Paul Has 21 Assists In Hornets' 118-104 Victory Over Lakers

The way Peja Stojakovic was hitting 3-pointers and Chris Paul was passing the ball, the New Orleans Hornets made scoring look easy. <br/><br/>Stojakovic made a franchise-record 10 3s, and Chris Paul established

Wednesday, November 7th 2007, 7:16 am

By: News On 6

The way Peja Stojakovic was hitting 3-pointers and Chris Paul was passing the ball, the New Orleans Hornets made scoring look easy.

Stojakovic made a franchise-record 10 3s, and Chris Paul established another team mark with 21 assists Tuesday night in New Orleans' 118-104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

``The way he shot the ball tonight was unbelievable. When he's lights out like that, you've got to give him the ball,'' said Paul, who also scored 19 points. ``When you've got shooters like that and Tyson (Chandler) rolling to the rim, it makes my job so much easier.

The win improved the Hornets to 4-0, matching last season's franchise-best start.

Stojakovic missed just three of 13 shots from behind the arc and finished with 36 points. His 3-point bonanza rewrote the Hornets' record of eight, set by David Wesley in 2002. Only three guys in NBA history have hit more 3s in a game than Stojakovic.

``I got most of my shots in transition. Later on, they had to help on Chris playing pick-and-roll with David (West) and Tyson (Chandler), and somehow I was wide open. The guys were looking for me, particularly Chris.''

Paul bested the former team mark for assists, which was 19 by Muggsy Bogues in 1989.

In other NBA games Tuesday, it was: New York 119, Denver 112; Houston 89, San Antonio 81; Sacramento 104, Seattle 98; Cleveland 108, Golden State 104; Orlando 111, Minnesota 103; Phoenix 115, Charlotte 83; New Jersey 87, Atlanta 82; Milwaukee 112, Toronto 85; and the Los Angeles Clippers 97, Chicago 91.

Kobe Bryant had 28 points for the Lakers, taking just 20 shots and making 11 of them. He also had seven assists and six rebounds. Ronny Turiaf had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Andrew Bynum had 13 rebounds.

``Obviously, Chris Paul was making great penetration and Peja shot the ball extremely well,'' said Bryant, who had seven assists and six rebounds. ``You don't want a guy like Peja to get going. It's a lesson learned.

``Chris Paul, he's a fantastic player. He's really something.''

Bryant took as many shots in the third quarter, seven, as he had in the entire first half, making four of them and scoring 10 points.

Los Angeles was without Kwame Brown, who sat out the game with bursitis in his right heel. Brown, averaging 5.7 points and 7.3 rebounds this season, said he expects to be able to play on Friday when the Lakers host Minnesota.

Knicks 119, Nuggets 112

Zach Randolph had 22 points and 17 rebounds, three other players scored more than 20 points, and New York erased a series of double-digit deficits to win in Denver's first trip to Madison Square Garden since last year's brawl.

Jamal Crawford led the Knicks with 25 points and Eddy Curry added 24, nine in the fourth quarter. Stephon Marbury had 21 and nine assists.

Allen Iverson scored 32 points and Carmelo Anthony had 24 for the Nuggets, who led by as many as 15 and were still ahead by 10 going to the fourth quarter.

Rockets 89, Spurs 81

Yao Ming had 28 points and 13 rebounds to help Houston snap a four-game, home-court losing streak to San Antonio.

Bonzi Wells added 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who controlled Tim Duncan and outrebounded the sluggish Spurs 55-28. Duncan had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but went only 5-for-15 from the field.

Manu Ginobili scored 23 points and Tony Parker added 21 for the Spurs.

Cavaliers 108, Warriors 104

LeBron James had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, and Damon Jones' 3-pointer with 2:30 to play put visiting Cleveland ahead for good.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the defending Eastern Conference champions, who kept the Warriors winless with a calm finish on their third victory in their last four trips to Oakland.

Baron Davis had 29 points and 10 assists for Golden State.

Kings 104, SuperSonics 98

Francisco Garcia hit a go-ahead baseline 3 with 29 seconds to play to give new Sacramento coach Reggie Theus a victory in his Arco Arena debut.

Seattle rookie Kevin Durant had 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Sonics, who are 0-4 for the first time in 30 years.

Magic 111, Timberwolves 103

Dwight Howard had 28 points and 16 rebounds in visiting Orlando's victory over winless Minnesota.

Carlos Arroyo had 18 points and six assists, and Rashard Lewis scored nine of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Magic.

Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 25 points.

Suns 115, Bobcats 83

Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Shawn Marion led eight players in double figures with 16 points apiece and Phoenix continued its dominance of the Eastern Conference.

The Bobcats, who had been 2-0 for the first time in their four-year history, trailed by as many as 34 points against the Suns. Phoenix has now won 15 of its last 16 road games against Eastern teams dating to last season.

Charlotte also lost point guard Raymond Felton to a left knee injury late in the third quarter. He was to undergo tests later Tuesday night.

Nets 87, Hawks 82

Richard Jefferson scored 25 points to lead host New Jersey. Jason Kidd had nine points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in nearly collecting his second straight triple-double and helping the Nets win for the third time in four games.

Josh Smith and backup forward Josh Childress had 18 points apiece to lead the Hawks.

Bucks 112, Raptors 85

Desmond Mason was 10-for-10 from the field and scored 21 points to lead host Milwaukee.

Juan Dixon led the Raptors with 20 points.

Clippers 97, Bulls 91

Cuttino Mobley scored 33 points and Corey Maggette added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead visiting Los Angeles.

The Clippers improved to 3-0 despite missing Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston with injuries. The Bulls are 0-4 to start the season for the first time since 2004-05.

Luol Deng scored 22 points for Chicago and Joe Smith added 17.