aaron gray

A sellout crowd packed the Hive Wednesday night to watch the Hornets defeat the Clippers 98-87. David West led all scorers with 22 points, while Chris Paul had a double-double, to help power New Orleans over L.A.

Aaron Gray spent the majority of the first two months of the season on the Hornets bench in street clothes. Rather than sulk, he continued to work hard in practice. His effort paid off when he found himself in the Hornets bench roation, but then sprained his ankle. Undettered, he rehabbed hard, and came back a week early when Emeka Okafor was hurt. With Mek out, Gray has been starting at the 5.

Willie Green scored a season high 24 points for the Hornets who defeated the Magic 99-93. New Orleans beat Orlando for the second time this season, and in doing so, snapped a four game losing streak. The defense was solid as starting SF Trevor Ariza returned from an ankle injury.

Despite missing starting forward Trevor Ariza, starting center Emeka Okafor, and sixth man forward/center Jason Smith, the Hornets still led the Lakers late in the fourth quarter. However, L.A. played like a championship team in the final minutes to escape New Orleans with a 101-95 victory.

Orlando rode into New Orleans on an NBA best 9 game winning streak. The Hornets snapped it Wednesday night at the Hive, defeating the Magic in overtime 92-89. Marco Belinelli left with a sprained ankle 67 seconds into the game. Without their starting two guard, the Hornets got Marcus Thornton's best game of the season, as he scored 22 points, with 7 of those coming in overtime.