Collison leads Hornets past Warriors 135-131

[March 09, 2010]  NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Darren Collison had 16 points and a career-high 20 assists, and the New Orleans Hornets snapped a four-game losing streak with a 135-131 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.

Collison's assists total tied Phoenix's Steve Nash for the most in an NBA game this season.

Marcus Thornton and David West each scored 28 points for the Hornets, who shot 59 percent (54 of 92) and had six players in double figures.

Anthony Morrow made all six 3-pointers he attempted and had 28 points for Golden State, which tied a team season high with 13 3s. Reggie Williams also scored 28 points, while C.J. Watson had 12 points but missed a 3-point attempt that could have tied it in the final seconds.

In a meeting of teams on four-game skids, something had to give. Neither team played much defense, which made for a thrilling, high-scoring, back-and-forth contest to the end. Both teams surpassed 10 3s in the game, with the Warriors going 13 of 25 and the Hornets going 10 of 22.

Golden State also shot 59 percent (50 of 85) and had seven players in double figures. Corey Maggette and Devean George each scored 18, Stephen Curry scored 12 and Chris Hunter 10.

Peja Stojakovic scored 16 points, all in the first three quarters before he left with a right groin strain. Emeka Okafor had 22 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, while Morris Peterson scored 12 points, all on his four 3-pointers.

David West also had a team-leading 13 rebounds for New Orleans, which outrebounded the Warriors 44-23.

The largest lead for either team was 12 when Okafor's alley-oop dunk of Collison's lob made it 84-72. Golden State responded with six straight points on Williams' jumper, Maggette's driving layup and Hunter's turnaround bank shot, and no team led by more than single digits again.

Golden State led 123-121 on Morrow's driving floater with about three minutes left. West responded with a tough layup as he was spun around and fouled by George. He converted the three-point play, which ignited a 9-0 run that featured three layups by Thornton, the last after Collison made his third steal and fed his fellow rookie the ball on a fast break.

Curry's back-to-back 3s trimmed New Orleans' lead to 130-129 with 30 seconds left. Collison then ran down the shot clock inside 10 seconds, drove into the paint and drained a driving floater over Curry to make it 132-129 with 9.7 seconds left.

New Orleans then purposely fouled Williams to prevent Golden State from hitting another 3. Williams made both free throws, but the Hornets were able to inbound to West, who made two free throws on the other end with 7.3 seconds left.

Golden State had no timeouts left, but still got the ball quickly in the corner to Watson, whose quick 3-point attempt hit the top of the backboard.

Thornton, who hurt his back falling over Tony Parker in a loss at San Antonio on Friday night, returned without missing a game and came off the bench to score 16 in the first half against a Golden State team not known for playing defense.

The Warriors came in giving up a league-worst 110.8 points per game. New Orleans had four players -- including Stojakovic (12 points), West (11) and Okafor (11) -- in double figures by halftime.

Still, New Orleans took only a 67-62 lead into the locker room because Morrow (10 points), Maggette (10), George (13) and Williams (13) also reached double figures for Golden State in the first 24 minutes.

NOTES: Collison's nine assists in the first quarter tied his career high for assists in one quarter. ... Golden State is 4-28 on the road. ... Golden State has made at least 13 3s in a game two other times this season, in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Feb. 10 and a loss to Philadelphia Feb. 23. ... The Hornets' 135 points were a season high and fourth highest in Hornets history. The last time they scored more was 136 on April 9, 1997, against Boston.

[Associated Press; By BRETT MARTEL]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.