Battling for playoff position in the tightly packed Western Conference standings, the Hornets look to build on an impressive win as they visit the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.

New Orleans (45-27) remains on pace to reach 50 wins for the second consecutive season, but the Hornets have encountered some setbacks recently. They split 10 games from March 9-27 in part because Peja Stojakovic didn't play during that stretch due to a back injury and Tyson Chandler missed much of it with an ankle problem.

James Posey joined that duo on the bench Sunday because of a league suspension for throwing a ball at the feet of a referee, but that didn't stop New Orleans from beating newly healthy San Antonio 90-86.

Chris Paul had 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and he connected on three free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

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

The Hornets could use another performance like Sunday's with Stojakovic's return uncertain and Chandler expected to miss at least another week with a walking boot on his left ankle. Posey completed his suspension Sunday, but he will miss at least the next three games with a sprained left elbow suffered in Friday's 103-93 defeat at New York.

That's another big loss for a New Orleans team which is 2 1/2 games behind San Antonio for second place in the West and only 2 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Dallas.

New Orleans hopes to create some separation in the postseason chase during a three-game road trip that pits it against Sacramento (16-56), the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State - three teams already eliminated from playoff contention.

However, the Kings haven't given up on this season, as evidenced by their 126-118 win over playoff hopeful Phoenix on Sunday night.

"Yeah, we had fun playing spoiler," said shooting guard Kevin Martin, one of seven Sacramento players to score in double figures with 17 points.

The Kings haven't had much success stringing together wins in 2008-09. They haven't won back-to-back games since a three-game streak in the second week of the season.

"We've shown what we're capable of doing when we come out and play basketball on both ends of the floor from the start of the game," coach Kenny Natt said after his team shot 51.6 percent from the field Sunday. "We just need more consistency with that."

The Kings upset the Hornets 105-96 in New Orleans on Nov. 19, but they've dropped the teams' last two meetings by an average of 8.0 points. Paul is averaging 27.0 points, 12.3 assists and 5.0 steals while shooting 59.6 percent from the field against Sacramento this season.