Attacking the Boards: Hornets on a Tear

New Orleans 104, Dallas 88

Is Chris Paul special or what?

Tonight, CP3 dropped a team-high 27 points while out-assisting all Mavericks combined (15 to 12) to lead the Hornets to their sixth straight victory. Paul has now torched Jason Kidd twice this season, after scoring 33 with 11 assists and 10 rebounds in their last match-up.

Paul found his big man Tyson Chandler numerous times for alley-oops tonight; the center looked good, despite still getting acclimated to playing again. TC finished with 10 points and 11 boards. David West added 19 points and 10 rebounds while shooting an even 50 percent from the field.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27 points and seven rebounds. Paul shut down Dallas PG Jason Kidd (while still having a stellar offensive night: Kidd had just 13 points and two assists on 4-of-11 shooting.

Denver 106, Portland 90:

Carmelo Anthony went off in this one, dropping 38 on the young Blazers team. He shot 16-of-26 from the field and filled up the stat sheet with at least one of everything else. J.R. Smith had a nice game as well, with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists; perhaps he's trying to make up for his terrible performance in the dunk contest?

Chauncey Billups barely missed a triple-double with 10 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Center Johan Petro had an "awesome" game with no points and three assists.

As usual, Brandon Roy led Portland, logging 22 points and four assists in this particular contest. LaMarcus Aldridge had 19 points and Joel Przybilla had five and 12.