Hornets 89, Knicks 85
HORNETS 89, KNICKS 85: Trevor Ariza had 25 points and eight rebounds as visiting New Orleans won its third straight and snapped New York’s seven-game winning streak.
Marco Belinelli scored 17 points and Greivis Vasquez had 15 points and 11 assists as the Hornets won for just the seventh time all season.
Amar’e Stoudemire had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Jeremy Lin also scored 26 points for New York, which was without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony (groin) for the sixth consecutive contest.
The Knicks never led and had a fourth-quarter rally snuffed out by the Hornets.
New Orleans led 71-59 after a three-point play by Ariza in the opening minute of the final quarter before New York made its move with a 12-2 run. Iman Shumpert scored the first five points and the Knicks pulled within two with 5:28 remaining.
Gustavo Ayon, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds, scored on a three-point play to halt New York’s streak. When the Knicks again pulled within two with just over a minute remaining, Ayon received a nice pass from Chris Kaman to score a key basket with 54.1 seconds left.
Kaman had 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists for New Orleans.
The Hornets were 7 of 12 from 3-point range, with Ariza sinking four. The Knicks hit only 4 of 24 3-point attempts.
Lin had nine of New York’s 21 turnovers and has committed six or miscues in six of New York’s last seven games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: New York signed former Denver guard J.R. Smith on Friday in hopes of bolstering its 3-point shooting … New Orleans center Emeka Okafor (knee) missed his third consecutive contest … Lin committed eight turnovers in the first half … Ayon has back-to-back double-doubles, the first two of his NBA career.