Chris Paul (L) of the New Orleans Hornets and Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers scramble for a loose ball in Game Four of their Western Conference quarter-finals in the 2011 NBA playoffs at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday. (AFP
AFP/New York

Chris Paul’s triple-double led New Orleans to a 93-88 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday to tie the Hornets’ playoff series against the NBA’s two-time defending champions at two games apiece.
Paul had 27 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds as the Hornets evened the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.
“It’s huge for us,” Paul said. “We wanted to bring a win to our fans in New Orleans. Happy we got this win on Easter. Having my family here makes it more special.”
Paul scored 14 of the Hornets’ 24 fourth-quarter points and with nine seconds remaining he delivered a key assist, setting up Jarrett Jack’s jump shot that gave the Hornets a 90-86 lead.
“Chris Paul, that was one of the better performances I’ve seen in the playoffs,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “A lot of guys score. He scored. He assisted. He rebounded.”
Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, scoreless in the first half, finished with 17 points. He shot just five-of-18 from the floor, missing a three-point attempt in the waning seconds.
That came after Bryant turned his ankle in a collision late in the fourth quarter.
Trevor Ariza scored 19 for the Hornets and Carl Landry added 16 before he fouled out in the final minute.
The series resumes with game five in Los Angeles on Tuesday, but the Hornets’ victory insures there will be a game six in New Orleans on Thursday.
“Well, it’s a series now: 2-2, best out of three,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “We punked out out there on the court tonight, gave them 20 second-chance points. They earned them, we didn’t give them to them, but they earned them.”
The Lakers had led most of the first half, going up by as many as nine. But after Paul returned from a spell on the bench New Orleans dominated the closing minutes of the half.
The Hornets never trailed in the second half and led by as many as nine points early in the third quarter.
“Every time we came out in the second half and pushed back they had a three-point play or something significant that happened that kept the momentum on their end,” Jackson said.
Bryant scored eight straight points to trim the Hornets’ lead to one point in the third quarter.
Pau Gasol and Ron Artest scored 16 points each for Los Angeles, but Artest had none in the second half and the Hornets led 69-67 going into the final quarter—when the Hornets stretched their lead again with a 12-3 scoring run.
Gasol’s basket and free throws from Lamar Odom saw the Lakers again narrow the gap to 88-86 before Paul was able to feed Jack for his key shot.