Hornets hustle past Suns in fourth

When the Suns took a 93-90 lead into the fourth quarter Saturday, they had to feel pretty confident about their chances. They were 20-0 when leading after three quarters this year, and Hornets star Chris Paul was mired in a 5-for-16 shooting night.

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But both things changed in a hurry. Paul made six of his 10 fourth-quarter shots, and the Hornets showed why they have 22 wins and a rising reputation around the NBA, taking down the Suns 118-113 and snapping a modest four-game Phoenix winning streak with their franchise-record sixth straight win on the road.

New Orleans was playing for the second straight night and was without leading scorer David West, but the Hornets showed more hustle all night. They had 15 offensive rebounds and won all the battles for loose balls ­— even when the Suns defended well or recorded one of their 12 blocked shots.

But as the night went on, Phoenix’s defense wilted and the Hornets got better shots. Without Raja Bell, who begged out just 2:34 into the game with a nasty case of the flu, the Suns had trouble shutting down the perimeter, and Paul found Morris Peterson (22 points), Peja Stojakovic (23) and Jannero Pargo (19), who combined for nine 3-pointers while Paul struggled behind the arc.

Paul missed 10 shots in a row at one point but still led all scorers with 28 points and got the best of Steve Nash for the second time in as many meetings.

“They made nice shots. They made big plays, and we didn’t make the big plays,” Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We did a lot of things, but it wasn’t enough. We ran into a nice team tonight.”

The Suns slipped back behind San Antonio for the Western Conference lead, but there is more than the Spurs to worry about. They are now 0-2 against both the Hornets and Lakers, two teams they have handled easily in the past.

The Suns got 28 points from Leandro Barbosa and 23 from Nash — only two of them after intermission — but Amaré Stoudemire was much quieter (17 points on only 11 shots and eight rebounds) and Shawn Marion scored only six points in 34 invisible minutes.

The Suns shot 53 percent from the field, were better than they have been from the line, and scored 68 first-half points. But in the fourth quarter, they went a little cold (8-for-18) and couldn’t stop the Hornets’ pick-and-roll down at the other end.

“We should have come out a lot harder and stronger,” said Stoudemire, who had averaged 30.8 points and 13.3 rebounds over the four-game winning streak. “We’re a veteran team. We should know what we’re doing and do it. If we do that and play hard, we’re going to win almost every game.”