Paul, Clippers beat Hornets for eighth straight win

Jeremy Lin and the Hornets will travel to Denver next for a clash with the Nuggets on Sunday night. They have lost a season-worst six in a row and seven straight on the road.

However, it was the offense that was the problem Saturday.

Chris Paul had 25 points and seven assists and Los Angeles extended its winning streak to eight. “But it just shows we have the ability to win in different ways”.

“I think it’s because we all had to step up by committee”, Paul said. “If we keep playing as hard as we did (Saturday), good things will happen in the near future”. Nicolas Batum missed his fourth straight game with a toe sprain and is unlikely to feature in tonight’s game against the Nuggets.

The Los Angeles Clippers are rolling along without injured All-Star forward Blake Griffin and can extend their season-high winning streak to nine when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. He’s scored 16.8 per contest while sinking 7 of 16 from long range in his last four visits to Denver. He was held to eight points in his only appearance in Denver, a loss on December 22, 2012. Otto Porter, Jared Dudley and Neal each scored 16 points, Marcin Gortat had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Garrett Temple added 11 points.

If you take away the 28 points they gave up to the Hornets in the second quarter, a quarter in which Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said his second unit was upset because it felt that the group was too lax on defense, the Clippers allowed just 55 points in three quarters.

Charlotte has won four straight meetings with the Nuggets, including two in Denver.

Golden State’s win streak sits at six games, San Antonio is now on a seven game tear, and the Thunder are trying to get back in business riding a two game stint. Seven-foot C Frank Kaminsky, the ninth overall pick in the draft, scored 20 points the last time the teams met. He had four in the rematch….

The Nuggets are expecting a better outcome after their 91-84 loss to the Grizzlies on Friday.

The Charlotte Hornets are among the best in the league with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.74 (ranked fifth).

Mario Chalmers added 18 points for the Grizzlies, hitting 11 of 13 free throws.

Will Barton had been a bright spot for Denver but he’s cooled considerably.

Chicago had accounted for the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers during the run but came unstuck against the Hawks and Al Horford, scored a season-high 33 points and 10 rebounds. During that stretch, he has averaged 25.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.8 three-pointers.

Darrell Arthur filled in for Faried on Saturday, scoring 12 points and pulling down nine boards.