Warriors Enjoy Balanced Scoring, Swat Away Hornets 91-87

Even the elite teams are mortals - ask the New Orleans Hornets.  Against the Golden State Warriors on Friday night, they had easily one of their worst shooting nights of the season as they shot only 35.9% from the floor; the end result was Golden State holding off New Orleans 91-87 at New Orleans Arena.

The Hornets led 29-19 in the second quarter when West scored on a putback; they were up 40-31 when Golden State’s Stephen Jackson scored on a layup which started a 16-2 run that included a 3-pointer by Jackson and a pair of layups by Monta Ellis.  That offensive spurt gave the Warriors a 47-42 lead before New Orleans’ Devin Brown hit a floater which would pull the Hornets to within 47-44 at halftime.

Chris Paul would score 15 points in the third quarter - including all of the 11 points in a 11-2 run - that would give the Hornets a 60-55 lead; however, the Warriors were able to tie the game at 67-all at the end of the period on tip-ins by Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf.  A basket by Corey Maggette in the fourth quarter gave the Warriors a 73-70 lead with about 6 minutes remaining in the game.

A driving layup by Paul pulled New Orleans to within 80-78, but Maggette scored; he would soon score again on a 3-point play, giving Golden State an 85-79 lead with 1:21 left to go.  Ellis would hit a pair of free throws with 14.3 seconds left on the game clock, icing the win for the Warriors.

Golden State’s scoring was well-balanced, led by Maggette with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists while Jamal Crawford added 17 with 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal; Ellis and Jackson chipped in 15 apiece - with Ellis grabbing 3 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists along with 2 steals and a blocked shot while Jackson grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 7 assists along with 3 steals.

New Orleans was led by Chris Paul with 31 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals but committing 6 turnovers while David West added 12 with 15 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.  Golden State (15-32) plays again on Saturday when they make the short trip to Houston to take on the Rockets while New Orleans (28-15) travels to Texas as well when they face the San Antonio - also on Saturday.