Jazz 105, Hornets 87
Deron Williams continued his domination over Chris Paul with 26 points and 11 assists and the Utah Jazz remained unbeaten on their long homestand with a 105-87 victory over the suddenly-slumping New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday.
Al Jefferson added 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who began a stretch of nine of 10 games at EnergySolutions Arena with Monday’s 94-83 victory over Sacramento. Utah will host the defending-champion Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, then play at the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday before returning home for games with Milwaukee, Indiana, Dallas, Memphis, Miami and Orlando.
New Orleans dropped its second straight after starting the season 11-1. The Clippers closed on a 10-2 run to post a 99-95 victory Monday.
Williams, who went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and added five steals, has won the last four games against Paul and 12 of 15 overall. Paul finished with 17 points, nine assists and five steals.
Williams converted a three-point play at the end of the first quarter to give the Jazz a 31-30 lead. The All-Star point guard nailed a 3-pointer with three minutes left in the half to end a New Orleans run that had cut a 13-point deficit to five. His his third shot from the arc gave Utah a 51-41 lead at the half.
A dunk by Paul Millsap gave the Jazz a 16-point lead, but the Hornets halved that heading into the fourth. But Williams responded again with a breakaway layup and 3-pointer with four minutes left for a 101-82 lead.
David West scored 10 of his 15 points in the first seven minutes of the game for the Hornets, who shot just 42 percent from the floor.