Paul scores 8 of 26 points final 3 minutes, Hornets beat Wizards 115-110 for 6th straight win

Hornets win 6th straight, beat Wizards 115-110

WASHINGTON — Chris Paul scored eight of his 26 points in the final three minutes Sunday to lead the New Orleans Hornets to their sixth-straight win, 115-110 over a Washington Wizards team that has turned its game up a notch since the suspension of Gilbert Arenas.

Peja Stojakovic scored 20 points, and Paul added 14 assists for the Hornets, who have won three straight away from home to improve their record to 5-13 after an abysmal start.

Paul’s jumper with 2:54 to play broke a tie at 101 to give the Hornets the lead for good. After a turnover by Washington’s Nick Young, James Posey made it a five-point lead with a 3-pointer. New Orleans shot 53 percent and set a season-high in points.

Antawn Jamison tied his season-high with 32 points, and Foye had 23 starting in place of Arenas to set a season-high for the second straight game as the Wizards wasted a 58 percent shooting game by committing 19 turnovers. Three turnovers came in the final three minutes, two by Young and one by Foye.

The last-place Wizards, expected to continue to struggle with Arenas suspended indefinitely by the NBA during a guns-related investigation, nearly pulled off an upset for the second straight game without their three-time All-Star. Washington rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter Friday to beat Orlando 104-97 in their first home game without Arenas.

Wizards coach Flip Saunders was concerned about the early afternoon start time, but his team shot 75 percent in the first quarter, making its last eight field goals and 15 of 20 for the period.

The matinee slump hit in the second quarter, when the Wizards committed eight turnovers and allowed a 10-0 New Orleans run. Paul’s 3-pointer with three-tenths of a second to play gave the Hornets a 60-49 lead at the half.

Foye scored six points in an 11-0 run that tied the game at 76 in the third quarter. The Wizards made their last seven shots of the period and led 82-80 going into the fourth.

Neither team led by more than seven in the fourth quarter.

NOTES: Eight of Paul’s assists came in the first quarter. … Washington G Mike Miller left the game in the third quarter after reaggravating his strained right calf. Miller played Friday for the first time since Nov. 21 and was still feeling sore before the game.” I’m going to play until they make me not play,” he said before tipoff. … While the Wizards have removed virtually all traces of Arenas from the Verizon Center, one teammate found a way to get his suspended teammate’s nickname visible. DeShawn Stevenson took to the court during pregame warmups with the words “AGENT” and “ZERO” written in red capital letters on tape wrapped around his shins.