Tue Apr 1 22:01:55 2008

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Paul leads Hornets over Magic

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Orlando, FL (Sports Network) - Chris Paul had 19 points and 12 rebounds, as the New Orleans Hornets edged the Orlando Magic, 98-97, at Amway Arena.

Morris Peterson also contributed 19 points, while David West chipped in 18 and 11 rebounds for the Hornets, who have won seven of their last eight games overall. They are 24-12 on the road this season, and 4-1 on their current six- game trek.

New Orleans is 1/2 game ahead of San Antonio for the top spot in the Western Conference. The Spurs play host to Golden State on Tuesday.

Hedo Turkoglu had 26 points and Rashard Lewis finished with 24 for the Magic, who have dropped three of four but have already clinched the Southeast Division title and are essentially locked into the Eastern Conference's No. 3 seed. Dwight Howard donated 17 points and 15 boards in the loss.

Facing a nine-point deficit at the break, the Hornets closed the gap in the third. They were down 72-61 with 4:29 remaining in the stanza, but used an 11-2 push to make it a one-possession contest. Howard's alley-oop dunk briefly brought the crowd to its feet, but a pair of West free throws sent the game to the fourth with Orlando clinging to a 76-74 lead.

The contest was then a back and forth battle heading down the stretch, with the lead changing hands a number of times. It was 92-all with 2:22 remaining, but a Maurice Evans three-pointer put the Magic back on top with 1:30 left.

Peja Stojakovic sealed it for the Hornets, however, drawing a foul on Evans and draining the free throw. He followed that up with a shot from long distance, and it was 96-95 with 54 ticks remaining. He also added a pair from the stripe with 12 seconds to play, effectively shutting the door.

The Magic had one final chance for the win, but Keyon Dooling's off-balanced shot hit the rim.

Orlando never wavered in a physical first quarter, and following a timeout with 1:54 remaining, Turkoglu keyed a 7-2 run to close things out. A pair of driving layups by the Turkish native pushed the edge to 24-19, and following a miss by Jannero Pargo at the other end, Keith Bogans canned a three. New Orleans answered with a Wells' lay-in, but trailed 27-21 heading to the second.

Another Bogans' trey made it 40-27 about four minutes later, and the Magic held on to the break. It was 53-44 at halftime, with Orlando shooting at a 51 percent clip from the floor.

Game Notes

Evans and Bogans both had 11 points for the Magic...Stojakovic finished with 10 and Tyson Chandler had 12 for New Orleans...Orlando's Brian Cook is expected to be out three weeks with a fractured third metacarpal of the right hand. He was injured Monday in practice...The season series was split, 1-1... The fourth quarter featured 11 lead changes and four ties...The Hornets have won seven of 11 and eight of the last 13 games as the visitor in this series.