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Rockets rally past Hornets

Feb 28, 2011 - 4:32 AM New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Kevin Martin scored 33 points and Kyle Lowry notched 18, as Houston mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to down New Orleans, 91-89.

Martin went 13-of-13 from the free throw line, including a pair with 18.4 seconds to go that eventually decided the game. Charles Hayes had six points, 11 rebounds, and five assists in the Rockets' fourth straight win.

"We played our game," Lowry said. "We played as physical as them. They're a physical team."

New Orleans' David West scored 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists. Marco Belinelli scored 14 for the Hornets, who had a two-game win streak snapped and have dropped four of the last six games.

Trevor Ariza and Carl Landry both had 13 points in the loss, while Chris Paul was relatively silent in the second half and finished with six points -- on 2- of-12 shooting -- and 12 assists.

"It's tough," Ariza said. "We had an opportunity to come out of the third quarter and step on them. They took that opportunity and came back."

Trailing by 10, 76-66, with 9:33 left to play, Houston went on a 14-2 run to take the lead. Martin hit back-to-back three-pointers before Brad Miller's jumper for an 80-78 margin with seven minutes left.

The game was tied two more times until Hayes' three-point play put Houston in front 88-85. Martin then hit two from the line and Lee then made one-of-two from the charity stripe to push it to four with 5.7 seconds to go.

Green's desperation three-pointer fell short and West tipped it in with time running out to make up the final score.

Martin led all scorers with 10 points in the first quarter, but the Hornets took a 27-21 lead after Paul's two free throws to finish out the quarter.

The game was close during the second quarter until the Hornets went on a 18-0 run to grab a 49-33 lead. West's two free throws started the run while Ariza's layup finished it with three minutes left to play in the half.

Ariza then hit a layup with 17 ticks left to give New Orleans a 55-40 lead at the break.

New Orleans kept a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter and held a 72-62 edge heading to the fourth.

Game Notes

Houston snapped a five game losing streak to the Hornets...Rockets guard Goran Dragic was inactive due to flu-like symptoms.