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Spurs snap Nets' 10-game winning streak
(Agencies)
Updated: 2006-01-11 15:29
The Hornets led 53-48 after a basket by Desmond Mason with 9:48 left in the
third quarter, but Detroit scored the next nine points to take the lead for
good.
Detroit scored the final eight points of the quarter, including consecutive
3-pointers by Tayshaun Prince and Carlos Arroyo, to go ahead 74-64.
New Orleans closed within 80-79 with 6:20 left, but a 12-0 Detroit run,
capped by 3-pointers by Billups and Rasheed Wallace, extended the Pistons'
margin to 13 points by the 3:40 mark. The Hornets came no closer than 11 points
the rest of the way.
Hamilton, the Pistons' leading scorer, has scored 30 or more points five
times this season. Before Tuesday, he hadn't done so since Dec. 14 against
Sacramento.
Paul tore the ligament on the inside of his right thumb Friday during a win
over Portland and missed the Hornets' next game, a 101-93 loss at Atlanta on
Saturday. The team expected Paul to miss two weeks.
But Paul participated in the Hornets' shootaround at the Ford Center on
Tuesday morning and Hornets coach Byron Scott made the decision to play Paul
afterward. Scott said doctors told him that Paul couldn't damage the thumb any
further by playing
"He's just a very competitive young man who wants to play," Scott said before
the game.
The Hornets' first-round draft pick, Paul entered the game averaging 16.3
points, 7.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game, all tops among NBA rookies, and 5.8
rebounds. He had 13 points and five assists in 34 minutes against Detroit.
David West scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half as the Hornets took a
45-42 halftime lead.
Clippers blobber Magic 90-73
Cuttino Mobley scored 18 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Orlando
90-73 Tuesday night, sending the Magic to their fifth straight road loss.
The Clippers were without Elton Brand, who missed his first game of the
season because of a right hip bruise that occurred Dec. 23 at Charlotte.
Brand is averaging 10.7 rebounds, and Chris Wilcox grabbed a career-high 14
while making his first start of the season in Brand's place. Sam Cassell added
13 points, helping the Clippers end losing streaks of two straight overall and
three in a row at home.
Jameer Nelson led Orlando with 18 points — bettering his 12.3 average — and
DeShawn Stevenson added 13. Tony Battie had 13 rebounds.
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