NEW ORLEANS — Chris Paul had 27 points and 15 assists, and the New Orleans Hornets increased their season-best winning streak to six with a 104-88 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.
David West scored 19 and Rasual Butler 18 for the Hornets, who haven’t lost since center Tyson Chandler returned to the lineup from a left ankle injury — and a rescinded trade — last week.
Chandler’s minutes were limited by foul trouble, but he still finished with 11 rebounds and 10 points, slamming down several alley-oop feeds from Paul.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points and Jason Kidd added 13, but the Mavericks faded during the last 10 minutes as the game turned into a blowout.
The game was tied at 56 when Paul began to take over, scoring on a drive into a crowd and on a soft midrange jumper during consecutive possessions. That ignited a 15-3 run during which Paul scored eight points before Butler capped the surge with a 3-pointer, putting the Hornets up 71-59.
Nowitzki single-handedly helped Dallas pull back to single digits, scoring the Mavs’ last eight points of the period on a jumper and six free throws. Nowitzki had all 27 of his points through the first three quarters, after which Dallas trailed 75-67.
The Mavs, who pulled out a hard-fought 107-102 victory over San Antonio a night earlier, seemed to lack the energy needed to come back in the fourth quarter — or do anything to stop Paul.
Paul hit a layup, a midrange jumper and a 3 before making a steal to start a fast break that ended with his feed to Butler for a dunk. Paul added a couple more free throws, giving the Hornets a 95-76 lead with 5:03 to play, and New Orleans’ lead got as big as 22.
