Hornets Come Back To Beat Rockets

Team	1	2	3	4					Full Time
Rockets	30	22	18	22					92
Hornets	9	27	30	28					94

New Orleans 94, Houston 92

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oct. 9 (AP) ?It was only fitting that the New Orleans Hornets' return to their temporary home will be remembered as a comeback.

Chris Paul scored 14 points and Hilton Armstrong had 10 of his 12 in the second half as the Hornets rallied from a 21-point first-quarter deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 94-92 Tuesday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

After Bobby Jackson drove for a layup to give the Hornets an 81-80 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Armstrong followed with a left-handed layup and Peja Stojakovic drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead to six.

The Rockets, playing their first game under new coach Rick Adelman, closed within 88-87 but had their chance to take the lead thwarted when newcomer Luis Scola was called for an offensive foul.

Stojakovic had 13 points on 5-for-13 shooting after missing most of last season after back surgery.

Yao Ming led the Rockets with 13 points in 17 1/2 minutes, and Tracy McGrady had four points and three turnovers in 15 1/2 minutes.

A crowd of 6,324 was on hand at the Ford Center, where there was a capacity crowd for 30 Hornets games over the past two seasons after their temporary relocation forced by Hurricane Katrina.

"It feels good just to get the chance again to say hello and goodbye again to some of the best fans that I've ever been around,'' Hornets coach Byron Scott said before the game.

But the Hornets, who were eliminated from the playoff race in the final week each of the last two seasons, needed some time to shake off their offseason rust.

New Orleans missed 17 of its first 19 shots and committed 10 turnovers to trail 30-9 after one quarter. Tyson Chandler scored the first three points of the game, but New Orleans was then outscored 24-6 during a 9 1/2-minute field goal drought.

Houston was able to maintain its lead while McGrady, Yao and Steve Francis remained in the game, but the Hornets started coming back as the Rockets' front-line players remained on the bench in the second half.

Chandler's two free throws capped a run of nine straight points to get New Orleans within 54-49, and the comeback was completed when second-round pick Adam Haluska hit back-to-back jumpers to start the fourth quarter to tie it at 70.

Haluska scored 12 points, including two free throws with 9.3 seconds left, in his debut and first-round pick Julian Wright had three points and eight rebounds in nine minutes.

Draft picks Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry didn't play for the Rockets, who fired Jeff Van Gundy after amassing the fourth-best record in the Western Conference before blowing a 2-0 lead against Utah in the first-round of the playoffs last season.

source : NBA.com