Source: AP
-- Chris Paul had his first double-double since returning from injury with 15 points and 13 assists to help the New Orleans Hornets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 108-100, on Monday night.
David West scored 20 points for New Orleans, while Marcus Thornton had 18 points and fellow rookie Darren Collison, a former UCLA standout, added 17 points against his hometown team.
Kobe Bryant had 31 points and Pau Gasol added 26 points and 22 rebounds, but they didn't have much help as the Lakers trailed throughout the final three quarters and fell behind by as much as 17 points in the fourth before losing for the second time in three games.
Thornton and James Posey each had three 3-pointers for the Hornets, who hit 10 3s in all while snapping a two-game skid. Posey finished with 13 points and Emeka Okafor grabbed 13 rebounds.
Ron Artest scored 14 points and Lamar Odom 10 for Los Angeles, but the Lakers did not have a point from a reserve until Jordan Farmar's 3-pointer with 2:42 left in the third quarter, which cut New Orleans' lead to 66-61.
The Hornets responded with eight straight points, capped by West's layup on a feed from Paul.
After Gasol's free throws pulled the Lakers to 74-63, Los Angeles was looking to cut it to single digits when Posey swooped in for a backside block on Gasol. New Orleans broke the other way and Collison hit a driving floater in a crowd while being fouled by Gasol. He converted the three-point play to widen New Orleans' lead to 77-63 heading into the fourth quarter.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson appeared ready to concede after Okafor tipped in West's miss to make it 87-70 with a little more than nine minutes left. Bryant joined Gasol on the bench, even thought the Lakers' reserves were being outscored 31-5 to that point. However, the Lakers scored 11 straight points, the last when Bryant checked back in just in time to put back Farmar's missed free throw, cutting it to 87-81 with about 5:40 still remaining.
Darius Songaila, who had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, then hit a jumper to snap the run. After Famar hit another 3, West banked in a tough fade over Odom.
Artest then missed his second 3-point attempt in three possessions and the Hornets began rebuilding their lead. Songaila tipped in West's miss. Soon after, Posey's 3 put the Hornets up 96-86 with 2:19 to go. The Lakers started fouling, but the Hornets hit their next eight free throws — four by Paul and two each by Thornton and Posey.
New Orleans wound up outshooting the Lakers 49 percent to 42 percent as Los Angeles was hurt by 7-of-29 shooting from 3-point range.
Gasol scored the Lakers' first 12 points and his dunk later gave Los Angeles a 21-17 lead, but New Orleans regained the lead for good on consecutive 3s by Posey and Collison.
Those baskets began a 17-1 run that carried into the second quarter and featured two more 3s, one each by Paul and Collison, and New Orleans' lead hovered around 10 points throughout the period.
Odom scored on a spin move in the lane while being fouled as time expired in the second quarter, but missed his free throw, and the Hornets led 50-42 at halftime.
Source: AP
-- Pau Gasol scored 30 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the short-handed Houston Rockets 109-101 on Saturday, getting back on track a night after a terrible outing in Oklahoma City.
The Lakers used a 20-0 run in the last 6 minutes of the second quarter to take a commanding lead and didn't trail after that en route to their eighth win in nine games.
Kobe Bryant, who went to the bench with 5½ minutes left, came up one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Luis Scola led Houston with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Mavericks 111, Warriors 90
At Oakland, Rodrigue Beaubois scored a career-high 40 points as Dallas beat Golden State to end a two-game losing streak.
Beaubois made 9 of 11 3-pointers, was 15 of 22 overall from the field and made his only free throw. The 6-foot guard from Guadeloupe had 26 points in the first half.
Shawn Marion added 18 points for Dallas. Corey Maggette led the Warriors with 21 points, and Anthony Tolliver had a career-high 21 rebounds — 20 in the second half.
Jazz 103, Wizards 87
At Washington, Mehmet Okur had 22 points and 11 rebounds as Utah beat Washington, extending the Wizards' team-record losing streak to 15 games.
Deron Williams had 20 points and 12 assists for the Jazz, and Carlos Boozer added 22 points — hitting all eight of his second-half shots — and 10 rebounds.
Andray Blatche led Washington with 20 points, and Nick Young had 16. The Wizards haven't won since Feb. 28.
Trail Blazers 112, Hornets 101
At New Orleans, Brandon Roy scored 28 points as Portland eliminated New Orleans from playoff contention with its 10th win in 12 games.
Roy hit 11 of his first 12 shots, only two of them layups. He finished 12 of 14 in 32 minutes. LaMarcus Aldridge added 24 points.
Darren Collison had 22 points for New Orleans on 10-of-10 shooting.
Bulls 106, Nets 83
At Chicago, Jannero Pargo scored a season-high 27 points, and Taj Gibson had a career-high 22 points and added 13 rebounds for Chicago.
Terrence Williams led New Jersey with 16 points. The NBA-worst Nets were coming off consecutive victories.
