You can’t score a season high 62 points in the first half, and then make just nine field goals the entire second half, going the final 4:57 seconds without a bucket of any kind.
The eight win Knicks used an 18-0 run to beat the New Orleans Hornets 113-96 snapping a three game Hornets winning streak, and dropping the Hornets to 10-12 on the season.
“Our defense was horrible,” Hornets point guard Chris Paul said after the game. “We’ve had a few games where our defense was good, but not tonight, and it was obvious we couldn’t buy a shot.”
Paul finished the night with 13 points and 13 assists, good for yet another double-double this season, but it was native Chris Duhon that stole the show. With the Knicks trailing 96-95 with under five minutes to play, Duhon, who finished with 22 points on the night, knocked down back to back three-pointers. Teammate Al Harrington followed with a pair of treys himself to put the hornets away.
Forward David West led the Hornets with 20 points. Forward Peja Stojakovic finished with 16 points and center Emeka Okafur had 12 points in just 20 minutes of action.
The Hornets shot 40 percent from the field, but were 6 of 27 from behind the three-points arc, that’s good for 22 percent.
It’s games like these you look back on at the end of the season when you’re a game or two from a prime playoff seeding, or looking to just make it into the postseason, the latter the more likely scenario for the Hornets this season.
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