(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-17 09:49

NEW YORK: The New Orleans Hornets clinched the franchise's first division championship with a 114-92 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul added 22 and 12 assists as the Hornets (56-25) claimed the Southwest title, their first division victory in 20 years.

The Hornets, originally based in Charlotte, moved to New Orleans for the 2002-03 season. Hurricane Katrina forced them to play all but 10 of their home games in Oklahoma City for two seasons before they returned to New Orleans on a full-time basis.

New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul goes strong to the basket during an NBA game against the Los Angeles Clippers in New Orleans on Tuesday. [Agencies]

Wearing T-shirts and hats commemorating the title, the Hornets remained on court for about 30 minutes after the game to be saluted by the sellout crowd.

"I think we kind of validated ourselves with the ability to come into a tough season and win the toughest division in basketball," West told reporters. "This is a great accomplishment for us."

New Orleans trailed 51-49 at the half but then took over, scoring 65 points to pull away from the lowly Clippers.

"Luckily in the second half we came out and played much better," said New Orleans coach Byron Scott after his 300th career victory.

New Orleans will have the No 2 seed in the West playoffs as the Los Angeles Lakers locked up the top seed in the Conference with a convincing 124-101 win over the Sacramento Kings.

The Lakers finish the regular season with a 57-25 record and will have home advantage throughout the West playoffs, along with an extra day's rest before the postseason because they are the only playoff-bound team not playing on Wednesday.

In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Jarvis Hayes scored 20 points and Richard Hamilton added 18 as Detroit clinched the NBA's second-best record behind Boston after a 115-103 victory over the Timberwolves.

With the victory, Detroit will have home-court advantage over any Western Conference opponent if it makes the NBA finals.

The loss, which ended Minnesota's two-game winning streak, was its 60th of the season.

Chauncey Billups added 17 points and six assists against his former team, while Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 30 points.