New Orleans Hornets small forward Al-Farouq Aminu said he’s putting more focus toward improving as a defender. Aminu got into foul trouble in Wednesday night’s 95-80 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies, but forced forward Rudy Gay to take several difficult shots early in the game.

Aminu, 21, was acquired by the Hornets from the Los Angeles Clippers last week, along with guard Eric Gordon and center Chris Kaman in exchange for Chris Paul. Making his debut, Aminu scored six points and had four rebounds in 18 minutes despite playing with five fouls.

“I’ve only been practicing for about four days, so I’m still trying to stuff down,’’ Aminu said. “I’m starting to learn my teammates, and it’s coming around smoothly.’’

Aminu is battling with Quincy Pondexter for minutes at the backup small forward spot behind starter Trevor Ariza. Pondexter struggled early,  but finished with 14 points and had 12 rebounds against the Grizzlies.

Hornets Coach Monty Williams gave his players Thursday off after finishing their two-game preseason schedule with consecutive wins against the Grizzlies. New Orleans opens the regular season this Monday against the Phoenix Suns on the road.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Eric Gordon and Chris Kaman didn’t miss a step in their debuts for the New Orleans Hornets. Kaman scored 18 points and Eric Gordon added 17 in their first game with New Orleans, leading the Hornets to a 95-80 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

Gordon and Kaman both came over in the Dec. 14 trade that sent All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Though it was only a preseason game, Hornets coach Monty Williams came away with a good feeling.

“Don’t want to get too excited about anything now but at the same time, if we compete like that, we give ourselves a chance to win games,” he said.

Quincy Pondexter had 14 points with 12 rebounds for New Orleans.

The Grizzlies started quickly, jumping to a 28-17 lead on 80 percent shooting, but the Hornets clamped down on defense and limited Memphis to 37.8 percent for the game.

“We’re going to be a team this year that can’t make too many mistakes, limited turnovers, we’re going to have to play really good defense,” Gordon said. “We’ve definitely got to be one of the top defensive teams to be a winning team or playoff team.”

Gordon and Pondexter started the comeback late in the first quarter, with the point guard assisting the second-year forward on a close-range shot that opened an 11-0 run that blossomed into a 35-31 second-quarter lead.

The Hornets never trailed again.

“I think that we came out with good focus, good energy,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. “Our conditioning is not where it needs to be and we just have to improve our work ethic as we move forward and our focus to where we can get to be a good team. We are not a very good team right now.”

Before tipoff, Williams said he would be looking to see how quickly the newcomers had picked up his defensive sets. Afterward, he said he saw mistakes but that the efforts of Gordon and Kaman nearly made up for the issues.

“Even when we gave up a shot, we contested a shot and then somebody was there to pick up the rebound, especially after that first quarter when we gave up a bunch of offensive rebounds,” Williams said.

Rudy Gay scored 20 points and Zach Randolph had 15 for Memphis.

Among the three players the Hornets acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in last week’s trade involving Chris Paul, forward Al-Farouq Aminu appears to have the most work ahead. After watching Aminu practice for the first time Sunday, Hornets Coach Monty Williams said the second-year player is going have to extend himself more because right now he’s inconsistent.

“We feel like he’s a guy that’s going to be in a fight with Quincy (Pondexter) for minutes,” Williams said. “We don’t give up anything around here. He has a skill set, but we don’t want guys to be in position by default.”

By trading Paul to the Clippers, the Hornets acquired shooting guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, Aminu, who is a second-year small forward, and a first-round draft pick in 2012.

Gordon, who averaged 22.9 points last season for the Clippers, was the centerpiece in the deal for the Hornets. However, Williams said he thinks Aminu has a significant upside.

“He has the skills and abilities that I think most small forwards would pay for,” Williams said. “He’s long and can rebound. When you’re 6 feet 9 and can do that, you are a prototype small forward.”

Gordon is projected to start at shooting guard, while Kaman, a 7-foot eight-year veteran center, is expected to start or become the Hornets’ top big man off the bench. But Aminu, 21, is likely to come off the bench behind starter Trevor Ariza and Pondexter, who was a rookie last season with the Hornets.

“I’m trying to get better and learn the mentality down here, which is always to go hard, and that’s great,” said Aminu, who averaged 5.6 points as a rookie last season with the Clippers. “The intensity in practice here is a little different with guys focused throughout the session, and it’s time for me to start myself out to where the level is.

“All the coaches here are pushing me to be a better player. They just want to get the best out of all their players.”

Gordon said he came into his first practice Sunday not knowing what to expect. After completing a two-hour-plus practice before returning again for an evening session, Gordon now knows Williams is defense-oriented.

“He’s very big on help defense, and there are a lot of defensive schemes,” Gordon said. “They threw a lot of stuff at us, but it’s up to us new guys to learn it and be ready for these upcoming games. I know this is a good organization with good coaching, and I’m here to just fit in.”

Williams said his new players are on an accelerated schedule to learn his play sets and defensive principles before the team’s Dec. 26 regular-season opener at Phoenix.

Williams said Wednesday night’s preseason game against Memphis at the New Orleans Arena will be similar to a practice because guys are still trying to figure out his system.

“I’m just trying to figure out my role, whether I’m coming off the bench or starting,” Kaman said. “I just want to help us get some wins.”

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John Reid can be reached at jreid@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3407.

Thanks for joining us for tonight’s NBA preseason opener in Memphis, where the Grizzlies will host the New Orleans Hornets as the lockout-shortened season gets under way. We’ll be providing live updates throughout the game below.

WESTWEGO, Louisiana — The writing was on the wall, or maybe off of it, when the New Orleans Hornets removed an expansive image of All-Star guard Chris Paul from the outside of the New Orleans Arena well before training camp had begun.

Now general manager Dell Demps and coach Monty Williams have a better picture of some of the new faces that might grace that wall one day, and they can move on with their plans for the Hornets without the drag that a disgruntled superstar can cause.

“Now is the next step,” Demps said Thursday, a day after Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. “I don’t know if it’s relief. We’re glad to get that process over. And we’ve got some other things we need to do to get our roster ready.”

The trade brought the Hornets a prolific young shooting guard in Eric Gordon, a 7-foot former All-Star center in Chris Kaman and a second-year forward with potential in Al-Farouq Aminu. The Hornets also got a first-round draft choice that the Clippers had previously acquired from Minnesota.

With that deal done, progress quickly ensued on the free-agent front with the re-acquisition of power forward Carl Landry, who averaged 11.8 points with the Hornets last season. He came in as a backup to David West and moved into a starting role after West was injured.

“He understands the system. He really thrived later in the season after the injury to David West,” Demps said of Landry, who agreed to a one-year, $8.8 million deal. “He had some big-time moments for us in the playoffs last year. We want to grow on that. … He fits our system and we’re excited about the agreement.”

Williams expressed mix feelings about Paul’s departure.

The Hornets made it clear they would have preferred to build around Paul, had the star guard been inclined to sign an extension. But when Paul would not commit to that, Demps and Williams knew they needed to start seeing Paul as a means to trade for more of the players they needed to get closer to the vision they have of a hustling, scrappy, defense-first team.

“When you can bring closure to a situation and move on, you feel good about that,” Williams said. “At the same time, you don’t lose a player like Chris Paul and say, ‘Let’s move on.’ He certainly was a gift for me (last season) as a first-year coach to have somebody like that at my side.”

Williams said he also will miss forward David West, who opted for a free-agent deal with Indiana instead of coming back. Williams wished both of them would have remained.

“I inherited what most coaches would want to inherit,” Williams said, referring to Paul and West. “Yet, it takes a while to put your program in place, so we’re looking at starting over again, which is not something I had planned on or was looking forward to. But it’s what I have to do, so Dell is going to bring the pieces that he feels like fit our system and I have to trust him do that.”

Demps noted that Kaman, who is in the last year of his contract, will be “out to prove he can still play.”

Demps and Williams say they envision Kaman and center Emeka Okafor playing together at times, with Okafor, who has guarded the perimeter at times in the past, moving to power forward.

Williams said he looks forward to having a scorer like Gordon, who averaged 22 points last season.

“I’m always one to get guys on our team that I fear coaching against, and he’s one of those guys,” Williams said. “When he shoots it from range or is attacking the basket, you’re always on edge because you know you’re in trouble.”

Demps said he has spoken all three of the former Clippers who are on their way to the Big Easy, and all of them seemed happy about it.

“All three of them were excited. … They were ready to get here,” Demps said. “I didn’t have to sell anything. I was thinking that could be a possibility, but that was not the case.”