New Orleans Hornets missed the playoffs last season, is off to a 10-1 start with three-time All-Star Chris Paul(notes) healthy and playing well. Yet the surprisingly strong start wasn’t bound to dissuade general manager Dell Demps from making moves aimed at finding the depth to keep the Hornets’ point guard as fresh as possible throughout the season. Stojakovic entered the season saying he understood he could be traded because of his expiring $15.3 million contract. His odds of being shipped out only rose when he lost his starting job this season to Marco Belinelli(notes), who was acquired in an offseason trade and is currently New Orleans’ third-leading scorer, averaging 12.7 points. Stojakovic, 33, was inactive for several games earlier this season but has seen more action in the past week. He has played in six of the Hornets’ 11 games, averaging 7.5 points. Known for his accurate shooting from behind the 3-point line, Stojakovic has averaged 17.3 during his 12-year career. Returning from back surgery in 2007-08, he was a key contributor when the Hornets won a franchise-record 56 games, earned their first division title and came within a game of advancing to the Western Conference finals. However, he has been injured more frequently the past two seasons, raising concerns about his durability as he moves toward the twilight of his career. “Peja has been a valued contributor as a Hornet for years and we wish both Peja and Jerryd all the best in their future and thank them for their recent contributions in helping us get off to a strong start,” Demps said in a statement. The 27-year-old Jack has started 13 games for the Raptors this season, 10.8 points, 4.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 27 minutes per game. At 6-foot-3, he is a combination guard who could back up Paul at the point and also play shooting guard. His contract runs through the 2012-13 season and pays him more than $5 million each of the next two seasons. The Hornets hoped Bayless, a former first-round draft choice, would emerge as Paul’s primary backup. His play was sporadic, however. He has averaged 4.5 points and 2.5 assists in 13.5 minutes, with his best performance coming against the Los Angeles Clippers when he had 15 points and nine assists. Andersen, a 6-11 Australian, has averaged 5.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game with Toronto. Banks has had trouble cracking the regular rotation in Toronto, getting into only three games and averaging 2 points. 
Any win is a good one for the Kings, who also ended a five-game skid at home, avoiding their first 0-6 stretch at Arco Arena since an eight-game slide from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6, 2008. Sacramento looked headed for another loss, trailing at halftime for the 11th straight time this season. “There was a lot of pressure on us, especially playing really bad on our home court,” Udrih said. “Now we have that taste of winning again.” Searching for a cohesive defensive unit, Kings coach Paul Westphal inserted Donte Greene(notes) into the lineup, his fifth starting group through 11 games. Greene had some solid moments at the defensive end and so did the Kings, who held Brook Lopez(notes), the Nets’ second-leading scorer, to seven points. Leading scorer Devin Harris(notes) wasn’t much better, shooting 3 of 12 and scoring 10 points. Sacramento had allowed the three previous opponents to shoot 52 percent and looked awful on Wednesday night, when the New York Knicks used a 40-point second quarter to beat the Kings 113-106. “We put together 44 good minutes of defense tonight,” Westphal said. “We had a little lull there in the second quarter, but for the most part I thought we won the game with our defense.” It didn’t hurt that the Kings finally made a big shot in a close game. Travis Outlaw(notes) hit a jumper following a timeout to cut the Kings’ lead to 83-81 with 27 seconds remaining. But with the shot clock running down, Udrih made a 3-pointer for an 86-81 lead with 3.4 seconds left. “They were double-teaming (Evans) and then he found Luther (Head), they rotated and I was wide open,” said Udrih, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Head for the second straight game. “So Luther passed to me. I knew there were two seconds on the shot clock. It was a good pass and a good shot.” Kris Humphries(notes) had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Anthony Morrow(notes) scored 17 points and Outlaw 13 for the Nets. New Jersey lost its second straight and has dropped eight of 10 since starting the season 2-0 for the first time tine in eight seasons. “It was a tough loss,” Humphries said. “We’ve been able to hold teams below their shooting percentage, but we haven’t been able to put points on the board. We are really taking a long time to get into our offense.” Nets coach Avery Johnson said the Nets executed well on Sacramento’s final possession. “The plan was to get the ball at a certain point out of Tyreke’s hand because we were having problems with him all night,” Johnson said. “We did exactly what we wanted to do. When we got to Udrih the shot clock was down, we just didn’t do a good job of taking away the shot.” Carl Landry(notes) scored 15 points, Udrih had 12 and Head added 10 for Sacramento. DeMarcus Cousins(notes) had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who lost at New Jersey the second game of the season. “These are the ones we’ve got to win,” Lopez said. “We’ve been good as a team, but we just have let a few get away. It’s just frustrating right now. Both Devin and I didn’t have a good game.” Evans began the game shooting 1 of 8, then got going late in the first half, surprisingly making shots from the perimeter, where he has struggled throughout his brief NBA career. Evans helped put the Kings on top 64-63 heading into the fourth quarter. Last year’s Rookie of the Year scored nine points in the third, when Sacramento outscored the Nets 21-17. Morrow and Humphries both had 12 points in the opening half to put the Nets in front 46-43. New Jersey used a 19-4 run in the second quarter to erase an eight-point deficit. Landry had 10 points for the Kings. Notes: In the battle of two highly touted rookie post players, Cousins drew an offensive foul late in the first quarter against Derrick Favors(notes). Neither player was a factor. Favors scored three points. … Nets reserve Quinton Ross(notes) suffered a calf strain in the first half and didn’t return. … Harris missed seven of eight shots before hitting a jumper midway through the third quarter, then was promptly taken out of the game.Watch the match between New Orleans Hornets and Sacramento Kings live on NBA at Sunday, November 21, 2010.
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