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West helps Hornets edge slumping Knicks in OT

Apr 1, 2007 - 5:09 AM OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- The New Orleans Hornets kept their postseason dreams afloat, while the New York Knicks' might be fading away.

David West scored 20 points to lead six players in double figures as the Hornets posted a 103-94 overtime victory over the Knicks, who wasted an impressive performance by Eddy Curry.

Desmond Mason added 19 points and Chris Paul chipped in 16 and four steals for the Hornets (33-40), who remained three games behind the Los Angeles Clippers (36-37) and Denver (35-36) for the Western Conference's final playoff spot.

Despite the win, Hornets coach Byron Scott was still upset with his club's mental mistakes.

"It is amazing to me that we make the same mistakes over and over again," Scott said. "I told our coaches that we were going to win the game in spite of ourselves. We are the reason it went into overtime, and it never should have got there,"

New York (31-42) has only won twice in its last 10 games, falling three games behind Orlando (34-39) and New Jersey in the Eastern Conference playoff race with nine contests left.

The 6-11 Curry collected 34 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double in six outings.

"We just couldn't get the ball out of Curry's hands," West said. "He is tough and his size works to his advantage. He is a big load on the inside. That is something they took advantage of."

In the extra session, Mason drained an eight-footer and Paul connected on a 3-pointer at the 3:17 mark as the Hornets grabbed the lead for good, 97-92.

Curry's layup made it a three-point game, but Paul hit a jumper, then fed Mason for a back-breaking one-handed jam over Channing Frye with 43 seconds to go.

"I wasn't about to let this one get away," Paul said. "We need to pretty much win out to guarantee ourselves a spot in the playoffs, but when it gets to crunch time my teammates did a good job of taking what they gave us."

Knicks coach Isiah Thomas was critical of the officials' treatment of guard Stephon Marbury.

"I've never said this before but I think it needs to be made, how Marbury is being treated by the officials, I don't understand why a guy for all his career has been a player who drives to the basket and get to the foul line," Thomas said. "I don't understand what he has done, or why he is getting the lack of respect he is getting from the officials.

"That's not why we lost the game, we did a lot of things to lose the game. But I would hope he would be treated like other star players are treated. There is only so much a player can take before it starts to effect his game. He is officiated differently than other guards in this game."

In regulation, New York rallied behind an impressive 12-0 burst capped by Nate Robinson's 3-pointer with the shot-clock expiring to take an 89-88 lead with 1:14 remaining.

Mason and Paul each sank a pair of free throws to help the Hornets regain the edge at 92-89 with 17 seconds remaining. But Robinson came through once again with another shot from the arc seven seconds later, forcing overtime.

"I had to let it go, I feel like everytime I shoot it's going in," Robinson said. "It was a big shot but it wasn't enough to out us over the edge and get the win, so it really doesn't matter now. Eddy (Curry) attracted everyone to him like a magnet and I got open for the shot."