Hornets rout Hawks

Rasual Butler netted 21 points for the Hornets, who stopped a five-game losing streak. Devin Brown netted 16 points and Tyson Chandler added 14 points and nine rebounds.

"It was very important for us to get a win because we had a five-game losing streak," Butler said. "We haven’t really been playing well on the road so it was good for us to come out and get the win."

New Orleans/Oklahoma City continued to play without star guard Chris Paul (sprained right ankle) and forwards Peja Stojakovic (lower back) and David West (right forearm/elbow). Guard Bobby Jackson (cracked ribs) also missed the contest.

"We had 21 turnovers tonight," New Orleans/Oklahoma City coach Byron Scott said. "If we do that again on Friday, we’re going to definitely lose. We need to be very conscious of taking care of the ball. We felt this was a very important game for us. Our guys came out a little sluggish, but then we got into it and did some really good things tonight."

Josh Childress scored 19 points for the Hawks, who have lost 10 of their last 11 games. Joe Johnson netted 13 points and Shelden Williams added 10 points and nine boards.

Atlanta’s Speedy Claxton suffered a sore left knee and Zaza Pachulia sprained his left ankle in the second quarter. Both failed to return. Marvin Williams also suffered a mildly sprained right ankle.

Both teams notched 23 points in the first quarter, and New Orleans/Oklahoma City edged to a five-point lead at halftime.

The Hornets added to their lead in the third. They closed the quarter on a 12-2 run, capped by a Brown trey with 1.9 seconds remaining, and led 70-56 heading into the final stanza.

New Orleans/Oklahoma City added five points to its lead in the fourth to cruise to the easy win, despite playing shorthanded.

The Hornets shot 34-for-65 (52 percent) from the field, compared to just 30- for-90 (33 percent) by the Hawks.

Game Notes

Paul, who was injured on December 26th, leads the team in scoring (18.4 ppg) and assists (9.0 apg). Stojakovic is averaging 17.8 points per game and last played on November 24th, while West (right forearm/elbow) is averaging 17.4 points and 8.3 rebounds, and has not played since November 12th. Jackson has missed 19 games this season for the Hornets...New Orleans/Oklahoma City and Atlanta met for the first time this season. These teams have split their last eight meetings...The Hornets have dropped five of their last seven trips to Atlanta.