Paul, Second Half Drops Wolves

Many thought the New Orleans Hornets had peaked early and would plummet down the stretch of the season, but those that were at Target Center during Wednesday’s 122-90 Hornets win over Minnesota are now aware that New Orleans will be a very tough out in the Western Conference playoffs.

Behind 19 points and 16 assists from guard Chris Paul and 24 points from Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans currently stands 1.5 games in front of San Antonio (who with a win vs. Phoenix would remain one game back) in the race for first. To top it off, tonight's win represents a new franchise record for wins in a season.

"It's a great feeling," Paul said. "It feels like we've broken every record this season ... you know, individual, team, it's only fitting that we break the wins record. We're not celebrating after this one. We're not celebrating until we clinch the Western Conference."

Rashad McCants led the Wolves with 23 points, one night after playing 3:11, while Randy Foye and Al Jefferson contributed 20 and 14, respectively.

"(Paul) gives (New Orleans) a relatively, if not good shot most times down the floor," coach Randy Wittman said. "The ball is in his hands 80 percent of the time. He creates that, (and) finds the right opportunity. He's playing at a high level. They are playing at a high level."

We took a look at a few key numbers from each quarter.

First Quarter: 16 Points for Randy Foye on 6-of-7 from the field. Foye scored eight of the Wolves’ first 12 points, and nailed all four of his three-point attempts. This means that Foye is on pace to come 36 points short of Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA all-time record for points scored in a single game.

3:20 Minute mark in which Rashad McCants entered the game. In Minnesota’s loss to Charlotte last night, McCants picked up two early fouls in 3:11 of action and didn’t see any more time after that. Randy Wittman said to assembled media before tonight’s game that there would not be a discussion regarding McCants’ playing time.

4.7 With the clock winding down in the first quarter, a spinning Foye found Corey Brewer at the elbow, who took one dribble, elevated, and hit.

2 Alley-oop dunks for Tyson Chandler, both courtesy of MVP candidate Chris Paul. Now we know why. (Side note: Chandler ranks third in the NBA in dunks.)

Second Quarter: 2 McCants treys to start the quarter, courtesy of assists from Foye and Craig Smith, respectively.

3 Straight possessions resulting in turnovers for the Wolves. Fortunately for Minnesota, New Orleans only capitalized on a layup and 1-of-2 Julian Wright free throws.

37.0 Second mark in which the Wolves took their first lead since McCants’ three-pointer 35 seconds into the quarter, on a nicely executed fast break that resulted in a Foye six-foot pull-up jumper.

7 Assists for Paul after yet another (third so far) alley-oop, this time to Wright. Paul has only shot the ball twice (1-of-2).

4 Points for Al Jefferson before he re-entered for Smith at the 4:33 mark. Jefferson is averaging only four points in first quarters over the course of the Wolves’ last four.

Third Quarter: 16 The Hornets’ largest lead after Paul drills a three at the buzzer right in front of the Wolves bench. After it went down, Paul looked at shocked faces to his right as if to say “I’m sorry.”

6:30 The beginning of a 22-11 Hornets run that ultimately was the difference: seven Stojakovic points, six West points and three Paul assists (as well as “16” noted above).

4 Fouls for Foye, his latest picked up at the 8:08 mark while reaching in. McCants would replace Foye seconds later.

3 Baskets in succession for Peja Stojakovic midway through the half, two of them step-back three-pointers, the other field goal the result of pure luck - being in the right place at the right time after a massive Jefferson swat. Stojakovic, one of the best pure shooters in the game, has hit multiple three-pointers in 19 of his last 24 games (and averages 3.1 per game).

1:21 Could anyone argue with the assertion that Paul is the best open-floor point guard in the NBA? He maneuvers through traffic with tremendous ease, in this case laying it off the glass while splitting two Wolves defenders in the process on the fast-break. At the time, the basket secured the Hornets’ largest lead at 13.

Fourth Quarter: 4:03 Minute mark in which fan favorite Mark Madsen entered the game. Madsen did see 4:26 of action in the April 2 win over Utah, but tonight's appearance is only Madsen's fourth in the past 29 Wolves games.

11 As close as the Wolves would get in the fourth, a 7-2 mini-run two minutes into the period. New Orleans then extended its lead to as many as 34 a little over five minutes later.