NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Baron Davis put on a dazzling show for his former coach.
Davis used an array of long-range jumpers and dashing drives to the basket to score 26 points and lift the New Orleans Hornets to a 82-72 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"Baron had a great thing going," Cavaliers coach Paul Silas said. "Baron is the best point guard in the game today. It took a little time, but it happened."
Silas should know. He coached Davis for four of his five seasons with the Hornets but was fired in the offseason.
"It felt different to be on the other side of the floor," Silas admitted. "Playing against those guys the first time was a challenge. They're a vey good team."
"Coach Silas was a great part of my development," Hornets center Jamaal Magloire said. "He was the first person to give me a shot in this league. It was a little odd to see him with the opposing team."
David Wesley added 21 points and Magloire had 12 and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, which bounced back from Tuesday's loss at Miami and has won six of its last eight.
"We're playing really well defensively," Hornets coach Tim Floyd said. "I think the positive thing is that we're 4-1 on the back end of back-to-backs. The other positive is that we did not let last night bother us."
Zyrdunas Ilgauskas led Cleveland with 20 points, but it wasn't enough as the Cavaliers dropped their 30th consecutive road game and ninth this season. Rookie LeBron James just missed his first NBA triple-double with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Ricky Davis traveled with the team and suited up but did not play. Jason Kapono replaced Davis in the starting lineup and scored 14 points.
"We made a good accounting of ourselves. The bottom line is that we're missing too many people," Silas said. "When (the Hornets) needed to shut it down, they put their starters back in and that was the game."
Cleveland was also without forward Carlos Boozer, who missed the game with a sprained right ankle. Ira Newble served a one-game suspension.
New Orleans used an 8-2 run over the final 4:38 of the third quarter to build a 66-53 lead. The Hornets coasted in the final period as Cleveland got no closer than seven points.
Poor shooting and ballhandling plagued Cleveland throughout. The Cavaliers missed their first seven shots while New Orleans scored the first six points of the game.
Cleveland bounced back and Kapono beat the first-quarter buzzer to give the Cavaliers a 23-22 lead.
"We ran a lot of pick-and-rolls and that led to most of my points," Ilgauskas said. "But overall, we shot the ball poorly, and that's what cost us the game."
Cleveland shot just 35 percent (6-of-17) in the second quarter and committed six turnovers as New Orleans built a 42-36 halftime lead.
The Cavaliers were even worse in the second half at 29 percent (13-of-44), finishing at 34 percent (28-of-83) with 17 turnovers.
"We outrebounded them, but we just couldn't make our shots," Ilgauskas said.
