Fading Hornets resume road trip vs. Clippers

The Hornets dropped the opener of their trek in Phoenix last night when Amare Stoudemire scored 36 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and sank all 14 of his free throw attempts, as the Suns ran past New Orleans, 120-106.

Rookie Marcus Thornton scored 28 for the Hornets, who have lost three straight and seven of their last eight games. David West ended with 24 points and seven rebounds in defeat. Emeka Okafor chipped in 15 and 12, while Darren Collison contributed 13 points with 10 assists.

"It's tough. Amare took over the game in the third quarter," Thornton said. "We made some silly turnovers and that's like giving them two points every time. We just have to work through it and be professionals."

New Orleans, which is a miserable 7-14 since losing All-Star Chris Paul to a knee injury, is now an almost insurmountable eight games behind Portland for the final playoff spot in the West with just 15 games left to be played.

The Clippers, meanwhile, continue to play out the string and are coming off another setback in a long line of futility against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. Matt Bonner had a team-high 21 points in that one, as the Spurs cruised to a 118-88 win, their 16th consecutive victory over the hapless Clips.

The Spurs also completed the series sweep for the fourth consecutive season, as the Clippers haven't won against them since March 7, 2006. San Antonio's current streak against the Clippers is the league's longest by one team against a single opponent.

Baron Davis totaled 22 points to pace the Clippers, who have lost seven in a row overall. Travis Outlaw had 17 points, six assists and five boards in the loss.

"We have to compete," Clippers head coach Kim Hughes said. "I think we had four players on our defensive side competing tonight and that's not enough. Whether we are playing back-to-backs, four games or five games, we need to be competitive. I thought most of our guys didn't compete."

LA hasn't beaten the Hornets since a 100-90 win on Jan. 8, 2007.