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Stojakovic's hot touch carries Hornets past Clippers

Jan 26, 2008 - 5:07 AM NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Chris Paul did not have his A game, but Peja Stojakovic had his back.

Stojakovic hit six 3-pointers en route to 26 points as the New Orleans Hornets coasted to a 111-92 victory over the hapless Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

Paul had his string of six straight double-doubles snapped as he scored just eight points, but the point guard made up for it with 14 assists as New Orleans won a season-high seventh straight game.

While Paul was cold from the floor, Stojakovic was dead on. The 10th-year sharpshooter was 10-of-16, including hitting 6-of-10 from the arc.

Stojakovic hit five 3-pointers during a game-changing 19-3 third-quarter run. He tied his own franchise record for 3-pointers in a quarter.

"It felt good," Stojakovic said. "In the third (quarter), I can't say we're relaxed, but we just couldn't make any shots. Eventually, we made a couple of stops and started playing better and got our lead back."

"Peja going on that hot streak cost us that game," Clippers forward Corey Maggette said. "I put that on me. I'm running around with a hand in his face and he makes big shots. He kind of sealed the deal for that team."

The Hornets had six players in double figures and shot 47 percent (42-of-89), but it was Stojakovic who put the game away with an incredible shooting display.

New Orleans led, 50-37, at halftime but the Clippers stormed back in the opening stages of the third quarter. Los Angeles went on a 16-2 tear to go ahead, 53-52, on a layup by Sam Cassell with 7:24 remaining in the period.

"Our guys did a good job fighting back," Dunleavy said. "We started the second half building up a little bit of a lead and then, unfortunately, our turnovers really cost us. We let them jump back up and their ability to dial in the long ball just really crushed us."

However, Stojakovic took over, scoring 15 points during the Hornets' 19-3 run which gave New Orleans a 72-55 lead with 3:34 left in the third.

"Wow, we went up one point, and it was bombs away (after that)," Cassell said. "I think the first (3-point) shot Peja made, we couldn't play better defense. The next two, we couldn't play them any better. They went from down one to up 10 in the next three possessions."

The Hornets led, 81-63, after three periods and never looked back.

"Stojakovic got away from us," Los Angeles coach Mike Dunleavy. "Pretty much most of the game was easy except for the differential point was the 3-point shot."

"The Clippers are a good team," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "They have a lot of great individuals. They could make a run any time. We got it together and started playing better and with more energy and got our lead back."

David West had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Tyson Chandler added 11 and 13 for New Orleans, which has won all three meetings between the teams this season.

Maggette scored 24 points and Cuttino Mobley added 20 for the Clippers, who have lost seven of their last 10 games.