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Hornets look to hand Knicks winless road trip

Jan 12, 2009 - 3:18 PM New York (13-22) at New Orleans (22-11) 8:00 p.m. EST

NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- The New Orleans Hornets welcome the struggling New York Knicks to New Orleans Arena Monday before hitting the road for another challenging road trip.

After splitting a four-game road trip against some of the best in the Western Conference, New Orleans enjoyed some home cooking against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, blasting the visitors, 107-80.

Rasual Butler scored a season-high 27 points as the Hornets were able to rest most of their starters. Chris Paul had 10 points in just 29 minutes while David West added 12 in 30.

New Orleans has been red-hot at home lately, winning three in a row and nine of its last 10. However the Hornets begin a three-game road trip Wednesday in Dallas before visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons over the weekend.

New York will look to salvage the final game of a four-game trip. It followed a surprising home win over Boston with a loss at Oklahoma City, then dropped consecutive games to Dallas and Houston.

The Knicks posted a season-low in points while dropping a 96-76 decision against a shorthanded Rockets squad on Saturday. Houston was without Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest but was still too much for New York.

Tim Thomas paced the Knicks with 18 points, Nate Robinson scored 17 and David Lee finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.