NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Jamal Crawford made a play Tim Floyd would have been proud of - if Floyd was still his coach.
Crawford came up with a key block of a shot by Baron Davis with 28 seconds left as the Chicago Bulls handed Floyd and the New Orleans Hornets their first home loss, 109-106.
Jalen Rose, benched in favor of former Hornet Kendall Gill, poured in 34 points to lead Chicago to its second straight road victory. The Bulls were a league-worst 3-38 on the road last season.
"I was disappointed to come off the bench," Rose admitted. "Being a professional, that's the nature of the business. It's unfortunate that people have to be the scapegoat when the team isn't playing well."
With Bulls coach Bill Cartwright shaking up his lineup, Crawford also came off the bench for 14 points to spoil Floyd's first game against his former team.
"Our team's got to play at an emotional level," Cartwright said. "You can't wait for something to happen. You've got to get involved, and that's what I thought happened."
"To take two guys out, I would definitely say we're the scapegoats," Crawford said. "Was it disrespectful to single us out? Yeah."
The Hornets sliced a 13-point deficit to 108-106 when Davis went 1-on-1 against Crawford. Davis drove to his left and used a head-fake to pull up for a jumper that Crawford got a piece of as Chicago gained possession.
"Baron's such a great player," Crawford said. "I wasn't really trying to block it. I was just trying to get a hand up and try to bother it. I've got long arms, so they came in handy for me tonight."
Rookie Kirk Hinrich, starting in place of Crawford, made the second of two foul shots, for a three-point edge with 14 seconds remaining. Davis missed a 3-pointer with five seconds to play and, after the Hornets retained possession when the ball went out of bounds, David Wesley lost the ball and Chicago ran out the clock.
Floyd went 49-190 - the worst coaching record in the history of all four major pro sports - with Chicago from 1999-2001 after replacing Phil Jackson. Many of the players he coached are no longer with the team, although he was there for Crawford's rookie 2000-01 campaign.
"No, I didn't think about it," Crawford said. "It was like a normal game. We just needed to win."
"Our problem was stopping them," Floyd said. "We couldn't stop them all night. Kendall got off to a good start. Then Jalen came in and we had no answer for him."
Rose and Crawford played the fourth quarter and did all the scoring in a 13-5 tear to open the period. Crawford led the Bulls with six assists.
"That's kind of funny," Crawford said. "The people that are going to help you win are in the fourth quarter. So why not start the same way? It's bittersweet, but I'm glad we won."
Chicago shot a robust 59 percent (41-of-69), including sizzling 86 percent (12-of-14) in the third quarter. Only the Bulls' inability to take care of the ball kept the Hornets in the game - Hinrich had nine of Chicago's 25 turnovers.
Davis exploited Hinrich and Crawford for 35 points and 13 assists, drilling five 3-pointers. But just one day after a rousing 114-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Hornets were lackluster on defense, often gambling for steals.
"We were a little lackadaisical," Hornets forward P.J. Brown said. "We couldn't overcome the mental part of it, and those guys weren't going to come in and lay down. This is the NBA, man. Every team can be beaten on any given night, and we got a little taste of that tonight."
Rose was 10-of-15 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the line in his best effort of the year. Rose was averaging just 11.8 points in his first five games.
"He was pretty (darn) good, wasn't he?" Cartwright said. "He came off the bench, had focus. He was determined to do what he does well, and that's score the basketball. That's what we've got to have from him. We haven't seen him upset like that all year."
Just about everybody shined on offense for Chicago except for Hinrich, who had four assists. Donyell Marshall scored 22 points, Eddy Curry added 16 and Gill 12 on 6-of-9 shooting for the Bulls, who played without the injured Tyson Chandler.
Gill scored eight points in the first quarter and Rose totaled 13 in the second as Chicago took a 54-53 halftime lead. The Bulls continued to sizzle in the third, opening up an 86-81 advantage.
New Orleans was just a step behind Chicago's red-hot pace despite scoring 39 points off the 25 turnovers. Wesley scored 18 points and Darrell Armstrong added 16.
"We were a step slow, but guys like Jalen Rose and Donyell Marshall played big," New Orleans forward Robert Traylor said.
While Davis had a big game, he picked up a pair of early fouls in the fourth quarter that gave him five, reducing his aggressiveness. He also was 5-of-13 from the arc, taking only eight shots inside the 3-point line.
Brown collected 17 points and 11 rebounds and Jamaal Magloire netted 11 points as the Hornets had their 10-game home winning streak against Chicago snapped.
