Chris Paul chose an opportune time for his first triple-double of the season.

Paul had 27 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds, and the host New Orleans Hornets held on for a 93-88 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night to even their first-round playoff series at 2-2.

Wearing a black wrap on his left hand and a small bandage over his right eye, Paul scored 14 of New Orleans’ 24 points in the fourth quarter. The All-Star guard then capped his brilliant performance by running down the clock and setting up Jarrett Jack’s short jumper, which made it 90-86 with 9.3 seconds left.

Kobe Bryant had 17 points for the Lakers but did not score in the first half and finished 5 of 18 shooting. He also came up lame late in the fourth quarter, favoring his left ankle after a collision with Willie Green. Bryant’s last miss came on a 3-point attempt in the final seconds.

That forced Los Angeles to foul Jack, and while the Hornets walked up the court, Paul triumphantly cupped his hand around his ear to soak in the roar of approval from the packed and delirious New Orleans Arena.

The Hornets’ victory ensured the series, which resumes with Game 5 in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, would return to New Orleans for Game 6 on Thursday.

Trevor Ariza scored 19 for New Orleans, while Carl Landry added 16 before fouling out in the final minute. Pau Gasol and Ron Artest each scored 16 for Los Angeles, with all of Artest’s points coming

in the first half

76ers 86, Heat 82: Lou Williams hit a 3-pointer with 8.1 seconds left as Philadelphia avoided a sweep by beating visiting Miami.

The Heat was 95 seconds away from winning Game 4, holding an 82-76 lead. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Heat didn’t score again. Jrue Holiday made a 3 with 46.6 seconds left that sliced the deficit to one. Williams followed with a 3 from the top of the arc for an 84-82 lead that sent the nearly 20,000 fans into a frenzy.

Williams and Evan Turner led the Sixers with 17 points each. James scored 31 points for the Heat and Wade 22. Bosh scored 12 points and had two blocks late in the game that seemed to seal the win for the Heat.

Celtics 101, Knicks 89: Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 21 points and 12 assists, and visiting Boston swept its way into the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Ray Allen and reserve Glen Davis each added 14 points for the Celtics, the first team into the second round after sweeping a series for the first time since a 3-0 victory over Indiana in 1992. They had a 23-point lead cut to four in the fourth quarter, but pulled away again behind Garnett, who scored 20 after halftime.

Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and nine rebounds, and Amare Stoudemire, who decided to play after his back felt better, finished with 19 points and 12 boards but shot only 5 of 20 from the field.

Hawks 88, Magic 85: Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and Joe Johnson made four big free throws in the final 20 seconds as host Atlanta took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference series.

The Hawks made only 12 of 20 free throws, yet all was forgiven when Johnson knocked down the ones that really matter. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 29 points and 17 rebounds, but he also had eight turnovers.

Bulls: All-Star guard Derrick Rose had a walking boot on his left foot and was scheduled for an MRI on his sprained ankle later in the day. Coach Tom Thibodeau says trainer Fred Tedeschi told him the point guard is sore but the swelling is “not bad.” Rose sprained his left ankle late in the first quarter Saturday as Indiana averted a four-game sweep with an 89-84 victory. The Bulls hope to have him available for Game 5 on Tuesday.

Posted: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 2:09 PM

By Jimmy Smith, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune
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When quizzed about the health of backup center Aaron Gray after today’s shootaround in Los Angeles, New Orleans Hornets coach Monday Williams said his team needs everyone in this series.

What they’re saying about the New Orleans Hornets’ series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

 Pau Gasol looking to get going against New Orleans Hornets in tonight’s Game 2 (Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times) 

Lakers plan begins but doesn’t end with trying to contain Chris Paul (Broderick  Turner, Los Angeles Times)

Lamar Odom becomes first Lakers’ player to earn Sixth Man of the Year award (Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News) 

A closer look at the Lakers’ problems against the Hornets (Kevin Ding, Orange County Register)

Los Angeles — If there was any critical component to the Hornets’ hopes of establishing a competitive presence in a first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, it was New Orleans’ bench play.

“For sure,” Hornets Coach Monty Williams warned before the game, “our bench is going to have to be ready. Not just ready but willing to go out there and play like they play in practice.”

Consider these numbers: 16 of 22 from the field, seven of 12 from the free-throw line, 15 points from Jarrett Jack in his postseason debut, 12 from Aaron Gray on five of five shooting from the field, and a total of 39 bench points to the Lakers’ 21.

As much as anything, those numbers contributed to the Hornets’ stunning 109-100 upset of the two-time defending champions Sunday afternoon at Staples Center, but perhaps not without a price.

Gray badly turned his right ankle with 1:07 remaining. And the walking boot Gray was wearing, and the crutches that carried him from the dressing room onto the back of a flat-bed cart for the short ride across the street to the team hotel, indicated Gray will need every bit of the time between now and Wednesday night’s Game 2 tip off to rehabilitate.

“We just really had the mindset that we were playing against some big boys: Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, obviously a versatile big in Lamar Odom coming off the bench,” Gray said. “Especially me in my situation, it’s just kind of anticipating when Coach Williams is going to using me. I just wanted to make sure I was as ready as possible.

“My teammates did a great job putting me in good positions. … (The bench) has been locking in all season. Coach has put a lot of pressure on us but given us the opportunity to go out and play freely. We were talking the whole first six, seven minuets how good the first team was doing. It got us an (eight)-point lead. We didn’t want to be the reason they came back or we let the team down.”

And the ankle?

“I’ve got a soft ball on the ankle right now,” Gray said. “We’ll do everything we can to get it ready to go on Wednesday.”

Jack admitted he had difficulty sleeping Saturday night, with the anticipation of his first postseason game the reason for his insomnia.

But his first attempt in the second quarter, from 19 feet, found the bottom of the net that gave the Hornets’ a 28-24 lead 20 seconds in and provided a sedative for his jumpy nerves.

“This was huge,” Jack said. “Coach preaches that we need everybody in this locker room to come in and play a pivotal part. That’s all we try to come in and do. We don’t try to come in and do anything spectacular or magical. We just try to stick to our game plan, play hard and keep sustaining the energy and effort that the starters put up.”

At the outset of the fourth quarter, the Lakers cut the lead to one, 75-74, after Bynum’s jumper. But Jack answered with a nine-foot floater, followed by a tear drop from Willie Green that bumped the lead to five — and Los Angeles never got closer than three points — twice — thereafter.

“I thought they were really effective, Jarrett and Willie, when they cut it to one,” Williams said. “We went on a (9-2) run, and everything was at the basket,” Williams said. “We’ve had Boston down, Chicago down at the half — and they’d come back on us because we just kept casting up jump shots. We talked about attacking and going to the basket. If we could go to the free-throw line, we could set our defense — and our bench was a big part of that.”

MORE GRAY: Williams said afterward the initial diagnosis was a mild sprain, with further evaluation being done later Sunday night and today.

The Hornets are scheduled to practice this afternoon at Southern California’s gym.

NO-KAFOR: The playoff debut of New Orleans’ Emeka Okafor was something to forget: 22 minutes, two rebounds, four points — and he fouled out.

“The win (eliminates) all that,” Okafor said, smiling.

EXPERIENCE DISPARITY: The Hornets came into Sunday’s game the least experienced team in the NBA postseason, with a collective total of 144 playoff games played to the Lakers’ 959, the most of any of the 16 teams.

The Lakers’ Derek Fisher (199) and Kobe Bryant (198) each had played more postseason games than the entire Hornets’ roster, but you couldn’t tell that by the way New Orleans played.

“I’m not shocked, but I am pleasantly surprised,” Williams said. “I’m not going to disrespect our team and say I’m shocked.”

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: The Hornets out-scored the taller Lakers by an eye-popping margin of 52-34.

“They’re staying in the lane,” Los Angeles Coach Phil Jackson said. “They’re crowding the lane, staying back. They had Gray outplaying our big guys today.”

Said Williams: “Maybe they (Lakers) had an off night; maybe those guys didn’t have the same whatever it is they have, but I thought we were quick and kept attacking the basket. We talked about not being afraid to go in there and not worry about your mistakes.”

What others are saying about the New Orleans Hornets 109-100 win against the Los Angeles Lakers:

The Associated PressNew Orleans Hornets Chris Paul and Jarrett Jack hug after a big basket by Paul in the Hornets 109-100 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

The lowlights and highlights (Brian Kamenetzky, ESPN Los Angeles)

Lakers got what they wanted … (Los Angeles Times)

Hornets upset Lakers (Orange County Register)

Chris Paul leads Hornets to upset (Greg Beacham, The Associated Press)