Recap: New Orleans vs. Portland
Sports Network | November 14, 2008
New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - James Posey scored 14 points and nailed two key three-pointers in the fourth quarter, as the New Orleans Hornets pulled out a hard-fought 87-82 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Chris Paul logged 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds, while David West scored a team-high 18 points for the Hornets, who had dropped three of four.
Brandon Roy netted a game-high 21 points and LaMarcus Aldridge contributed 15 points and eight boards for Portland, which came in riding a four-game winning streak.
Greg Oden, in his second game since returning from a foot injury, showed spurts of why he was chosen with the first overall pick in the 2007 draft. The seven-footer recorded 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in just over 24 minutes in the loss.
A Posey three-pointer broke a 74-74 tie with 3:37 to play in the game.
After two Oden free throw makes and a long miss from Aldridge in the corner, Posey, a key offseason acquisition, put the Hornets ahead 80-76 with another three-ball with 1:26 to go.
After a Roy miss in the lane, Paul pumped the lead to six with a pair of free throws. Two Roy three-pointers in the final minute made things interesting, but Devin Brown and Paul went a combined 5-for-5 from the stripe down the stretch to seal the game.
Seven straight Hornets points midway through the first helped build a slim 21-19 lead after one period.
Each club's bench were used effectively in the evenly matched second and third frames. Portland used its outside shooting to jump ahead 44-41 at the break, only to have New Orleans take a 64-62 edge on Posey's three-pointer late in the third quarter.
Oden's two-handed dunk and Roy's mid-range jumper made it a 72-70 game at the seven-minute mark of the fourth, and Roy sunk two free throws to tie the game three minutes later.
Paul failed to compile 20-plus points and 10-plus assists for the first time this season...The home team has won eight straight and 11 of the last 12 meetings in the series.
