UCLA alum Darren Collison 06-09 recoups from his loss the previous night -- to fellow Bruin Jrue Holiday 09 and Philidelphia 76ers, see link -- to lead the New Orleans Hornets on the road over the Charlotte Bobcats, 104-99. With All-Star point guard Chris Paul still out, Rookie Darren had big shoes to fill at the point position and played the most minutes for the NOH. And he delivers a career-high 24 pts, as well as 8 rbds, 4 assists (2 to's) and 1 steal.
Former Golden State Warrior, now Bobkitty, Stephen Jackson, led all scorers with 26 pts.
video credit: 3buLLeTpr00F3 on youtube.com
Recap
Collison leads Hornets to road victory
By Derek S. Smith, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday February 6, 2010 11:09PM
CHARLOTTE (NBA.com exclusive) -- Darren Collison has been forced to fill the shoes of an NBA All-Star. Saturday he showed he's up for the challenge.
"Darren Collison did a terrific job getting the ball into play tonight," New Orleans coach Bower said. "He was a really important part of our win tonight."
The rookie point guard scored a career-best and game-high 24 points to lead the New Orleans Hornets to a 104-99 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. The win also snapped Hornets three-game losing streak.
"It was a great way to finish the game," Bower said. "We made some very big shots down the stretch and made some good stops. It was a hard fought win. It was a victory that we had to earn, but I think our guys did a great job competing to get it."
Collison is filling in well for the injured Chris Paul. He is now averaging 16.6 points and 9.8 assists in five starts since Paul was sidelined. There is still no time table set for Paul's return from the February 4 surgery to repair his torn left meniscus.
"This [win] was needed bad especially after those losses at home," Collison added. "We needed to come back and have a victory today. We've got two games before the break and have to finish strong."
Collison scored eight points in the final period, but none more important than the final two. He sank a driving lay-up with 10.1 seconds left after splitting the Charlotte defense and putting the Hornets ahead by five.
"We had a good solid game tonight," Collison said. "I had a chance to use my speed and quickness tonight. I wanted to put pressure on their defense tonight and get us going."
Charlotte tied the game at 83 on a dunk on the break from Flip Murray. The Hornets quickly took the lead again. Mo Peterson hit back-to-back threes and Darren Collison made a pair of free throws which seemed to put the game away for New Orleans who went on a 15-5 spurt.
"Morris Peterson hit a couple of threes in that stretch," West said, "and from there, we kept making plays defensively and were able to convert on the offensive end."
West finished the game with 21 points and was one of four Hornet starters in double figures.
The Hornets owned the third quarter. New Orleans scored on its first five possessions and was 14-for-19 from the floor. The trio of Peja Stojakovic, West and Collison combined for 30 points in the quarter as the team and outscored the Bobcats 36-21.
"We came out really aggressive," West said. We were able to finish the third quarter with a lead and we really carried that momentum the rest of the game."
Collison put the Hornets back in the lead on a three from the right corner and added a pull-up jumper from the left wing for a 67-63 lead midway through the third quarter.
The Bobcats had all the momentum in the first half. Charlotte was led by Nazr Mohammed's 15 points on 7-for-7 shooting and led by 10 after the first two quarters.
Charlotte is now below the .500 mark after finishing their six-game west coast swing with a 3-3 mark.
"It just shows how far away we really are," Charlotte coach Larry Brown said. "There's a difference between being good and hoping to be good. The only way to be good is to execute every game, every possession, every practice and we just didn't do that tonight."
Saturday was to be the first match up between Emeka Okafor and Tyson Chandler who were traded for each other over the summer. Chandler however has been sidelined with a foot injury and missed his 22nd straight game. The Charlotte center is close to returning and Larry Brown even mentioned he expected him to get a few minutes in the game. Chandler however was again listed as inactive.
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