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Thornton's bucket sends Hornets by Grizzlies in OT

Jan 20, 2011 - 6:49 AM New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Marcus Thornton's layup with 6.6 seconds remaining in overtime gave New Orleans the lead, and the Hornets held on for a 103-102 victory over Memphis to extend their winning streak to six games.

The Grizzlies squandered two chances to win the game when Mike Conley was stripped at the end of regulation and Rudy Gay missed a 15-foot jumper at the overtime buzzer.

Chris Paul had 20 points and 12 assists to lead the Hornets and started the fast break transition that led to Thornton's go-ahead basket in overtime. David West added 19 points and 11 rebounds and Thornton scored 17 off the bench.

"It was a good win. It was hard fought. It might be ugly sometimes, but we got it done," Thornton said.

Conley and Gay had 22 points apiece to lead the Grizzlies, who have dropped four of their last six. Zach Randolph added 17 points and 10 rebounds and Marc Gasol scored 12 with 10 boards.

Memphis squandered a 15-point lead in the third quarter, losing for the 12th time in its last 15 trips to New Orleans.

The Grizzlies had a four-point lead in overtime after O.J. Mayo's layup made it 102-98 with 29.9 seconds on the clock. But that was Memphis' final bucket.

Paul buried a three-pointer to get New Orleans within one, and the Hornets swarmed Conley at the other end to force a turnover. Paul ended up with the ball, dribbled past halfcourt and passed to Emeka Okafor, who found Thornton underneath for a layup.

Harassed by Paul, Gay dribbled off his own foot and scrambled to recover the ball before missing his last-second jumper off the back rim.

New Orleans trailed 62-47 with 7:37 remaining in the third quarter before using a 20-3 run to tie the game. The teams were deadlocked at 67-67 entering the fourth, but Memphis went up by as many as eight on Gay's dunk to make it 81-73 with 8:15 left in regulation.

The Hornets scored nine straight points and took the lead on a Thornton dunk at 5:35, but Memphis later moved back ahead by four on a Gay three-pointer that made it 92-88.

Paul hit a three at the other end to draw New Orleans within one, then air- balled a one-handed runner in the lane with a chance to take the lead. Okafor rebounded it and was fouled, hitting 1-of-2 from the lane to tie the game at 92-92 with 23.6 seconds on the clock.

With all that time left, Memphis couldn't get a shot off. Trevor Ariza defended Conley close and looked to have hit the Grizzlies guard across the forearm as he left his feet in the final seconds.

The ball was knocked back towards midcourt, and neither team gained possession with enough time for a final shot.

"I just made a poor decision," Conley said. "That's on me. I threw the ball away."

Memphis led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter and was ahead 26-18 heading into the second. The Grizzlies carried a 51-42 advantage into halftime.

Game Notes

Okafor had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets, while Mayo scored 10 for Memphis...New Orleans will put its winning streak on the line Friday in Atlanta...The Grizzlies will play Houston at home on Friday, then head back out on the road for four straight road games in Milwaukee, Toronto, New Jersey and Philadelphia.