"I call David West the 17-foot assassin," Paul said.

The Cavaliers now know why.

West calmly dropped a 17-foot jumper - coming on Paul's 20th and most impressive assist - with 0.6 seconds remaining to give the New Orleans Hornets their fifth straight win, 100-99 over host Cleveland last night.

LeBron James' driving layup had given the Cavaliers a 99-98 lead with 7.7 seconds left before Paul and West, the Hornets' All-Star duo, teamed up for the game-winner.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored a season-high 29 points with 15 rebounds and James had 21 points for the Cavs.

In other games:

* At Los Angeles, Jason Richardson had 34 points and 10 rebounds, and the Charlotte Hornets stunned the Lakers, 108-95, in a game where LA's Kobe Bryant drew two technical fouls in a span of 29 seconds late in the fourth quarter and was ejected.

* At Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 28 points to help the Hawks beat Milwaukee, 115-96. The Hawks escaped a major scare when X-rays on point guard Mike Bibby's left thumb were negative. He left the game in the fourth quarter and will be listed as day-to-day.

* At Boston, Kevin Garnett scored 30 points and Paul Pierce had 12 of his 27 in the fourth quarter to lead the Celtics to a 117-97 victory over Phoenix.

* At Toronto, Chris Bosh scored 21 points and T.J. Ford had 13 points and nine assists in his return to the starting lineup as the Raptors beat Detroit, 89-82. Ford's last start came Dec. 11, but he was injured that night and hadn't played since.

* At East Rutherford, N.J., Devin Harris had 22 points and a career-best 15 assists as New Jersey defeated Indiana, 124-117.

* At Houston, Tracy McGrady scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and Luis Scola had 18 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in the Rockets' 97-86 victory.

* At New York, Jamal Crawford scored 24 points, including the go-ahead jumper with about 2 1/2 minutes left in overtime, and the Knicks ended their longest home losing streak in nearly 45 years by beating the Miami, 103-96. The Knicks had lost a franchise record-tying seven in a row at home for the first time since Nov. 26-Dec. 17, 1963.

* At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs to a 97-88 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

* At Seattle, Roger Mason had 22 points off the bench to lead Washington to a 104-99 win over the SuperSonics.

* At Sacramento, Kevin Martin scored 36 points and made two free throws in the closing seconds of overtime to give the Kings a 107-106 victory over Memphis.

Noteworthy

Jordan and Karla Knafel went to court in 2002 after she claimed he agreed in 1991 to pay her $5 million when he retired from professional basketball to keep an affair secret. DNA tests later showed her child wasn't Jordan's.

* As expected, Chris Webber announced his retirement after 15 seasons in the NBA, bowing to a knee injury that cut short his comeback attempt with Golden State. Webber said he wants to stay involved in basketball, first as a television commentator and then in perhaps a bigger role with a team. He is scheduled to be in the studio for TNT tonight. *