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Hornets trip up Jazz in close finish

Nov 3, 2012 - 6:22 AM New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Gordon Hayward tripped and Greivis Vasquez took advantage.

Vasquez's floater with 1.3 seconds left lifted the New Orleans Hornets to an 88-86 victory over the Utah Jazz.

With Mo Williams defending him at the top of the key, Vasquez received a screen and Williams and Hayward switched defensively. Hayward then got his feet tangled up as Vasquez drove to his right before banking in the floater.

"I just slipped and fell and he drove and hit a tough shot," Hayward said.

Williams' desperation heave at the top of the key as time expired was off the mark.

Hornets first overall draft pick, Anthony Davis, left the game in the opening half with a mild concussion.

Davis had eight points, six rebounds and two blocks before leaving with 4:51 left in the first half. The 6-foot-11 Kentucky product scored 21 points in his season debut on Wednesday.

The Hornets released a statement after the game saying Davis will undergo further tests in New Orleans on Saturday and is out for Saturday night's game in Chicago. Beyond that he's day-to-day.

"To hold a team like that to 86 points says a lot about our defense. We had a number of guys play tonight and played everybody but two guys - certainly, a team effort in every sense of the word," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "For us, it's going to have to be by committee, but we are finding out that we are going to have to play this way to win games."

Vasquez finished with 13 points and 10 assists, while Robin Lopez and Ryan Anderson each totaled 19 points for New Orleans, which dropped its season opener to the San Antonio Spurs.

Randy Foye led the Jazz with 20 points off the bench in defeat.

Following a pair of Lopez buckets, Foye hit a 3-pointer and Millsap's driving two-handed dunk put the Jazz in front, 82-81, with 1:56 to go in the fourth.

Hayward split a pair from the line before Anderson's right corner triple gave New Orleans the edge right back, 84-83, with 32.7 remaining.

Two Roger Mason Jr. free throws preceded Paul Millsap's high-arching, game- tying 3-pointer, which swished through the net and knotted the contest at 86-86 with 7.1 left.

The game was tied 19-19 after a quarter of play before the Jazz took a slim one-point edge, 41-40, into the locker room.

Lopez netted seven points in the third as the Hornets took a 67-63 margin into the final frame.

Game Notes

New Orleans held a 56-36 points in the paint advantage over Utah ... There were 23 lead changes and 10 ties in the contest ... New Orleans shot 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from beyond the arc.