ATLANTA: Chris Paul scored 16 points and dished out eight assists for the New Orleans Hornets, who took control late in the first half and held the Hawks to their lowest-scoring game in Atlanta history, a 100-59 rout Friday. New Orleans cruised to its seventh straight win against a Hawks team that shot 29 percent and barely beat the franchise record for fewest points. As it was, the home team did eclipse the previous scoring low since moving to Atlanta 42 years ago, a 73-63 loss to Cleveland in 1996. Only Jordan Crawford's 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining kept Hawks from their worst offensive effort ever – a 57-point game in 1955 when the team was in St. Louis. David West and Marco Belinelli both scored 15 points and Emeka Okafor pulled down 12 rebounds. Lakers 107, Nuggets 97: At Denver, Kobe Bryant gave the Pepsi Center crowd little to cheer about as he led Los Angeles past Denver. Bryant scored 14 of his 18 points in the decisive third quarter and was one of five Lakers to score at least 17. Ron Artest had a season-best 19 as did Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom added 18 and Andrew Bynum 17. After frittering away double-digit leads in their last three games, the Lakers never let up after grabbing a 10-point advantage in the third quarter. Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 23 points after missing shootaround to attend to a personal matter, and Arron Afflalo chipped in 22. Celtics 110, Jazz 86: At Boston, Kevin Garnett scored 21 points, Paul Pierce added 20 and Rajon Rondo had 12 assists to lead Boston to its fifth straight win. Deron Williams had a season-low five points for the Jazz, who have lost three in a row. Earl Watson scored 12 for Utah, while Paul Millsap, Gordon Hayward and Andrei Kirilenko had 11 apiece. Glen Davis scored 15 and Semih Erden had a career-high 14 points for the Celtics. Spurs 101, Knicks 92: At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 21 points and 16 rebounds as San Antonio extended its winning streak to eight games. Tony Parker added 21 points and 13 assists as the Spurs avenged one of just six losses this season. That was in New York earlier this month, when the Knicks wore out the NBA's top team and put up a season-high 128 points on San Antonio. Raymond Felton led the Knicks with 23 points. Magic 112, Raptors 72: At Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard had 31 points and 19 rebounds to lead Orlando to the easy win over Toronto. Ryan Anderson added 21 points for Orlando. DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 16 points. Andrea Bargnani scored all 11 of his points in the first half as Toronto picked up its sixth consecutive loss. Suns 109, Wizards 91: At Washington, Channing Frye scored 25 points and led a third-quarter 3-pointer run, helping Phoenix to its season-high fifth consecutive victory. Grizzlies 115, Rockets 110: At Memphis, Tennessee, Zach Randolph had 29 points and 19 rebounds, and Rudy Gay added 22 points as Memphis snapped a seven-game losing streak to Houston. Nets 89, Pistons 74: At Newark, New Jersey, Anthony Morrow scored all of the points during a key second-half run in his first game since mid-December, leading New Jersey to the victory. Bucks 102, Cavaliers 88: At Cleveland, Andrew Bogut scored 23 points and Corey Maggette added 20 as Milwaukee took its turn beating up Cleveland, which lost its 15th straight with no end to their slide in sight. Warriors 119, Kings 112, OT: At Oakland, California, Monta Ellis scored 28 points, including a tying jumper in the final second of regulation as Golden State stunned Sacramento in overtime again.
