NEW ORLEANS—Chris Paul sparked the New Orleans Hornets into life after the halftime intermission to lead the home team to a runaway 104-88 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
The All-Star point guard scored 21 of his team-high 27 points in the final two quarters and dished out 15 assists as the Hornets cruised to their sixth straight win.
"At halftime, I knew we weren't aggressive enough and I hadn't pushed the tempo. In the second half, I knew that was my job," Paul told reporters.
"In the first half, I was deferring to my team mates; (late in the game) I attacked a few times and my jumper started falling."
The Mavericks stayed with the Hornets in the first half to be level at 45-45 going into the break but seemed to run out of gas late in the contest, making just 39 percent of their shots over the entire game.
David West had 19 points and 10 rebounds while Rasual Butler added 18 for New Orleans, who shot 56 percent from the field.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27 points but his team looked jaded after playing out a tough 107-102 win over the San Antonio Spurs a day earlier.
