Blazers come from behind to beat Hornets

The Portland Trailblazers took advantage to an injury to Hornets’ superstar Chris Paul to wipe out a 17 point deficit and post a 97-89 come from behind victory at the New Orleans Arena on Monday night.  The Hornets fell apart completely after Paul headed to the locker room with an apparent leg injury, and Portland used a 38-15 fourth quarter to seize victory.

Hornets’ coach Byron Scott questioned his team’s resolve and blasted their tepid reaction to the loss of their superstar:

"The responsibility of playing the game after Chris Paul got hurt really affected all of us. I think we forgot that we had a game to play. ... They started to smell blood and got really aggressive."

Portland shook off a rare bad game from All Star Brandon Roy to improve to 30-17 on the season.  The Blazers’ big offensive catalysts were LaMarcus Aldridge, with 22 points and 11 rebounds and reserve Jerryd Bayless who added 19 points.  Though Aldridge was the only Blazer starter in double figures, Portland got a boost from their bench with Bayless, Travis Outlaw (16 points) and Rudy Fernandez (15 points) all reaching that mark. 

Aldridge suggested that the Blazers could sense their opponents’ mood change after Paul went out, and took advantage of their ambivalence:

"They got kind of rattled and defensively we were able to take the Hornets out of what they wanted to do when Chris Paul went out. We immediately got more aggressive and started to force more turnovers."

A Hornets spokesman said that for now Paul’s injury appears to be a strained groin muscle.  He’s scheduled for a more thorough examination and MRI on Tuesday, after which his status and timetable for return will be re-addressed.

Before leaving the game, Paul posted a “double/double” with 12 points and 13 assists.  The Hornets were led by David West with 25 points, along with Peja Stojakovic with 18 points.  Rasaul Butler added 11 points and Antonio Daniels contributed 9 off the bench.

Portland will play at Dallas on Wednesday and Oklahoma City on Friday before returning to the “Rose City” for a Sunday afternoon contest against the New York Knicks.  The Hornets will play their next three games at home, entertaining the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, the Toronto Raptors on Friday and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.