New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Peja Stojakovic scored 26 points to lead six players in double-figures as the New Orleans Hornets continued their recent hot streak, pummeling the Los Angles Clippers for a 111-92 victory.
David West and Tyson Chandler each recorded double-doubles for New Orleans, with West scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, and Chandler adding 11 points and 13 boards. Jannero Pargo came off the bench to score 14 points for the Hornets, who extended their winning streak to seven games.
"Man, (Peja) played unbelievable," Chandler said. "I felt like I was a kid again watching him play with the (Sacramento) Kings and go on one of those rolls. Its fun watching a guy like that when he gets it going. You just think he's never going to miss."
Corey Maggette paced the Clippers with 24 points as Los Angeles lost for the third time in five games. Cuttino Mobley scored 20 points, and Chris Kaman scored 9 points and corralled 14 rebounds for the Clippers in the losing effort.
After trailing through most of the first quarter, the Hornets picked up the pace late in the period, as a Stojakovic three-pointer with 3:02 remaining highlighted a 13-6 run over the final five minutes of the quarter that sent New Orleans into the second with a 28-22 advantage.
The Hornets took the momentum into the second quarter, scoring the first six points as Pargo's layup ballooned the New Orleans lead to a dozen points. After a Stojakovic layup pushed the lead to 14 with 5:18 left in the half, the Clippers embarked on a 7-0 run that cut the lead in half at 42-35.
But, the Hornets outscored the Clippers 8-2 over the final three minutes of the half and took a 50-37 lead into the break, paced by 12 points from West and 11 points by Stojakovic before intermission.
"We did a real good job, I thought, in the second quarter of shutting some things down," said Hornets head coach Byron Scott. "A big key to the game, I always feel, is (Chris) Kaman. We've got to try to limit his touches as much as possible. We really did a good job of making him fight for position, and then we did a great job of helping to get some turnovers, which enabled us to get up and down the court quickly."
The Clippers roared out of halftime with a 16-2 run to start the third quarter, capped off by a Sam Cassell turnaround jumper just 4:36 into that half to give Los Angles its first lead since midway through the first quarter.
The lead lasted just 15 seconds, as Stojakovic brought the Hornets back almost singlehandedly, nailing five treys as part of a 22-2 run, punctuated by Pargo's fast break layup with 3:03 to go in the quarter that gave the Hornets their largest lead to that point, 74-55.
"It felt good," Stojakovic said. In the third I can't say we were relaxed, but we just couldn't make any shots, and eventually we made a couple of stops and started hitting some shots. Most of the game we were real consistent on both ends of the court."
New Orleans led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter, and the Clippers never closed to within single digits as the Hornets cruised through the final 12 minutes en route to their 30th victory of the season.
"The most important thing was getting the victory," Chandler said. "In the third quarter we imposed our will on them. Peja got hot and the bench came in and played very solid for us."
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