The play resulted in three free throws and Paul made them all with 7.1 seconds left to ensure the Hornets would hold on for a 90-86 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.

"It's a tricky play to make," Hornets forward David West said. "But he knows how to be in the act of shooting when those guys are coming to make sure he gets those extra free throws."

Paul finished with 26 points and West scored 23 to go with 16 rebounds. West made all 11 of his free throws and Paul made all nine of his. The Hornets were 32-of-33 from the foul line overall, making their last 31, to compensate for 37.5 percent shooting.

"We showed a lot of fight," Paul said. "We showed what this team is capable of if we play hard for 48 minutes."

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 20 points, Tim Duncan had 19 points and 15 rebounds and Ginobili added 17 points.

New Orleans appeared to have the game wrapped up when Rasual Butler's free throws gave the Hornets an 87-80 lead with 29.6 seconds to go. Then Ginobili hit a quick 3, Butler turned the ball over trying to catch an inbound pass in traffic, and Michael Finley hit another 3 to pull the Spurs to 87-86 with 17.8 seconds to go.

The Hornets didn't make any mistakes on their next inbound pass, with West finding Paul in the back court - and the All-Star point guard did the rest.

The victory lifted New Orleans (45-27) into a tie for sixth with Utah in the Western Conference playoff race. The Spurs (48-25) remained in second, but their lead over Denver was trimmed to half a game.

The Hornets came into the game missing three key players because of injuries to center Tyson Chandler (left ankle) and Peja Stojakovic (back) and the one-game suspension of primary reserve James Posey, who was punished for throwing a ball at the feet of a referee during a loss in New York on Friday night.

"It's a big win for them," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Obviously they were undermanned, pretty significantly, and they did a great job. ... They played more aggressively than we did and they wanted the game more."

Cavaliers 102, Mavericks 74

At Cleveland, LeBron James had 24 points and 12 assists, and the Cavaliers made more history with their franchise-record 12th straight victory.

The Cavs (60-13), who earlier this week surpassed the club mark for wins in a season, trailed 35-20 in the first quarter and 49-47 at halftime. But Cleveland outscored Dallas 30-11 in the third quarter and 55-25 in the second half to improve to a league-best 35-1 at home.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 for the Mavericks.

Celtics 103, Thunder 84

At Boston, Paul Pierce had 27 points and Eddie House scored 14 of his 16 in the second half to lead the Celtics.

Glen Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds and reserve Mikki Moore scored 12 with 11 boards for Boston.

Russell Westbrook scored 23 points and Kevin Durant added 21 for the Thunder.

Hawks 86, Lakers 76

At Atlanta, Mike Bibby scored 21 points - including an improbable 3 off the top of the backboard - and the Hawks took advantage of a tough outing by Kobe Bryant.

The Lakers had won five straight, locking up the top seed in the West, but an ailing Bryant had just 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting.

Zaza Pachulia had 11 points and 13 rebounds, leading a strong effort by a thin Hawks bench, which combined for 29 points and 15 rebounds.

Raptors 134, Bulls 129, OT

At Toronto, Chris Bosh had 31 points and 15 rebounds, Andrea Bargnani scored 28 points, and the Raptors won their season-high fourth in a row.

Ben Gordon scored 37 points and Derrick Rose had 23 for Chicago.

Timberwolves 108, Nets 99

At Minneapolis, Mike Miller had 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to help Minnesota snap a seven-game losing skid.

Vince Carter had 36 points and eight rebounds for the Nets, who have lost four straight.

Pistons 101, 76ers 97

At Auburn Hills, Mich., Tayshaun Prince scored 21 points, Rodney Stuckey added 16 points and Allen Iverson returned from a back injury to help Detroit gain ground in the East.

Iverson, who missed the last 16 games, scored eight points in 22 minutes as Detroit pulled within 1 1/2 games of Philadelphia for sixth place in the conference.

Andre Iguodala scored 27 points for the 76ers.

Pacers 124, Wizards 115

At Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 31 points and rookie Brandon Rush continued his late-season tear with 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers.

Washington was led by Caron Butler with 31 points and 13 rebounds.

Kings 126, Suns 118

At Sacramento, Calif., Jason Thompson had 21 points and Spencer Hawes added a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings.

Steve Nash scored 31 points for Phoenix, which went 0-3 on its road trip and trails Dallas by four games for the eighth and final playoff spot it the West.