New Orleans, LA (My Sportsbook) - Chris Paul had 26 points and 10 assists, leading the New Orleans Hornets past the Houston Rockets, 88-79, at New Orleans Arena.

David West recorded 23 points, while Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who have won five of eight. Rasual Butler provided 13 points and seven rebounds for New Orleans after it suffered a lopsided 88-68 loss to the Magic on Christmas Day.

"We played with a lot of energy tonight. I was really proud," said Hornets head coach Byron Scott. "Last year, we would hear from other coaches and general managers that said, 'ya'll played real hard'. I hadn't heard that a lot this year. We cannot allow people to outplay us. It still boggles my mind with how we could play yesterday, and I think the guys took it upon themselves to come out and play a much better basketball game."

Yao Ming scored 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Rockets, who played without Ron Artest due to a sore right ankle. Tracy McGrady shot just 2-of-11 from the field for 11 points while adding five rebounds and four assists, as the Rockets lost their second straight on the heels of a four-game win streak.

"I think we left (our offense) back in Houston," McGrady said. "We had some great looks, even down the stretch. The offense just wasn't there for us. Defensively, I thought we were pretty solid. We just couldn't make any shots."

The Rockets tied the game at 66 early in the fourth quarter, but Butler drained a three with seven minutes left to give the Hornets a 75-69 edge.

Yao's free throw pulled Houston to within 75-72 with 4:43 to go, but James Posey put the Hornets back up five on a seven-foot hook shot with 3:41 left.

Both teams traded baskets, and Paul sank a jumper with 55.3 seconds left to put New Orleans up 83-76. McGrady was fouled from three-point range on the ensuing possession and made all three free throws to make it a four-point game.

Paul was fouled with 23.7 seconds left and made both free throws to give the Hornets a six-point lead, and Yao was off on his turnaround jumper. Posey sank a couple free throws for New Orleans with 18.0 seconds to go, sealing the victory.

"We just wanted to come out with a better effort. We felt like Houston was a team that we gave one away to earlier this season, and we wanted to protect home court," West said. "They are a good basketball team and have been playing good. We knew we had our hands full with Yao and McGrady. We came out with a good effort on the defensive end. We were able to make some key plays down the stretch to win."

Paul had 11 early points, and the Hornets held a 23-18 advantage heading into the second quarter.

The Hornets leaned heavily on West's 10 points in the second quarter, but the Rockets closed the gap, trailing only 46-44 at halftime.

New Orleans opened up the third quarter on a 12-5 run to take a nine-point lead on Butler's tip-in with 7:31 left, but Houston pulled to within 66-64 before the fourth quarter.

Game Notes

The season series is tied, 1-1...New Orleans shot 44.6 percent (33-of-74) from the floor, while Houston shot 36.1 percent (26-of-72)...Luis Scola added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets...One game after Paul recorded no steals to snap his 108-game streak with at least one swipe, he posted two takeaways.