Randolph leads Blazers past Hornets

Randolph’s second straight game of 30-plus points and 10-plus rebounds helped overcome a first-half disaster for Portland in which the Blazers trailed by 27.

A Peja Stojakovic three-pointer tied the game at 91-91 with 5.2 seconds left, but Randolph was fouled on the ensuing possession, and sank his first shot to provide the winning margin.

"This should have been over and done with early," said Paul. "We just let them back in it."

There was still time left for a desperation three-quarters of the court shot by Stojakovic, but the attempt rimmed out. It was determined after the game that the shot was released after the final buzzer, however, and would not have counted even if it had miraculously fallen through.

Stojakovic paced the Hornets with 21 points and Desmond Mason added 18. David West scored 17 and grabbed 13 rebounds for New Orleans, which lost its second straight game after winning its first four to start the season.

The Blazers were playing without head coach Nate McMillan, who suffered a death in his family. Assistant Dean Demopoulos coached the Blazers in McMillan’s absence.

"This team made this comeback and did this for Nate," said Demopoulos.

Travis Outlaw scored 16 off of the Portland bench and blocked a career-high six shots as the Trail Blazers won their second straight.

The Trail Blazers completed their massive comeback at 3:47 of the third quarter when a Martell Webster three-pointer brought Portland even with the Hornets at 66-66. The Blazers took their first lead of the night at 67-66 on a Jarrett Jack technical free throw 40 seconds later.

The Hornets quickly regained the lead, though, taking a 71-69 advantage into the fourth quarter.

The teams traded blowout quarters in the first half. The Hornets and Mason started red-hot. The Hornets scored the game’s first eight points, and Mason poured in 14 to lead New Orleans to a 38-13 lead after the first quarter.

The Hornets stretched their lead to its largest at 40-13 after a driving layup by Bobby Jackson just 20 seconds into the second quarter. Jackson finished with 15 points off of the Hornets bench.

Randolph led the Blazers back, though, scoring 12 points in a second quarter in which Portland outscored the Hornets 33-15. Portland finished the half on a 15-3 run to cut the Hornet lead to 53-46 at the half.

"Truthfully, I don’t think there is any player in the league playing any better than Zach Randolph right now," said Demopoulos.

Game Notes

A Portland fan hit a half-court shot to win a Toyota Tundra truck between the first and second quarters...Hornets center Tyson Chandler was ejected at 6:24 of the third quarter for arguing a foul...Randolph was 15-for-16 from the free-throw line.