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Celtics try to end West woes against shorthanded Hornets

Feb 11, 2009 - 11:33 AM Boston (42-11) at New Orleans (30-19) 8:00 p.m. EST

NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- The Boston Celtics came up empty against the Western Conference's top squads. The Celtics' next meeting comes against another playoff-bound team from the West that is riddled with injuries.

Boston looks to bounce back after dropping two of its last three games when it visits the shorthanded New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday.

The Celtics had won 12 straight games entering an NBA Finals rematch with the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. After missing an opportunity to win the game on its final possession of regulation, Boston endured a 110-109 overtime loss to the Lakers.

Following Friday's 10-point victory over the New York Knicks, the Celtics held the lead late on Sunday, but Roger Mason's 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining put the San Antonio Spurs on top for good as they rallied for a 105-99 victory.

Boston hopes to reverse its recent play when it opens a season-high, six-game road trip against the Hornets, who have lost five of their last seven contests, including an 85-80 setback to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Peja Stojakovic poured in 23 points and Antonio Daniels and James Posey added 11 apiece for New Orleans, which was without All-Star point guard Chris Paul (strained groin), center Tyson Chandler (sprained left ankle), shooting guard Morris Peterson (strained ligament in left foot) and suspended forward David West.

"It would be nice to have all our guys back," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "I'm looking forward to having those guys back as soon as possible, but I'm not going to jeopardize them for one game. If they're healthy and ready to go, then they'll play."