Chris Paul Has 16 Assists to Lead Hornets Past Timberwolves 122-90
Associated Press | Apr 9, 08 9:35 PM CDT in
Sports
Chris Paul had 19 points and 16 assists, and the New Orleans Hornets bounced back to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 122-90 Wednesday night.
Peja Stojakovic scored 24 points and David West had 22 for the Hornets, who scored just 66 points in a loss to Utah on Tuesday.
Rashad McCants had 23 for the Timberwolves, who have lost six straight. Randy Foye scored 20 points for Minnesota, but just four of those came in the final three quarters.
The win gave the Hornets a franchise-best 55 wins, beating the record set in 1996-97.
New Orleans took the opener of a crucial three-game road trip and remained atop the Western Conference.
The Hornets led just 48-46 lead at intermission but Stojakovic _ who finished with five 3-pointers _ sparked a third-quarter surge that put New Orleans in front to stay.
He made back-to-back 3 pointers and a long jumper for a 69-62 lead, and after a jumper and layup from West, Stojakovic again hit from outside the arc to make it 76-62.
Paul ended the 41-point quarter by making a 3-pointer from the corner just before the buzzer, and then looked at the Minnesota bench with his arms extended and palms up as if to say, "What can you do?"
Five of Paul's assists came on alley-oops to Chandler. The duo has done that a league-leading 107 times this year.
Notes:@ New Orleans beat Minnesota by 34 in the team's last meeting on Dec. 22. ... Paul's 16 assists give him 874 on the year to break the franchise record for assists in a season. Muggsy Bogues had 867 in 1989-90. ... The Hornets have most wins of any team against the Western Conference (33). ... Minnesota tied a season-high with 10 3-pointers. ... Greg Buckner, who had 13 points in 31 minutes off the bench for Minnesota Tuesday, did not see action.
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