The New Orleans Hornets play at the Utah Jazz tonight at 8 at EnergySolutions Arena (19,911). The game will be televised on CST and broadcast on 106.1-FM.

Notable: This is the second of a back-to-back for the Hornets who played Sunday night at Sacramento . . . .Utah last played on Saturday, a 104-89 loss at San Antonio. . . . This is Utah’s second home game of the season.

Utah

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. PPG*

Gordon Hayward F 6-8 210 9.0

Paul Millsap F 6-8 253 13.3

Derrick Favors C 6-10 248 9.3

Raja Bell G 6-5 210 2.8

Devin Harris G 6-3 192 10.5

Reserves: J. Howard, F/G, 11.0, E. Kanter, C, 5.0, C. Miles, G/F, 8.5, J. Tinsley, G, 0.0, A. Jefferson, F, 14.7

Hornets

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. PPG*

Trevor Ariza F 6-8 210 9.3

Carl Landry F 6-9 248 17.0

Emeka Okafor C 6-10 255 9.0

Marco Belinelli G 6-5 195 10.3

Jarrett Jack G 6-3 197 16.5

Reserves: G. Vasquez, G, 6.7, C. Kaman, C, 8.7, A. Aminu, F, 2.0, J. Smith, F/C, 4.7.

*Statistics through Saturday’s games.

Hakim Warrick scored 18 points in a reserve role, and the Phoenix Suns won for the first time this young season while handing the New Orleans Hornets their first loss, 93-78 on Friday night.
Channing Frye added 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Suns, who had opened the season with two losses, one to New Orleans in their home opener Monday night. Jared Dudley added 16 points, while Steve Nash dished out 12 assists.
Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon missed a second straight game with a bruised right knee, and this time New Orleans could not compensate for the prolific scorer’s absence.
Carl Landry led New Orleans with 17 points, while Emeka Okafor had 10 points and 16 rebounds, but the Hornets shot only 29 percent (26 of 90).
Marcin Gortat scored 12 points while playing with a splint on his injured right thumb. Shannon Brown added 11 points and Grant Hill 10 for Phoenix, which shot 42 percent (33 of 78). Warrick was 6 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 7 on free throws.
Jarrett Jack scored 12 points and Marco Belinelli grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which outrebounded Phoenix 57-47 and had 24 offensive boards, more than any team in the NBA so far this season.
The Hornets had 23 second-chance points, but could have had a lot more if not for their shooting woes.
The Hornets got away with poor shooting through the first half, keeping the game close with defense and rebounding, but it finally caught up with them halfway through the third quarter, when they were still just below 30 percent again (17 of 59).
Nash pulled up for a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 61-51 lead. Dudley then scored inside after baiting Chris Kaman to leave his feet on a ball fake. Frye followed with a 3 from the corner that fell through after a high bounce off the rim. Then Gortat capped a 10-0 run with an inside basket that made it 68-51.
New Orleans responded with a brief 10-2 surge but was unable to make up enough ground to get any closer than nine points the rest of the way.
New Orleans hit only four of its first 20 shots (20 percent), but trailed only 16-14 at that point because of its typically tough defense and rebounding.
The Hornets were 10 of 35 halfway through the second quarter, but still trailed by only four at that point after Okafor’s free throws.
Soon after, the Suns raced to their first double-digit lead when Nash fueled a 6-0 spurt with fast-break feeds to Hill for a layup and Warrick for a dunk, making it 43-33.
New Orleans finally got over 30 percent — barely — in the final minute of the second quarter when Belinelli hit his second 3 and Greivis Vasquez set up Okafor’s dunk to make it 52-45 at halftime.
Notes: Brown got a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing with officials. … Suns coach Alvin Gentry also was called for a technical foul in the second quarter. … New Orleans entered the game having won four straight against Phoenix, including the last three meetings last season. … A near scuffle occurred early in the fourth quarter between the Suns’ Robin Lopez and New Orleans’ Trevor Ariza, who were each assessed technical fouls, but Brown and Jack quickly stepped between them before it escalated. … New Orleans’ offensive rebound total was higher than they had in any game last season.

“When you look at the schedule and you’re 0-2, you think there’s a chance you’ll go 0-66,” Gentry said. “You look at the schedule after you win and you say, ‘Oh, we can do this or we can do that.’ It’s all psychological … though. You’ve just got to go out and play. We’ve been doing a good job of competing, but our offense has been so stagnant. Tonight, we got out and ran.”

Jared Dudley added 16 points, while Steve Nash dished out 12 assists for the Suns, who had shot 40 percent through two losses to open the season, including one to New Orleans in their home opener Monday night.

“We made a few more shots, but more than that, we continually created offense,” Nash said. “To be consistent in creating good offensive opportunities was a step in the right direction because in the first game against New Orleans, I thought we missed some shots we usually make. But in our second game (against Philadelphia), we just looked really hesitant, out of synch and kind of like we were dumbfounded a little bit.”

Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon missed a second straight game with a bruised right knee, and this time New Orleans could not compensate for the prolific scorer’s absence.

Carl Landry led New Orleans with 17 points, while Emeka Okafor had 10 points and 16 rebounds, but the Hornets shot only 29 percent (26 of 90), the second worst shooting performance in team history.

“We’ve got scorers on this team. Everybody on this team can average double-digit points. Just the ball didn’t fall,” Landry said. “It’s unusual for a team to shoot (29) percent for the game. Unfortunately that was something we did tonight. It will turn around.”

Gentry thought his team’s intensity on the defensive end, more so in terms of contesting shots than rebounding, played a big role in the Hornets’ shooting struggles.

“We did a great job of challenging everything at the rim,” Gentry said. “It wasn’t our offense. It was our defense that won the game.”

Suns center Marcin Gortat scored 12 points and blocked four shots while playing with a splint on his injured right thumb. Shannon Brown added 11 points and Grant Hill 10 for Phoenix, which shot 42 percent (33 of 78). Warrick was 6 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 7 on free throws.

Jarrett Jack scored 12 points and Marco Belinelli grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which outrebounded Phoenix 57-47 and had 24 offensive boards, more than any team in the NBA in this first week of the season.

The Hornets had 23 second-chance points, but could have had a lot more if not for their shooting woes.

“We didn’t play hard, and that’s a sign I didn’t do what we needed to do … to have the team ready,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “We couldn’t throw it in the ocean. That happens on occasions, but our defense was not there tonight.”

The Hornets got away with poor shooting in the first half, but it finally caught up with them halfway through the third quarter, when they were still just below 30 percent again (17 of 59).

Nash pulled up for a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 61-51 lead. Dudley then scored inside after baiting Chris Kaman to leave his feet on a ball fake. Frye followed with a 3 from the corner that fell through after a high bounce off the rim. Then Gortat capped a 10-0 run with an inside basket that made it 68-51.

New Orleans was unable to get any closer than nine points after that.

New Orleans hit only four of its first 20 shots (20 percent), but trailed only 16-14 at that point. Halfway through the second quarter, the Hornets were 10 of 35, but still trailed by only four after Okafor’s free throws.

Soon after, the Suns raced to their first double-digit lead when Nash fueled a 6-0 spurt with fast-break feeds to Hill for a layup and Warrick for a dunk, making it 43-33.

New Orleans finally got over 30 percent — barely — when Belinelli hit his second 3 and Greivis Vasquez set up Okafor’s dunk to make it 52-45 at halftime.

Notes: Brown got a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing with officials. … Gentry also was called for a technical foul in the second quarter. … New Orleans entered the game having won four straight against Phoenix, including the last three meetings last season. … A near scuffle occurred early in the fourth quarter between the Suns’ Robin Lopez and New Orleans’ Trevor Ariza, who were each assessed technical fouls, but Brown and Jack quickly stepped between them before it escalated. … New Orleans’ offensive rebound total was higher than they had in any game last season.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEW ORLEANS – Jarrett Jack’s first regular-season start since the Chris Paul trade was more than good enough for the New Orleans Hornets.

Jack had 21 points and nine assists in his season debut, and New Orleans dominated in its home opener, beating the winless Boston Celtics 97-78 on Wednesday night.

The Celtics are 0-3 for the first time since 2006-07, the season before they traded to bring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in to help star Paul Pierce. Pierce has yet to play this season because of a bruised right heel.

The Hornets, meanwhile, were without Eric Gordon, who bruised his right knee in a season-opening win at Phoenix in which he scored a team-high 20 points.

Jack did not play in the win over the Suns on Monday night because of a one-game suspension stemming from a drunken driving arrest last season. His return helped a Hornets squad looking for a boost in Gordon’s absence, and power forward Carl Landry pitched in with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Allen led Boston with 15 points.

Jack inherited the Hornets’ starting point guard job in the preseason after Paul, a four-time All-Star, was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for Gordon, Chris Kaman, and Al-Farouq Aminu.

Kaman, who had 10 points and five rebounds off the bench in his Hornets debut Monday, came back with 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots against Boston.

Kaman backed up Emeka Okafor, who had 13 points, six rebounds and five blocks. Marco Belinelli, who started for Gordon at shooting guard, was 3 of 4 from 3-point range and also finished with 13 points. Five of Landry’s rebounds came on the offensive end, helping the Hornets outscore the Celtics 21-11 in second-chance points.

Rajon Rondo scored 13 for Boston, while Louisiana native and former LSU star Brandon Bass added 11 points and Keyon Dooling 10.

Kevin Garnett had a difficult night in what was Boston’s third road game in four nights to open this lockout-compressed season. He finished with eight points on 4-of-10 shooting.

The Celtics shot like a team with tired legs, hitting only 37 percent from the field (29 of 78). New Orleans, by contrast, appeared energized by a sellout crowd, shooting 45.6 percent and outrebounding Boston 48-37. The Hornets also had a whopping 46-24 advantage in points in the paint.

New Orleans took the lead for good late in the first quarter and Belinelli’s 3 ignited a 13-4 run to open the fourth. Landry’s jumper capped the spurt, giving New Orleans an 85-67 lead with 6:25 to go.

Boston’s largest lead was 9-2 before the Hornets stiffened defensively and raced into the lead with an 8-0 run ignited by Belinelli’s 3 and capped by Jack’s steal and fast-break layup. Belinelli later added a three-point play on a tough fade as he was fouled and fell to the court, helping the Hornets build a 24-18 lead by the end of the opening period.

The Hornets led by as many as 16 points in the first half after Okafor and Landry scored four points each during an 8-0 run that made it 46-30.

Boston, which fell behind in large part because of 33 percent shooting (15 of 45) in the opening two periods, cut its deficit to single digits with a 9-2 run capped by Rondo’s end-to-end layup in the final seconds of the half, making it 48-39.

NOTES: Attendance for the home opener was announced as an overflow 17,802. … Celtics rookie Greg Stiemsma blocked six shots. … Boston also was without F-C Chris Wilcox, who has a bruised right shoulder. … The Celtics return to Boston for their home opener on Friday against Detroit. … The Hornets remain at home for their next contest on Friday against Phoenix.

The Suns had a chance to play poorly and steal a win. The Suns had a chance to start off the season with good momentum, playing New Orleans twice and Philadelphia before tougher teams. The Suns even had a chance to take a 1 1/2-game lead on the Lakers.

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Photos from the game | Box

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A one-point margin feels was as tight as the driving lanes Steve Nash tried to navigate in Monday night’s 85-84 loss to New Orleans but feels as wide as a barn door. The Suns lost to a predicted last-place team … without its preseason star, Jarrett Jack … with a point guard it signed two days ago playing 27 minutes … at home … after leading the entire fourth quarter until the final bucket.

Not good. Not good at all.

Through two preseason games and a regular-season opener, the perennial sharpshooting Suns have turned into a 25 percent 3-point shooting team. Channing Frye is 2 for 20 from the field in those games and has missed all 10 of his 3-point tries, prompting Coach Alvin Gentry to give his customary late-game time to rookie Markieff Morris.

The Suns have yet to address their need for a reliable wing scorer since trading Jason Richardson. Grant Hill, Jared Dudley and Shannon Brown made 7 of 29 shots combined from the field and 1 of 11 3-pointers. Hill definitely does not look at full strength after missing practices and a preseason game due to a sore right knee. His explosion to stay in front of penetrators and get ahead of opponents on fastbreak was not there. Hill missed all four of his 3-point tries but it was a square-up jumper that he uncharacteristically missed for a five-point lead with 3:20 to go that could have been huge.

The Suns had plenty of offensive follies to put themselves in a precarious late-game situation. They made seven first-quarter turnovers. They went nearly four third-quarter minutes without scoring at a time that they could have pulled away from New Orleans. It didn’t help that Nash took a shot to the rib cage and had to ask out of the game during the stretch. The Suns turned the ball over on two of the next three trips.

But it is hard to get past how late-game execution could have stole the win, one they absolutely should have got if the defense is going to hold an opponent to 44 percent shooting and 85 points and keep Eric Gordon to 20 points and only three free throw attempts.

It began with Gordon getting to the line for only the second time all game when Robin Lopez, the Suns’ star of the game with 21 points and seven rebounds, had to give a help foul. The Suns were fortunate Gordon’s shot didn’t fall too, leaving the lead in tact at 84-83 after Gordon’s two free throws with 1:21 to play.

The Suns used the clock and Nash missed a good look at a jumper but Trevor Ariza bailed them out by missing two free throws after he beat Hill and Morris took a foul.

Again with a one-point lead, the Suns worked the clock down mostly with the ball in Nash’s hands until he dealt to Dudley, who missed a 10-foot fadeaway with 15 seconds to go.

“I wouldn’t say it’s my shot but it’s a shot I’m comfortable with,” Dudley said. “I wish I could have that back. It was tough.”

It was hard to fault Dudley’s defense on Gordon for the game-winner. He did not let him drive, as he had done for nearly all of his points. Gordon caught Dudley in one rock-back motion for space to rise up but a 20-footer is the shot the Suns wanted him to take, considering he had not made a jump shot since the first two minutes of the game.

The Suns still had 4.2 seconds remaining but only a 20-second time out. Gentry stuck with the same lineup that played the final 5:41 and Nash inbounded the play to Morris, who had faked a screen for Dudley, who went to the corner, and turned around for the ball. Meanwhile, Lopez screened for Hill and wound up with Ariza on him as Okafor went to Hill, who went to the other corner. The play was supposed to go back to Nash with Lopez screening for him after he inbounded. Lopez never got a body on Gordon but he was out enough for Gordon to wind up trailing Nash. With Ariza jumping outside the 3-point line on Lopez for some reason, the middle of the court was wide open if Nash had cut toward the basket. Nash, worried about Emeka Okafor on HIll, pulled up just as Morris was passing to make the rookie look bad. Had Nash kept going, he could have got to the ball, although it would have been difficult to get up a good shot in an area by Hill 25 feet from the basket and no time to move.

“It’s just one of those situations where we just haven’t had a chance to practice those plays or run them in games together,” Nash said. “It’s unfortunate. He made a pretty decent pass. We just had our signals crossed a little bit.”

Morris continued to impress with his physical, energetic play. He came out nervous with a foul and an airball jumper but led the team in rebounds (nine), blocks (two), steals (two, tied with Frye) and fouls (four). Morris

“I was cool, comfortable, relaxed,” Morris said. “I played at Kansas, you know what I mean? Got to be comfortable.”

The Suns big men gave the team some upside, other than Frye. Marcin Gortat was tentative early with the splint on his broken thumb but got more comfortable and even dunked as he was fouled by Gordon. Lopez might have surprised those who doubted reports of his renewed play and athleticism. He made eight of 12 shots with a confident mix of jumpers and post play. He scored six of the Suns’ final eight points, including their final one when Morris got an offensive rebound.

But that final bucket left the Suns at 84 points, a total they surpassed in 79 of 82 games last season. They hadn’t opened a season that meekly on offense since 2003, when Nash was not around and they lost 83-82 to San Antonio.

“It’s a concern,” Dudley said. “It’s a game we’re supposed to win at home. We didn’t play well. The crunchtime hurts a little more. But in this season, you can’t worry about it. You practice and play again the next day.”