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The Nuggets could not have even hoped to contain Kobe Bryant in Game 2.

Bryant led all scorers with 49 points to go with 10 assists as the Lakers prevailed 122-107 at STAPLES Center on Wednesday to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Pau Gasol added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Luke Walton scored 18 off the bench for Los Angeles. But it was Kobe's show as he went 18-of-27 from the floor and finished one point off his career playoff high. He scored 20 points in an electric first quarter and 25 in the half as the Lakers went into the lockerroom with a 10-point lead.

Bryant was replaced by Coby Karl, the son of Denver coach George Karl. It was the first time in NBA playoff history that a father has coached against his son.

The Nuggets played much better in the second half as Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony combined for 17 points in the third quarter. Iverson led Denver with 31 points and Anthony added 23.

Down 11 with 10:39 to play, Denver went on an 8-2 run to pull within five on J.R. Smith's 3-pointer with 10:25 to play. The Nuggets got within five again on Anthony's layup with 7:16 remaining, but Bryant heled trigger a 13-2 Lakers run with under seven minutes to play to help put the game out of reach.

Bryant scored 19 of the Lakers' final 24 points in the game.

The teams will square off again on in Game 3 on Saturday at 5:30 ET ON TNT.

NBA Top Ten plays for April 22nd

Michael Jordan's latest ad Nike - Jordan Brand: Maybe It’s My Fault

How else to interpret Chauncey Billups’ declaration that tonight’s Game 2 at the Palace isn’t necessarily a must-win game for the Pistons?

"I hope that this doesn’t happen, but if we were down 0-2, I still feel like we’d win the series," Billups said. "But I don’t want to get there and have to prove you all of that."

This is why the Pistons acknowledged Tuesday that they need to reestablish an offensive flow before this best-of-seven series shifts to Philadelphia on Friday. [Detroit Free Press]

To understand big-shot-Bob’s legacy, you have to see one play. That’s all. The background is simple: Sacramento was leading L.A. 2-1, Western Conference Finals. The Kings were also leading game four 99-97 with few ticks on the clock and, possibly, the Lakers’ season.

Or so we thought. The purple-and-gold had final possession. Kobe Bryant received the ball top-of-the-key; playing for the tie, he missed a tough drive left. Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t convert an easy put-back.

The Kings, in desperation, batted the ball to the top of the three-point arch. Waiting patiently was Horry. He gathered possession, calmly stroked the game-winning three, back-pedalling as time expired.

The Lakers won 100-99. The series may have been tied 2-2, but it was over. Three weeks later, L.A. won another NBA Title, while Sacramento has never recovered.

As the Rockets prepare for Thursday’s Game 3 at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Alston thinks there’s a good chance he’ll finally be on the court passing the ball rather than on the bench passing time.

"I’m pushing hard," Alston said of his rehab work. "I’m closer than I was two days ago. I’m doing things that I would have to do — slash, cut, being able to slide. Right now I’m pushing for Game 3."

The reasons for the Rockets’ first two losses are many, but the biggest is that the team has been shorthanded, forced to play without starters Alston and Yao Ming

Coach Phil Jackson acknowledged Monday for the first time that injured center Andrew Bynum’s chances of playing again this season were "remote."

Jackson was asked a question about the difficulty of hurriedly pairing Bynum with Pau Gasol and possibly messing up the Lakers’ chemistry when he said Bynum might not be able to return from a left kneecap injury.

"I think without a doubt that Andrew would come off the bench and we would play him a little bit off the bench if there was any chance that he could come back and play again, but it’s such a remote thing," he said. "We’re not seriously thinking about it." [LA Daily News]

San Antonio Express-News

Spurs fans rose to their feet for a loud ovation, and from the public-address loudspeaker the strains of "Sweet Home Alabama" were heard, which meant only one thing: Robert Horry was back in action for the Spurs.

Horry hadn't played since March 21 when he entered Tuesday's Game 2 of the Spurs' Western Conference first-round playoff series against Phoenix at the AT&T Center with 4:45 remaining in the first half.

"It felt great," Horry said. "It was good just to get a couple of minutes."

It would be Horry's only stint of the game, and he missed the only shot he took in his 3 minutes and 24 seconds. He did, however, have one memorable moment, blocking a point-blank Shaquille O'Neal shot with 3:25 left in the second period.

"That felt good," he said. "One thing I can do now and then is sneak in and get a block. I played with Shaq for seven years, so I know some of his moves down there on the block."

He's No. 4: Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, runner-up in voting for Defensive Player of the Year the previous two seasons, finished fourth Tuesday.
Boston's Kevin Garnett was this season's winner. "It wasn't a surprise that it went to a big man," Bowen said. "Except for the year (Ron) Artest won, it has gone to a big man most of the time."

Tim Duncan was ninth in voting by a 124-member media panel.

Politics in play: Popovich spent part of his pregame time watching election returns from the Pennsylvania Democratic primary election.

Popovich's response to Shaquille O'Neal's post-Game 1 complaints about the Spurs being "floppers" was to compare such talk to diversionary tactics in the political arena, saying he would rather talk about real issues, such as universal health care.

Suns point guard Steve Nash, a Canadian, knows universal health care and likes it.

"I think it's fantastic," he said. "No one is left behind, unless you need an MRI for a Suns-Spurs game. That might take you six months. Other than that, we're good."

Recycler: Nash, the two-time Most Valuable Player, released a commercial Tuesday, which was Earth Day, promoting his new Nike sneaker, the "Nike Trash Talk," which is made of recycled materials.

Nash's production company, Meathawk, produced the spot, which features Nash as the "$60 million man" and plays on his numerous on-court collisions.

"I'm the first athlete ever to wear a recycled high-performance shoe," Nash said, "and since today is Earth Day, I created a viral commercial for the shoe. Filmmaking, obviously, with my production company, is a passion of mine, and the environment is a passion of mine, too. To put the two together is a lot of fun."

-- Mike Monroe

Player spotlight: If Tony Parker experienced any pain from his collision with Shaquille O'Neal in the first half, he did a masterful job hiding it. In the first half, Parker was a one-man fastbreak, scoring a team-high 21 points on seven layups, one jumper and five free throws. Without Parker blowing past the Suns, the Spurs undoubtedly would have trailed at the half by much more than seven points.

Frozen moment: Leading by just six with less than two minutes left, the Spurs needed an easy bucket in the worst way. They got it when Manu Ginobili raced into the paint only to dump the ball off to Tim Duncan when the Suns' Amare Stoudemire closed in. Duncan dunked to give the Spurs a 99-91 edge with 1:47 left. Ginobili finished with 29 points, but it was his third and final assist that may have been the game's biggest play.

How the game was won: After trailing by seven at halftime, the Spurs took control by outscoring the Suns 27-11 in the third period. In the first half, the Spurs' big three of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker scored 51 of their team's 54 points. But Michael Finley came alive after the break, hitting 4 of 5 shots from the field for 8 points in the third quarter. Aiding Finley in the turnaround were reserves Ime Udoka and Brent Barry, who combined for 11 points. The Suns, meanwhile, missed 15 of their 18 shots in the period, which ended with the Spurs leading 81-72. “We played pretty good defense, and they also missed shots,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Tom Orsborn

After a first half Tuesday in which Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had scored all but three of the Spurs' 54 points — Duncan had 13, Parker 21 and Ginobili 17 — the Spurs were intent on finding a way to lessen the load of the Big Three in Game 2 of their Western Conference playoff series against the Phoenix Suns.

Before he sent the Spurs back out for the third quarter, coach Gregg Popovich diagrammed a play designed to get an open shot for Michael Finley, who had missed his only attempt of the first two periods.

With possession to start the second half because the Suns had won the opening tip, the Spurs got into the set immediately and worked it to perfection. Finley came off a pindown on the baseline for a wide-open 15-footer that hit nothing but net.

After Kurt Thomas rebounded a Shaquille O'Neal miss, the Spurs ran a second play for Finley. This time he nailed a 20-footer from the right baseline.

Suddenly, the Suns' defense had another shooter to be concerned about, and the Spurs had another option.

Before the period ended, Finley had scored eight points and the Spurs had turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead heading to the final quarter of their 102-96 victory at the AT&T Center.

The Spurs got a second surge from the bench in their third-period comeback when Ime Udoka chipped in six points.

"We were trying to get Fin's confidence going," said point guard Parker. "Fin and Ime got going a little bit in the third quarter, and that helped us a lot."

Finley was eager to get the chance to atone for an empty first half and thrilled that Popovich called his number right out of the halftime.

"I had a good look at the basket and just knocked it down," Finley said. "Coach told me to just stick with it. We know how this game is played. ... We know how to get out of ruts."

Udoka scored six-straight points near the end of the third, getting a putback basket, two free throws and a layin off a slick feed from Duncan.

The first-year Spurs player was shocked to learn the Big Three had carried such a huge scoring load in the first half.

"I didn't even realize that," Udoka said. "It's always good to take pressure off them so Phoenix can't hone in on just those three guys. Obviously, you saw how Fin came out and gave us a big lift. That got some other guys involved. Then we went to a small lineup and got running. You're going to get different looks if you don't have to set up every time.

"It's always good to take pressure off those three guys, because when it comes down to it, they're the guys that are going to be taking the shots when the game's on the line."

Popovich understood his three offensive stars would not be able to duplicate their first-half production, and that it likely would not be enough, even if they did.

"They were really important," he said of the play of Finley and Udoka in the third. "We need everyone to score. Bench guys have to contribute, perimeter guys have to help you win. The entire game can't be on the shoulders of your so-called stars. Teams win series because everyone participates, offensively and defensively."

Covering the results from 1st round playoff action 04.22.08!

Good evening everyone, I'm BL Anderson. Let's get right to the night's exciting playoff action!

(7) Dallas Mavericks..........103
(2) New Orleans Hornets....127

Mavs
Dirk Nowitzki 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists 7-11 FG w/ 4 turnovers
Brandon Bass: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 5-5 FG w/ 3 turnovers
Jason Terry: 16 points, 4 rebounds 5-8 FG

Hornets
Chris Paul: 32 points, 5 rebounds, 17 assists, 10-16 FG w/ 3 turnovers
David West: 27 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 11-17 FG
Peja Stojakovic: 22 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists 8-13 FG

BL's Take: The Hornets did exactly what they were supposed to do as a higher seed, by taking the games that they are supposed to win at home. However, it doesn't exactly look like the Mavs are even putting up much of a fight. Jason Kidd MUST take more of a scoring role, and must step up his game to the next level, if the Mavs hope to win this series.

Chris Paul is dominant at his position, and is showing everyone the world over that he is the best point guard out there right now. He is a legit MVP candidate, and he is what drives this team. 17 assists is a monster statistic, and shows exactly how he is taking Jason Kidd and whatever defensive scheme that Dallas is going to throw at him apart. Jason Kidd did not have much of a chance at guarding him before, but now that Chris Paul has ascended into the Meteoric Level of basketball play, Kidd can only hope to deny him a couple of scoring opportunities. If I could change my pick, I would. But I can't, so I'll have to remind everyone that I picked Dallas in 6. Or was it 7? Or did I pick New Orleans? Did you see what I did there? Tried to change my pick? Nevermind, I'm an idiot.

(6) Toronto Raptors.........103
(3) Orlando Magic...........104

Raptors
Chris Bosh: 29 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists 9-19 FG
Jason Kapono: 20 points, 5 rebounds 8-12 FG
Jose Calderon: 18 points, 5 assists 7-11 FG

Magic
Dwight Howard: 29 points, 20 rebounds, 3 blocks, 12-17 FG
Rashard Lewis: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists 7-21 FG
Jameer Nelson: 18 points, 6 rebounds 6-10 FG

BL's Take: This one was a tight one that the Raptors may have stolen if it weren't for a very poor start to the game, as the end of the first quarter score was 35-18 Magic. Dwight Howard continued his dominance down low and on the glass, and no one can really contain him at this point once he gets under the basket. It was good to see Jameer Nelson step up and contribute, considering that his inconsistency all season has been a curse more than anything. And the Magic did what they needed to do, which is win their first two playoff home games. Now they'll need to go back to Toronto and win at least one of those games to finish this out in 5.

The Raptors stepped up, especially in the 2nd half, but could not get the job done against a determined Magic team. The Raptors continue to underachieve, which has been and will ultimately be their ultimate downfall. Chris Bosh has a great game, and got some help from the bench, but the rest of the starting lineup was nonexistent offensively. If they hope to take both games at home, they'll need more production from the likes of TJ Ford (1-8 FG) and Jamario Moon (1-7 FG). Going to be a long summer for the Raptors...

(3) San Antonio Spurs.....102
(6) Phoenix Suns............96

Spurs
Tony Parker: 32 points, 7 assists, 13-25 FG
Tim Duncan: 18 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocks 8-20 FG
Manu Ginobili: 29 points, 9-17 FG w/ 4 turnovers
Suns
Amare Stoudemire: 33 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks 13-25 FG
Steve Nash: 23 points, 10 assists, 10-15 FG
Shaquille O'Neal: 19 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks, 6-13 FG

BL's Take: It's good to see Shaq step up and have a good game. Just wasn't enough, because the Spurs come playoff time are not foolin around. The Suns could've gotten past just about anyone else in the NBA in a first round match-up, but they had to play the Spurs. And the Spurs are taking them apart, dictating the tempo of the game, getting good shots for all 3 of their stars, and making the Suns look like they are about 3 steps behind.

The Suns will need to go back to the drawing board in Phoenix and try to figure out exactly how to contain Manu Ginobili, who just won the NBA's 6th Man award. How good are you offensively when you are scoring 29 points in 33 minutes of action. Just...ridiculous.

Be back tomorrow with the roundup from all of Wednesday's action!

Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) -- Former Seattle SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz filed suit Tuesday to undo his sale of the team to an Oklahoma City-based group led by Clay Bennett, saying Bennett lied to him by insisting he planned to keep the NBA franchise in Seattle.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, seeks to deprive Bennett's group of "the fruits of its deception" by rescinding the sale, and described Bennett's actions as "fraud." Schultz and his co-owners never would have sold the Sonics if they thought the new owners would move them out of town, the complaint said. Read the full text of the suit. (PDF)

Starbucks Corp. Chairman Schultz is asking a judge to hold the team in trust until an "honest buyer" can be found who will keep the team in Seattle.

A spokesman for Bennett declined to comment Tuesday.

Bennett's Professional Basketball Club bought the team from Schultz in July 2006, and Bennett publicly insisted he planned to keep the Sonics in Seattle. On July 16 of that year, he wrote a side letter to Schultz denying any intentions to move the Sonics or the WNBA's Seattle Storm: "It is our desire to have the Sonics and Storm continue their existence in the Greater Seattle area," Bennett wrote, according to Schultz's complaint.

"That statement was false from the moment it was made," Seattle attorney Richard C. Yarmuth wrote in the complaint. "The Oklahoma City group's true intention ... was to move the team to Oklahoma City at the earliest possible time."

The complaint also disclosed the existence of an e-mail from Bennett to his co-owners two days before the sale, saying that if a new arena deal was reached to keep the Sonics in Seattle, the Professional Basketball Club could just sell the team in a "sweet flip," and still leave the ownership group "in good shape for something in OKC."

"This recently discovered e-mail makes clear that the Oklahoma City group never intended to own a team that would continue playing in Seattle," the complaint said.

The NBA's board of governors voted last Friday to approve the Sonics' move to Oklahoma. When asked that day about the possibility of a lawsuit by Schultz, Bennett said: "Well, I operated in good faith and that will be vetted through the trial and be clear. And further, I was disappointed because I've had a nice relationship with Howard, and I have not spoken with him about this issue, and I made a commitment to him personally, as well, that was meaningful to me and I hail to that commitment."

Bennett's group is also facing two other hurdles in its efforts to move the Sonics: a federal lawsuit brought by the city of Seattle, seeking to force the team to remain at KeyArena through the end of its lease in 2010; and a federal lawsuit brought by fans who say they were duped into buying season tickets under the premise the team would stay.

Sure the Raptors lost 104-103 tonight, going down 2-0 in their series with the Magic. Sure, Chris Bosh kind of choked thrice in the final 45 seconds (not to mention most of stinking most of the second half). But really the more amazing thing to me is how the Raptors are still in this series at all.

Let’s take a look at the production out of Toronto’s starters beyond Bosh (29 points- only 6 in second half and 10 rebounds): Bargnani (9 points, 1 rebound), Parker (38 minutes, 0 points, 0-for-4 shooting), Ford (6 points, 1-for-8 shooting, 4 TOs), and Nesterovic (5 minutes, 2 points).

That is absolutely horrible production from four of your five starters and just another reason why even though the Raptors lost again tonight, they can still hang their heads high looking forward to Thursday night’s Game 3 in Toronto. I mean, Anthony Parker and Rasho Nesterovic combined for 40 points in Game 1, tonight they combined for 2 measly points, I know Rasho was benched, but Parker? He was the leading scorer with 24 points in Game 1 and he only gets off four shots in Game 2? If he makes a single basket tonight, guess what, 1-1 series. I mean the Toronto bench outscored their starters 57-46 tonight, and this is a bench that is as inconsistent and streaky as the Pistons Game 1 play.

Tonight also harkened back to Game 1, as the Raptors again trailed big in the first quarter, this time by as much as 18 points. Let’s take a further look back at Game 1, where the Magic shot 80% from the field in the game’s first 16 minutes.

I mean, Toronto has been down by 18+ points in the first quarter of both games and T.J. Ford to go along with Andrea Bargnani have played like crap, and this to go along with all the above things mentioned has Toronto down 0-2, sure, but they’ve lost these two games by a combined 15 points, on the road no less, essentially letting Game 2 slip out of their hands with Bosh’s final possession struggles.

Looking at the stats, you’d be thinking that this series was absolutely over and that Toronto had been blown out twice and thoroughly outplayed, but that isn’t the case. Sure, Game 1 was a little harsher, but they cut that deficit down to 7 points in the fourth quarter, while in they were in Game 2 for three quarters with a number of chances to close it out but they couldn’t.

The Raptors, despite their very poor play, are still right in the thick of this series, but they absolutely must avoid a slow start at home for Game 3, something they haven’t been able to do in Orlando. The Magic aren’t playoff tested, and sure they’re up 2-0, but a hostile road environment is a completely different animal then your home building. But that crowd will be silenced immediately if the Raptors start off slow again, virtually eliminating their home court advantage.

One other thought, and that is, please, please Sam Mitchell, start Calderon over Ford, Ford has been absolutely terrible in both games so far, and while Calderon was pretty much equally bad in Game 1 he stepped it up big time in the fourth quarter tonight, hitting two clutch three-pointers and scoring 10 of his final 18 points in the final quarter. Ford cannot handle the bigger, stronger Jameer Nelson on him and the Magic have exploited it, with Nelson scoring 18 points in Game 2 after an even better Game 1.

Other than that, please use Rasho more than five minutes, he was a big part of the stretch run for the Raptors and is really the only big man we have who can body Dwight Howard down low. Also, the Raptors did a very nice job tonight on Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu overall, as even though Turkoglu got them in the final minute the two combed to shoot 11-for-36 from the floor, including 0-for-13 from the three-point line.

Game 3 is Thursday night and should be very interesting, and Toronto must come out of the game strong to get the crowd into the game and put the pressure on the inexperienced Orlando team, just as the Magic did to the Raptors in Orlando.

Don’t forget, to read more about the game flow please visit the Raptors’ Den at MVN.com: http://www.mvn.com/nba-raptors/

New Orleans 127, Dallas 103

NEW ORLEANS, April 22 (AP) -- Dirk Nowitzki skipped out to the perimeter, joining Jason Kidd as they attempted to trap Chris Paul.

Paul promptly let them know they were in for long night, knifing into the lane on the dribble and dropping in a pretty floater.

As brilliant as Paul was in his playoff debut last weekend, his encore was better.

Paul had 32 points and a franchise playoff-record 17 assists, leading New Orleans to a 127-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night that gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

The old record was 15 assists, set by Muggsy Bogues in 1993.

"Sitting there watching Chris really develop into the best point guard in this league, it's amazing to watch how he's really (taken) his game to another level," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "But that's what great players do. He's definitely one of the best on this league right now."

David West scored 27 points and Peja Stojakovic 22 for New Orleans, which took a double-digit lead in the second quarter, led by as much as 25 in the third and never looked back.

Tyson Chandler had his second double-double of the series with 10 points and 11 rebounds, despite playing with foul trouble. Morris Peterson added 12 points and reserve guard Jannero Pargo had 10 for New Orleans, which was 10-of-18 on 3-pointers, with Stojakovic hitting 5-of-7.

"They were going to try some gimmick stuff" against Paul, West said. "It was key that we had the confidence with the ball out of his hands for us to make plays. Peja hit shots, Mo was able to hit some shots. It really disrupted what they were trying to do."

The series now moves to Dallas, where the Hornets have not won since January 1998. But that streak will end if the Mavericks don't figure out how to slow down Paul and a supporting cast that has been playing with enormous confidence since the Hornets stormed back from a 12-point hole to win the series opener.

"We'll take a look at some things, but we've got to have a better effort," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "We've got to go home and get some home cooking. ... They protected their home court; we have a chance to go home and do the same thing. Like I've been saying all along, they are a No. 2 seed that deserves to be No. 2 and we've got to play much better."

Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points, but spent most of the night looking frustrated, yelling at no one in particular after he threw one pass out of bounds. Brandon Bass was a bright spot for Dallas, muscling inside for 19 points. Reserve Jason Terry added 16 points and Josh Howard scored 10.

"We just got outplayed and outfought. They outworked us on both ends of the floor," Terry said. "We have to play a lot harder and just fight. We have a lot of guys with pride in this locker room. When you take a butt-kicking like that, you can only dig deep and come out swinging."

The Mavs hoped Kidd would be a bigger factor in this game, but he finished with only seven points and eight assists. Johnson, however, declined to single out Kidd or anyone else.

"It's not one person," he said "It's a team game, and collectively the team has to do a better job on both ends."

After Paul's dazzling 35-point, 10-assist performance in Game 1, Johnson said the Mavs would throw more double-teams at Paul, hoping to get the ball out of the star point guard's hands.

The strategy backfired badly from the start. Paul easily split or dribbled around double-teams, scoring six points and assisting on eight baskets in the first quarter.

His crossover, between-the-legs and behind-the-back dribbles set up an array of running floaters, fades and jumpers. He found West for several open jumpers and a dunk. He twice found Chandler for alley-oop dunks. The Hornets shot a whopping 71 percent and set a franchise playoff record with 39 first-quarter points.

"They put the ball in Paul's hands. We tried to trap him some early, but if West is going to be wide open at the top of the key, he's making the shot," Nowitzki said. "It's tough to get the ball out of his hands if the shooters are shooting like that."

Dallas got its deficit briefly back to single digits behind 16 first-half points from Nowitzki and 10 from Howard.

But the Mavs hurt themselves with seven turnovers in the second period, which the Hornets converted into 10 points, often in transition, as they widened their lead to 67-51 by halftime.

Whatever adjustments the Mavs made at the break, their plight only got worse.

Paul scored six quick points on two free throws, a driving layup and a running floater, then Stojakovic hit two jumpers, the second for his fourth 3 of the game, giving New Orleans an 80-58 lead.

Peterson then got involved with two 3s and jumper, and the Hornets, who shot 64 percent through three quarters, led 90-66 after West scored while backing in on Bass.

Bass, a force inside during this game, responded with nine points during the remainder of the period, making it 99-79 heading into the final period.

Early in the fourth, Paul scored six quick points on a runner in the lane, an off-balance floater off the glass and a pull-up jumper, putting the Hornets in the clear.

When asked if there was a way for Dallas to stop him, Paul replied, "I'm sure there is, but to me, I hope not."

"One thing I've learned through this season and watching these games is that you have to be aggressive," Paul continued. "If I just sit back and let them trap me, then they succeed in what they had to do. I know I have to pick my spots when I get the ball and let other guys go, but at the same time I have to be aggressive and attack and that's what we did."

Notes: The Hornets scored 17 fast-break points in the first half, when they shot 62 percent. ... Paul had a double-double by halftime with 12 points and 10 assists. ... New Orleans finished with a 29-13 edge in fast-break points. ... Dallas outrebounded New Orleans 38-31. ... The Hornets also set team playoff records for first-half points and 3-pointers made.

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