(My Sportsbook) - The New Orleans Hornets are officially going back to the NBA playoffs for a second straight season after a win in Miami on Tuesday. Now, the Hornets hope to play spoiler and knock the Phoenix Suns from the postseason hunt.

New Orleans will be shooting for its seventh straight win over Phoenix tonight and aiming to end the Suns' string of four straight playoff appearances when the teams square off in the Big Easy.

A Hornets win in tonight's contest or a Dallas win against Utah tonight will jettison the Suns from the postseason picture.

The Hornets clinched the playoff berth last night when Rasual Butler sent the game into overtime with a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer against his former team and New Orleans capitalized off a late turnover to beat Miami, 93-87.

David West scored eight of his 20 points in overtime and drilled the go-ahead jumper with 8.8 seconds left in the extra frame for the Hornets, who snapped a two-game skid and remained a game behind Portland for the fifth seed in the Western Conference.

Chris Paul totaled 26 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and six steals for New Orleans. Peja Stojakovic had 24 points, six boards and four steals, the final one sealing the victory.

The Suns, meanwhile, are coming off a backbreaking loss in Dallas on Sunday. Jason Kidd had a milestone game in that one, scoring 19 points and dishing a season-high 20 assists as the Mavericks crushed Phoenix, 140-116.

Kidd passed Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson for third place on the all- time NBA assists list, giving him 10,142 for his career, in the game as Dallas extended its lead over the Suns for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West to four games with just five to play.

Leandro Barbosa had a team-high 24 points for the Suns, who were unable to feed off a 139-111 rout of Sacramento on Friday. Phoenix had a brief two-game winning streak halted and has lost four of six overall.

Grant Hill went for 23 points and Shaquille O'Neal had 14 points and seven rebounds in defeat. Steve Nash had 12 points and eight helpers for Phoenix.