NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Baron Davis and the New Orleans Hornets appear to have the Portland Trail Blazers' number.
Davis scored eight of his 23 points during a key run bridging the third and fourth quarters as the Hornets pulled away for a 101-79 victory over the Trail Blazers.
Darrell Armstrong added 20 points off the bench and David Wesley had 16 for New Orleans, which has won eight of the last nine meetings with Portland, including five in a row at home.
New Orleans trailed, 61-60, before Wesley nailed a jumper with 4:05 remaining that gave the team the lead for good and began a 20-4 run. Davis had two 3-pointers and a dunk during the burst, ending it on a shot from the arc with 10:29 left.
"It was pressure," Davis said of what sparked the run. "Coach (Tim) Floyd told us to pick up our pressure and our intensity. It starts with me. We got in the passing lanes and got our hands on some balls."
"We got some big stops and before you know it we were up double figures," Wesley said. "It was done. You could see them their shoulders slumping. They almost stopped playing. It was kind of a snowball effect. We kept executing and got good shots."
Wesley was impressed with the effort of backcourt mate Davis, who had eight assists and just one turnover.
"Baron was driving and creating for the rest of us," Wesley said. "Anytime he does that, he makes everyone's lives much easier. We play better when he is active. Baron makes this team go."
The Hornets made half their 80 shots and limited the Trail Blazers to 36 percent (30-of-83).
"Baron, Darrell and David are guys that we count on to get us in the offense and can count on to get us in the defense," Floyd said. "They've been making their shots at a high pace all year long. That's certainly important. I thought where they really showed what they mean to our team tonight was on the defensive end."
"With Baron and Wesley and Darrell Armstrong, they create turnovers and get fast break points," said Portland coach Maurice Cheeks, whose team was outscored, 29-6, on the break. "Our offense was very stagnant, very bad. We didn't get any fast break baskets and our half-court offense wasn't very good."
Rasheed Wallace collected 19 points and nine rebounds and Bonzi Wells added 19 and eight for Portland, which fell to 0-3 on the road this season. The Trail Blazers have not beaten the Hornets on the road since a win in Charlotte on February 26, 1999.
"We just lost our offensive flow in the third quarter," said Portland guard Damon Stoudamire, who had 14 points and seven assists. "Before that we were staying close and even took the lead. But then they turned up the pressure. After that, the Hornets just got us out of synch."
