LOS ANGELES, 18 December 2005 — The New Orleans Hornets played their first home game of the season in Louisiana since being forced to relocate to Oklahoma City from the damage left by Hurricane Katrina. But this time Eddie House blew them away.
House erupted for 16 of his 26 points in the decisive fourth quarter as the Phoenix Suns spoiled the Hornets’ homecoming, with a 101-88 come-from-behind victory on Friday night.
“It was good to be back in front of our hometown fans,” said Hornets’ center P.J. Brown, who collected 20 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. “People here love us and it was good to be back in front of family. It felt good.
Everything was going well.” The Hornets gave the enthusiastic crowd of 7,302, half of stadium capacity, much to cheer about.
After building a 15-point third- quarter cushion, House silenced them, however. He nailed four 3- pointers, highlighting a 37-10 explosion in the final frame as the Suns snapped a three-game skid.
“I feed off other people’s energy,” House said.
“Coming back to win the way we did showed a lot of character.” Shawn Marion had 21 points and 15 rebounds, while Steve Nash added 18 points and nine assists, as Phoenix caught the idle LA Clippers for the Pacific Division lead.
Chris Paul netted 25 points to pace New Orleans, which will play five more of its 41 “home” games at the Pete Maravich Assembly Hall on the Louisiana State University Campus in Baton Rouge.
Lakers 97 Wizards 91: Kobe Bryant eclipsed the 40-point plateau for the fifth time this season, scoring 25 of his 41 in the second half, carrying the resurgent Lakers to their sixth win in the last seven games. Gilbert Arenas led visiting Washington with 29 points.
Pistons 110 Bulls 82: Rasheed Wallace scored 10 of his 19 points in the third quarter, and Richard Hamilton added 18 as the host Pistons improved to 17-3 — for their best 20-game start in franchise history.
Heat 112 76ers 105: Dwyane Wade scored 32 points, and Shaquille O’Neal had 21 along with 13 rebounds as the visiting Heat improved to 3-0 since Pat Riley took back the coaching duties this week. League top scorer Allen Iverson had 35 points and Chris Webber added 23 for Philadelphia, (12-12), which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Mavericks 109 Magic 103 (OT): Dirk Nowitzki scored 10 of his 31 points in overtime, leading the Mavericks to their seventh win in the last eight games.
Grant Hill had 28 points for visiting Orlando, losers in six of its last eight contests.
Nets 115 Nuggets 106 (OT): Jason Kidd hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in regulation, and Richard Jefferson scored five of his 21 points in overtime, helping the Nets break a three-game slide.
Vince Carter led host New Jersey with 34 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, while Kidd contributed 15 points and 16 assists.
Andre Miller paced Denver with 22 points and 13 assists, while Carmelo Anthony had all 20 of his points in the second half.
Hawks 122 Knicks 111: Joe Johnson tossed in a career-high 36 points, and Al Harrington matched a season-high with 35 as the Hawks shot a sizzling 63 percent from the field, to send the stumbling Knicks to their fifth straight loss.
Jamal Crawford led visiting New York (6-16) with 23 points.
Warriors 108 Raptors 98: Jason Richardson scored 23 points, Baron Davis had 20 along with 11 assists, and the Warriors buried a season-best 17 3-pointers to shoot down the Raptors in the opener of their five-game road trip.
Chris Bosh led Toronto (4-18) with 27 points.
Bucks 100 Celtics 96: TJ Ford scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, helping the visiting Bucks regroup, after blowing a 17-point third-quarter cushion.
Maurice Williams and Michael Redd led Milwaukee with 24 points apiece.
Paul Pierce had 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for Boston, which has yet to string together consecutive wins this season.
Pacers 93 Jazz 83: Jermaine O’Neal had 27 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, leading the Pacers past the visiting Jazz. Mehmet Okur led Utah with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Sonics 111 Trail Blazers 99: Rashard Lewis scored 37 points as the visiting SuperSonics snapped a three-game slide to ruin the first meeting against former coach Nate McMillan and his skidding Trail Blazers.
Zach Randolph scored 23 points in Portland’s ninth loss in the last 10 games.
