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West strong inside as Hornets power past Lakers

Jan 21, 2007 - 5:28 AM OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- David West and the New Orleans Hornets finally are starting to get healthy.

In his second game back since elbow surgery, West collected 26 points and 12 rebounds and Tyson Chandler added 17 and 12 as the Hornets dominated the interior en route to a 113-103 victory over the road-weary Los Angeles Lakers.

Rasual Butler scored 20 points for the Hornets, who are still without star guard Chris Paul (ankle) and forward Peja Stojakovic (back surgery) but benefited from the returns of West and guard Bobby Jackson.

"Now that we are getting some of our guys back, we are starting to get our swagger back," Chandler said. "First, we had the three-game winning streak, now we've got David and Bobby back. We are going to be a lot tougher. Teams are going to overlook us for a while, and I hope they keep doing it."

Despite their poor record, the Hornets (16-23) are determined to play hard the rest of the season.

"We wanted to come out and give better effort than we did (in Friday's 99-86 loss) in San Antonio," West said. "A lot of people think our season is over, but we are going to keep fighting and make this thing interesting down the stretch, once we get our guy back, Paul, that is going to be a world of difference for us."

A reliable scorer and rebounder, West missed 30 games, leaving a huge void in the middle of an already undermanned lineup. In two games since returning, however, the 6-9 forward is averaging 22 points and 11 boards.

"I just knew that if I didn't rush things, good things were going to happen," West said. "I wanted to make sure I was as healthy as possible. I got a lot of good reps in practice, so I knew I'd be able to come back and get it going pretty soon."

On Saturday, West was 8-of-15 from the field, 10-of-11 from the line and controlled the glass for the Hornets, who shot 48 percent (41-of-85) and outrebounded the Lakers, 46-37.

Los Angeles was coming off Thursday's 114-95 loss to Dallas and dropped two of three games on its trip through the Southwest Division to fall to 8-11 on the road. The Lakers are 18-4 at home.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson believes his team plays to the competition.

"We went through this a week ago against Memphis, playing a team that is starting to get their players back in the lineup that are contributors," Jackson said. "Those guys like West and Jackson have been out of the lineup so long that they are ready to get in there and contribute. They played a lot harder than we did. It was a three-point game at one point and we let that one slip away from us."

Superstar Kobe Bryant struggled to score 23 points on just 7-of-22 shooting for Los Angeles, which shot 44 percent (36-of-81).

"I think Kobe was a little anxious about trying to take over the game when we needed it," Jackson said. "It seemed as if he was more focused on getting everyone else involved early, but he still had 20 in the second half. Kobe is a scorer. He's going to win a lot more games for us than he is going to lose."

Bryant was blanketed by Butler for most of the game, but the Hornets made it a team effort.

"It wasn't just me. Desmond Mason had him a few possessions, Devin Brown had Kobe a couple times, my teammates did a lot to help out," Butler said. "It helps that (Kobe) has been playing that way a lot lately. I think he is still trying to get healthy.

"I've been studying him on film, and he has been coming out and trying to get his teammates involved then closer to the end of the game he is going to try to get a lot more aggressive. He had three shots in the first half and finished with 23 points."