Monday, March 31, 2008
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West, Paul Lead Hornets to Win No. 50

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[March 31, 2008]  TORONTO (AP) -- David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 20 points and 16 assists to lead the New Orleans Hornets to a 118-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

Peja Stojakovic scored 25 and Tyson Chandler had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Hornets bounced back from a 20-point loss in Boston on Friday night to win for the sixth time in seven games.

The Hornets reached 50 wins for the first time since the 1997-98 season.

Chris Bosh scored 21 points and Carlos Delfino added 18 as Toronto's modest two-game winning streak came to an end.

Rasho Nesterovic had 14 and Jamario Moon added 13 for the Raptors, who have lost seven of 10.

Leading 69-58 at the half, the Hornets opened the third quarter with an 18-5 run, forcing the Raptors to call two timeouts before they could recover.

Chandler finished off two alley-oop dunks in the third as New Orleans outscored Toronto 32-21 to take a 101-79 lead into the fourth.

Toronto came back to make it 114-108 with 90 seconds remaining but West made a hook shot and Chandler threw down a dunk as the Hornets pushed their lead back to 10.

The Hornets held a double-digit edge almost all night. After T.J. Ford's jumper tied it at 14-14 midway through the first, New Orleans took the lead for good with an 11-0 run. West had three baskets and former Raptors forward Morris Peterson capped the spurt with a 3-pointer.

West went 8-for-11 with 16 points in the first as the Hornets led 34-24 after 12 minutes.

New Orleans avenged a 97-92 home loss to Toronto on Dec. 31.

Notes: Returning to Toronto for the first time since signing with New Orleans last summer, Peterson received a standing ovation during pregame introductions. With Toronto for seven seasons, Peterson got down and kissed center court before acknowledging the crowd with a raised finger. ... F Jason Kapono made his first start for Toronto since Nov. 9, replacing Jamario Moon. Kapono went scoreless in 16 minutes. ... Linton Johnson, who signed a 10-day contract with Toronto Thursday, made his Raptors debut, scoring six points in eight minutes.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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