(Wednesday, December 17th)

Final Score: New Orleans 90, San Antonio 83

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Chris Paul scored 19 points, dished out 12 assists and recorded three steals to not only lead the Hornets to a 90-83 victory over the Spurs but set the NBA record for most consecutive games with a steal.

Paul stole the ball with 3:05 left in the second quarter, giving him a steal in 106 consecutive games. He passed former Spurs player Alvin Robertson, who had set the record from November 1985-December 1986. All-time great Michael Jordan is third on the list with 77 consecutive contests with a swipe.

David West tallied 21 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who have won six of seven and used a 13-0 fourth quarter run to capture the victory. Rasual Butler had 13 points, while Tyson Chandler recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds in the victory.

This marked the first meeting between the clubs since the Spurs bested the Hornets in seven games in last season's Western Conference semifinals. New Orleans had home-court advantage in the series finale but was unable to come away with the victory.

Tim Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio, which had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped. Tony Parker recorded 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Manu Ginobili contributed 17 in the loss.

San Antonio went up by nine early in the fourth, but West's jumper with 6:24 left pulled the Hornets to within 75-72. The Spurs went back up by seven on Matt Bonner's basket, but West hit back-to-back three pointers to make it 79-78 with 2:53 to play.

Bonner missed a three, and Chandler sank two free throws to put New Orleans ahead, 80-79, with just over two minutes left.

Butler put the Hornets ahead by three on a fast break layup, and James Posey drained a three to cap a 13-0 run that put New Orleans up 85-79.

A goaltending call against Chandler pulled the Spurs to within four with just under 50 seconds to play. After Paul was off on a shot, he won a jump-ball with Ginobili to regain possession.

Butler drew a foul and sank 1-of-2 free throws to make it 86-81 with 20.6 seconds left. Roger Mason mistakenly stepped out of bounds on the ensuing possession, and Paul hit a couple free throws to seal the victory for New Orleans.

In a low-scoring opening period, the Spurs took a slim 15-14 edge heading into the second quarter.

San Antonio closed the second on a 12-6 burst, taking a 42-37 lead into halftime.

Butler blocked a layup attempt from Mason, stole the ball from Parker and made a jumper to give the Hornets a 56-55 lead with just over four minutes left in the third.

The Spurs answered with a 13-4 run to take an eight-point lead on Duncan's layup, and the visitors were up 70-63 after three quarters.

Game Notes

New Orleans' Peja Stojakovic sat out the game with back spasms...West now has only five three-point baskets on the season...The Hornets shot 43.2 percent (35-of-81) from the field, while San Antonio shot 38.8 percent (31-of-80).

12/18 00:38:09 ET