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Scott wins 300th game as Hornets clinch Southwest

Apr 16, 2008 - 5:24 AM NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Byron Scott and the New Orleans Hornets each made a bit of history in their home finale.

David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul added 22 and 12 assists to power the Hornets to a 114-92 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

The victory not only gave Scott his 300th career win as a coach, but it also clinched the Hornets (56-25) first division title.

"I think Byron (Scott) had done a great job all the way across," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "He's been to two NBA Finals and he works hard (but) nobody can work through injuries. Last year, he had a ton of injuries. (But he) got his guys' back and now we see what it's really about for him."

However, by virtue of the Los Angeles Lakers' 124-101 win over Sacramento late Tuesday, New Orleans can do no better than the second seed in the Western Conference. The Hornets close their regular season on Wednesday in Dallas against the Mavericks.

"Thank (goodness) Peja (Stojakovic) wasn't making a lot of shots tonight," Clippers forward Corey Maggette said. "They have too many weapons on the floor. Chris Paul is definitely the best point guard in the league."

West kept the Hornets in the game over the first 24 minutes, as he scored the team's first 14 points of the game and 20 of the their 26 first-quarter points. In fact, he was the only New Orleans player with more than seven points at intermission.

"David West killed us," Maggette said. "He was hot. I thought he was going to have 100 points tonight."

Despite West's scoring explosion, the Clippers held a surprising 51-49 lead at halftime and opened up a 56-51 lead early in the quarter before the Hornets blew the game open with a 23-6 run.

"At halftime, I was not very happy," Scott said. "We were allowing them to get pretty much everything that they wanted ... dunking, easy swing baskets (and) open jump shots."

The streak was highlighted by Morris Peterson's 3-pointer with 3:11 left in the quarter to give New Orleans its first double-digit lead, 74-62, with 3:11 to go in the third.

Paul, West and Tyson Chandler scored the final nine points of the third to leave New Orleans with a 83-68 cushion heading into the fourth quarter.

"We were in it," Clippers forward Elton Brand said. "Chris Paul kind of broke us down in the second half (and) we didn't have any answer to that."

The Clippers could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way as the Hornets' bench came alive and pushed the lead out to as many as 31 points late.

Rookie Al Thornton scored 26 points to paced the Clippers, who have lost six straight.