Still in playoff hunt: Hornets top Grizzlies

Chris Paul scored 21 points, snatched seven rebounds and dished out five assists while Linton Johnson scored 16 points and Rasual Butler added 15 for the Hornets, who remain two games behind eighth place Sacramento for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"We didn’t loose our focus, we did everything we talked about doing in pre-game," said Hornets head coach Byron Scott. "We made some mistakes but we were able to get through them with our aggressiveness, and that is what I was most proud of tonight."

Bobby Jackson scored a game-high 26 points off the bench while Shane Battier totaled 24 points and 10 boards for the Grizzlies, who now trail the Los Angeles Clippers by two games for the fifth spot in the West.

"They just came in aggressive," said Bobby Jackson. "They took what we gave them. They made shots early and that just set the tone throughout the whole game of trying to get to the basket, spotting up and hitting 3’s."

The Grizzlies took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter, but the Hornets quickly took a four-point lead as Paul hit two free throws with 8:22 left to put the Hornets up, 81-77.

With 41 seconds to play, Bobby Jackson drove past Marc Jackson for a layup to bring the Grizzlies within one, 99-98. However with 20.9 seconds left, Paul answered with a conventional three-point play as he drove past Bobby Jackson and went right at Battier, drawing a foul and connecting on the free throw to put the Hornets up, 102-98. The Hornets put the game away by shooting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in the last 14 seconds.

The Hornets outscored the Grizzlies 10-3 over the final 3:20 of the first quarter. Marc Jackson hit a pair of layups to start the run and Johnson followed a Speedy Claxton miss with a dunk to put the Hornets up 26-18 after one quarter.

An 8-1 run midway through the second frame brought the Grizzlies within three, 34-31. Bobby Jackson scored the last five points of the spurt and had 10 points in the first half. Chucky Atkins hit a free throw to briefly put the Grizzlies on top by one, but Johnson hit a jumper with two seconds left in the half to give the Hornets a 44-43 lead at the break.

A Marc Jackson jumper early in the third quarter capped an 8-0 run for the Hornets and put them ahead, 54-46. Memphis slowly chipped away at the lead and with 42 seconds left in the quarter took the lead on a pair of Battier foul shots.

Game Notes

The Hornets have won three of the four meetings between the two teams this season...Memphis has lost three straight games after winning its previous seven...The Hornets shot 59.4 percent from the floor while the Grizzlies hit on 49.3 percent...Memphis lost despite turning the ball over just eight times, compared to 14 turnovers for the Hornets.