New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Tyson Chandler scored 20 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to help the New Orleans Hornets to their fifth straight victory, 106-92, over the Milwaukee Bucks at New Orleans Arena.

Chris Paul scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists and keyed a second-half surge during which the Hornets outscored the 32-13, enabling them to cruise down the stretch.

Peja Stojakovic scored 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and David West had 16 and eight rebounds for New Orleans, which has won eight of its last nine and moved into a tie for first place in the Southwest Division by virtue of Dallas' 104-82 loss at Washington Monday afternoon.

New Orleans is now 28-12 on the season, good for the best record through 40 games in franchise history - including the team's time in Charlotte. The Hornets have won four straight at home, and have outscored opponents by an average margin of 24.5 points in those four wins.

"It's absolutely great," Paul said of the win. "Our entire team just stuck to our game plan. We didn't panic. We all knew we didn't have to change how we approached each series...we kept playing hard. As long as we did that, we knew we had a chance."

Morris Peterson added 14 points and Jannero Pargo went for nine points and six assists off the bench to help make up for the absence of Bobby Jackson, who sat with a strained right hamstring.

Michael Redd had a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds for Milwaukee, while Andrew Bogut contributed 13 and 15 boards.

The Bucks, who have dropped five of six, also got 16 points and six assists from Mo Williams and 18 off the bench from Charlie Villanueva, but were outscored 26-15 in the decisive third quarter en route to a fourth straight loss at the hands of New Orleans.

"We had a tough time getting offensive rebounds," said Bogut. "And we had to rotate, so a guard was stuck with Chandler. He's very, very long, too, so it was tough to rotate all night and he was getting tip-ins all night."

Milwaukee staked itself to an early 15-6 lead as the Hornets came out flat, and took a 24-17 advantage into the second quarter. New Orleans clawed its way back in the second, pulling even by the 4 1/2-minute mark before the Bucks ran off seven unanswered to reclaim a 45-38 edge on their way to a 54-50 halftime cushion.

The Hornets used an 11-0 third-quarter run to take a 61-56 advantage, and led 76-69 entering the final stanza.

New Orleans put some distance between itself and the Bucks by scoring the first six fourth-quarter points for an 82-69 pad. A Pargo three stretched the lead to 89-73 with 8:30 remaining, the Hornets ran away with it from there.

Pargo hit Paul for a fastbreak bucket to push the margin to 99-80 with 4:24 left, and a Pargo-to-Chandler alley-oop off an ensuing Villanueva turnover made it a 21-point game.