Paul, Okafor lead Hornets past Kings
October 31, 2009
NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Who needs the preseason?
Emeka Okafor(notes), a year-round fitness fanatic, missed it and seems to be doingfine.
Chris Paul(notes) scored 31 points and Okafor capped another strong performancewith two key blocks in the final seconds to help the New Orleans Hornets beatthe Sacramento Kings 97-92 on Friday night.
“I’m just happy that I was able to contribute, considering that I didn’thave a preseason, that I could come in, have a couple decent starts and kind ofput everybody’s mind at ease,” said Okafor, who came to New Orleans in a tradethat sent Tyson Chandler(notes) to Charlotte. “It was on my mind, having a decentfirst impression to just kind of calm everybody’s nerves.”
New Orleans Hornets guard Chri… AP – Oct 30, 11:24 pm EDT Sacramento Kings guard Beno Ud… AP – Oct 30, 11:19 pm EDT
Sacramento Kings guard Kevin M… AP – Oct 30, 11:15 pm EDT
New Orleans Hornets coach Byro… AP – Oct 30, 11:04 pm EDT
New Orleans Hornets forward Da… AP – Oct 30, 11:01 pm EDT
New Orleans Hornets center Eme… AP – Oct 30, 11:00 pm EDT
New Orleans Hornets guard Chri… AP – Oct 30, 11:00 pm EDT
New Orleans Hornets guard Chri… AP – Oct 30, 10:57 pm EDT
Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke … AP – Oct 30, 9:40 pm EDT
New Orleans Hornets center Hil… AP – Oct 30, 9:38 pm EDT
Sacramento Kings forward Jason… AP – Oct 30, 9:38 pm EDT
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After sitting out training camp and all eight preseason games with asprained toe, Okafor returned for the Hornets’ season-opening loss in SanAntonio and was one of the bright spots with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
As the Hornets prepared to play their home opener against Sacramento, coachByron Scott, known for his grueling training camps, smiled when asked whatOkafor’s debut told him, replying that his training camp and preseasonapparently don’t mean much.
Okafor then more or less went out and proved that very point against theKings with 11 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks for his second straightdouble-double. Paul scored 13 of New Orleans’ last 17 points and David West(notes)added 13 points for the Hornets.
Tyreke Evans(notes) scored 22 points and Kevin Martin(notes) added 20 for Sacramento,which led 91-88 on Martin’s running floater off the glass.
Paul then hit the shot of the game, a spinning layin off the glass as he wasfouled while absorbing a knee to the groin. After bending over at the waist fora few seconds, Paul went to the line and made the free throw to tie it at 91with 1:16 to go.
New Orleans led 93-91 on Okafor’s one-handed follow jam of Paul’s missedjumper. Sacramento’s Jon Brockman(notes) missed his second of two free throws and JasonThompson(notes) got his 12th rebound to give the Kings another possession, trailing93-92 with 15.2 seconds left.
Evans dribbled toward the lane, but his mid-range jumper was blocked byOkafor and Paul snagged the loose ball before being fouled and hitting both freethrows to make it 95-92 with 5.9 seconds left.
Sacramento then got the ball to Martin for an attempted 3 in the corner andOkafor made another key block. The Hornets quickly got the ball to Paul, who hittwo more foul shots.
“It was an unbelievable block by Emeka,” Paul said. “I told him I wasgoing to stay with Kevin, but he actually lost me for a second. Emeka helpedme.”
Julian Wright(notes) scored 11 points in his new role as a starter and wasproviding pressure on Okafor’s block of Evans. Peja Stojakovic(notes), now coming offthe bench behind Wright, had 10 points.
Andres Nocioni(notes) had 16 points for the Kings, who won an NBA-worst 17 gameslast season and are still looking for their first victory under new coach PaulWestphal.
“I’m very proud of them,” Westphal said. “They proved they can compete.It’s the little things we need to learn as a team. … We were in position towin the game. They closed the deal and we didn’t.”
Sacramento outrebounded New Orleans 52-43, but shot only 37.5 percent (36 of96), was outscored 26-13 at the free throw line and was held to 30.4 percentshooting in the second half (14 of 46). New Orleans shot 45.2 percent (33 of 73)for the game and had nine blocks.
The Kings led by eight points when Beno Udrih’s(notes) 3-pointer capped an 8-2 runlate in the third quarter to put the Kings up 73-65. Paul’s driving layup and3-pointer with a second left in the period helped the Hornets pull to 75-72.
Stojakovic’s second 3-pointer of the game and Darius Songaila’s(notes) fadeawayevened the score at 77 with 9:25 left, marking one of 15 ties in the game.
NOTES: Paul is averaging 28.5 points through two games. … Former LSU starMarcus Thornton(notes) was inactive for the second time for New Orleans. Scott saidthat although Thornton is a good shooter, he still has a lot to learn in termsof positional play on both ends of the court. … The Hornets are 6-1 in homeopeners in the New Orleans Arena. … The Kings play next Saturday night in SanAntonio, their third straight road game to open the season before they returnhome Monday night against Memphis. … The announced attendance was 17,306,officially a sellout.
