Paul-led Hornets claim 104-91 victory

• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Dec 4, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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NEW ORLEANS — The Hornets’ recent success against Phoenix continued as they beat the short-handed Suns, 104-91, Wednesday night in the New Orleans Arena.

New Orleans (10-6) won its sixth straight against Phoenix, which was playing without two former NBA Most Valuable Players — center Shaquille O’Neal and point guard Steve Nash. O’Neal, a former LSU star, was resting a sore knee, and Nash had flu-like symptoms.

The Hornets, meanwhile, were just fine in beating the Suns for the second time this season and sixth in the last two seasons. New Orleans hosts Memphis on Saturday.

Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic continued his emergence from an early-season shooting slump to score a season-high 24 points, making 8-of-16 shots, including 5-of-9 3-pointers.

“I’m just trying to step on the court and trying to be active and aggressive,” Stojakovic said. “Some nights your shots go in, sometimes they don’t.”

Chris Paul (24 points and 15 assists) and David West  (23 points and 14 rebounds) both had double-doubles. Tyson Chandler scored 14 points and had nine rebounds, including six offensive.

Hornets shooting guard Morris Peterson returned after a six-game absence because of a sore right knee. Rasual Butler continued to start in Peterson’s place as coach Byron Scott eases Peterson back.

Amare Stoudemire, forced to split time between forward and center in O’Neal’s absence, led the Suns (11-8 after losing their third in a row) with 26 points. Leandro Barbosa, starting Nash’s place, had 19 points. Grant Hill scored 17 and Matt Barnes had 13 off the bench.

“I told our guys before the game,” Scott said, “not to take them lightly because they had two starters out. They were like a wounded animal, so we couldn’t take them lightly.”

New Orleans, which came into the game last in the NBA in rebounds per game, did a better job, outrebounding the Shaq-less Suns, 46-30, including a season-high 17 offensive rebounds.

“We wanted to make sure we got some more possessions tonight,” West said. “We got a lot of long rebounds. Everybody got a lot of rebounds.”

The Hornets enjoyed a big advantage in free throws, making 30-of-35, compared to 10-of-13 for the Suns.

“I think we made a concerted effort to put our heads down and drive the basketball to get to the free-throw line,” Scott said.