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Gordon, Bulls dispatch Hornets

Mar 3, 2007 - 6:40 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Ben Gordon and the Chicago Bulls made the return of former teammate Tyson Chandler an unpleasant one.

Gordon scored 27 points and Luol Deng added 25 and seven rebounds as the Bulls posted a 104-93 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

The game marked the return of Chandler, the former Bulls' center who played five years here before being traded last summer to the Hornets to make room for high-priced free agent Ben Wallace.

"The matchup with Chandler didn't mean a whole lot to me," Wallace said. "We won, they lost and I like that."

Chandler had 10 points and 13 rebounds for his 11th straight double-double.

"It was emotional playing against Tyson," Deng said. "But when the ball went up that was all gone, at that point it was like playing anyone else."

Chandler tried not to let the Bulls crowd affect his play.

"I don't rate it at all, I don't even pay attention to it," said Chandler, who was booed every time he touched the ball. "I still have friends and family here and I pay attention to them. As for all the yahhoo's and people who don't know basketball, I don't care about them."

Kirk Hinrich had 22 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter when Chicago overcame a one-point deficit with a 16-5 run to pull away.

"Tonight we took care of the ball down the stretch and made good decisions," Gordon said."

"Was it the Bulls defense or our bad play, I would say it was half and half," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "I think they picked up their defense and we got soft at both ends."

Wallace had seven points and seven boards and rookie Tyrus Thomas had 10 points and three blocks for the Bulls, who swatted away 11 shots.

"I am glad that I am contributing more, I want to help this team as much as I can so that we can be successful," Thomas said.

Chris Paul scored 16 points and dished out six assists and Bobby Jackson added 13 off the bench for the Hornets, who shot 40 percent (32-of-81), including just 6-of-24 in the final period.

"We played most of the game pretty well, then we didn't do anything offensively or defensively down the stretch," Hornets guard Chris Paul said. "We have to learn how to execute down the stretch especially on the road or we won't win games."