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West, Hornets crush Bobcats

Jan 19, 2008 - 5:10 AM NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- David West and the New Orleans Hornets continue to batter lesser competition.

West scored 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Hornets cruised past the Charlotte Bobcats, 112-84, on Friday.

Peja Stojakovic scored 17 points and Chris Paul had 14 and 13 assists for New Orleans, which has won four straight and seven of eight.

It is also the Hornets 11th consecutive win vs. an opponent who is currently below .500.

"We need to take all the wins we can," Hornets forward Melvin Ely said. "The teams that are under .500, we need to beat. In this league, you just have to get all the wins you are suppose to."

Ely, who played with the Bobcats from 2004-07 before being dealt to San Antonio, scored 11 points from the bench against his former team.

"It always feels good when you're playing your old team," Ely said. "I have extremely good friends on that team, so just get this bragging right, it's kind of cool."

New Orleans (27-12), which is 4-0 all-time here vs. Charlotte (15-24), outscored the Bobcats by 18 in the second quarter to take control the rest of the way.

Trailing, 27-26, after Charlotte reserve Matt Carroll drilled a jumper 27 seconds into the period, the Hornets went on a 17-6 run capped by Ryan Bowen's follow shot to take a 43-33 advantage - their first double-digit lead of the game.

Bobcats guard Jeff McInnis said poor 3-point shooting contributed to the drought.

"We took a lot of threes in the second quarter, which allowed them to get breakouts," McInnis said.

Later in the period, after Jason Richardson made a layup to cut the Bobcats' deficit to 47-38 with 3:30 left in the quarter, New Orleans finished the first half on a 12-2 spurt to take a 19-point lead at intermission.

"I think they exposed our weakness," Bobcats coach Sam Vincent said. "The weakness of our size difference. All of a sudden, I think they got four or five dunks on the inside and we didn't move the ball as well offensively. That created a gap and from there they just continued to make shots."

West, who had six points in the second quarter, scored 10 in the third as the Hornets increased their margin to 90-62 at the start of the final period.

"David West is a physical player, very strong, and it really turns into a mismatch inside," Vincent said.

Stojakovic connected on 3-of-3 from 3-point range in the third for New Orleans, which shot 60 percent (47-of-78).

Emeka Okafor scored 13 points and Richardson and Gerald Wallace each scored 12 for Charlotte, which was looking to win three straight for the first time this season.

Carroll added 10 points for the Bobcats, who shot 42 percent (37-of-88).