were limited.  The Hornets would turn to their superhero-in-residence, Chris Paul, and he would not disappoint as he drained an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer, allowing New Orleans to escape with the 103-100 win.

Both teams shot well in the first half, with the Hornets’ Antonio Daniels’ 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter cutting the Pacers’ lead to 28-26 going into the second quarter; New Orleans would tie things up at 28 when Armstrong stole the ball and went in for a layup.  The game remained relatively tight for the rest of the period, with some late free throws by Daniels giving the Hornets a 56-55 halftime lead.  As previously mentioned, New Orleans lost Chandler in the second quarter as he sprained his ankle when he landed on the Pacers’ T.J. Ford’s foot.

The third quarter was rather non-descript as both teams combined for a whopping 28 points as the Hornets took a 74-65 lead into the fourth quarter; the Hornets led 97-92 after Rasual Butler hit a jumper with 1:16 left in the game.  Indiana would respond with a trey by Jarrett Jack then a steal and a layup by Ford, tying the game; Melvin Ely would hit one of 2 free throws, putting the Hornets back up 98-97.

Paul would then hit a pair of free throws which would set up the exciting finish to the game; Danny Granger would hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left; but unfortunately for the Pacers, Paul hit the game-winner, an off-balance trey which sealed the win for New Orleans.  New Orleans’ high scorer was Paul with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, a steal but committed 5 turnovers while Peja Stojakovic added 26 (including 5 treys) with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal; Butler pitched in, scoring 17 (including 3 three-pointers) with 5 rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot.

Indiana was led by Granger with 30 points (including 5 treys), 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot while Troy Murphy added 17 with 11 rebounds and 5 assists.  New Orleans (25-13) plays again on Wednesday when they host the New Jersey Nets while Indiana (15-26) makes the short trip to San Antonio to face the Spurs on Tuesday.