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Cavaliers look to stay perfect at home vs. Hornets

Jan 16, 2009 - 11:37 AM New Orleans (23-12) at Cleveland (30-7) 8:00 p.m. EST

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- LeBron James and company suffered a letdown on the road on Thursday. Luckily, they're on their way back home.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be looking to keep their perfect home record in tact when they face the New Orleans Hornets on Friday.

The Cavaliers dropped to 11-7 away from Quicken Loans Arena with a 102-93 overtime loss at Chicago on Thursday. James led Cleveland with 28 points and 14 rebounds but shot 8-of-28 from the floor and committed eight turnovers.

Adding injury to insult, guard Delonte West was forced to leave the game in the first quarter after suffering a non-displaced fracture in his right wrist and a cut above his left eye that necessitated stitches. He will not be available on Friday.

West joins Zydrunas Ilgauskas (ankle) as Cavaliers starters who are expected to miss time over the next few weeks.

The Hornets won the opener of their three-game road trip, 104-97, at Dallas on Wednesday. Chris Paul recorded a triple-double with 33 points, 11 assist and 10 rebounds and also came away with seven steals.

Paul, who leads the NBA in assists at 11.2 per game, went off for 24 points and 15 assists when the teams met on November 1. David West added 25 points as New Orleans picked up a 102-94 win at home.

James recorded 15 points and 13 assists in the setback.