Recap: New Orleans vs. Chicago
Chris Paul scored a game-high 37 points, and added 13 assists, to give New Orleans a come-from-behind 108-97 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Paul was a one-man offense, driving the length of the floor on several occasions, weaving his way off high screens to the basket, and splitting defenders with dribbling exhibitions and a soft touch around the rim. The All-Star Paul made 15-of-21 shots.
Peja Stojakovic added 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Bonzi Wells donated 19 points off the bench for the Hornets, winners in three of four overall.
Ben Gordon came off the bench and fired off 17 shots, making 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, to score a team-best 31 points. Drew Gooden notched a double- double with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Luol Deng and Larry Hughes each added 16 points for the Bulls, losers in two straight and four of five.
"We went on a slide in the fourth quarter. A couple of questionable shots we took just seemed to lead to more questionable shots. We called timeout and we addressed that issue, and we tried to play together but the game got physical," Chicago interim head coach Jim Boylan said. "We weren't able to take care of the basketball versus their physical play in the, say, last eight minutes of the game. I thought that was the difference."
Chicago looked to be a good position heading into the fourth quarter. The Bulls' 84-75 lead quickly was cut to five points on a Tyson Chandler free throw and Paul three-pointer. Gordon followed with a fadeaway jumper, but New Orleans continued the attack with Wells' layup and Stojakovic's trey sandwiched around a Gordon three.
Gordon and Gooden scored consecutive buckets to push Chicago's lead to 93-84 before Paul took over. First, the guard hit a tough fadeaway jumper, then slashed past Joakim Noah for a layup after Wells' jumper for a 93-90 game.
He went coast-to-coast for another layup, prompting a Chicago timeout with 4:05 on the clock.
Gordon came out of the timeout with a jumper, and Chicago held a tenuous 96-93 edge before Paul buried a game-tying trey with 2:57 to play. After a Bulls turnover, he drew the defense and tossed a deft lob to Chandler, who converted the slam to put the Hornets in front with 2:26 on the clock.
Wells scored four points in a row and Paul's jumper with 44 seconds to play put the game away at 104-96. The Hornets cruised to victory, as Gordon's jumper with 3:49 to go was Chicago's lone field goal over the final seven minutes.
"It was all Chris Paul," said Chandler. "The little man was all over the floor. He was aggressive. He does it offensively. He does it defensively. He was our spark plug tonight. It was like he took the game over."
The two clubs played to a stalemate at 27-27 after one quarter, and New Orleans took a 51-50 lead into the half.
The Bulls came out firing in the third stanza, taking a 54-51 lead on Gooden's putback in the early stages. Hughes' trey with 7:42 on the clock pushed the edge to 64-55, capping a 14-4 start to the period.
Gordon's three with 1:16 on the clock gave the Bulls an 83-71 advantage and they led 84-75 after three quarters.
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