Jarrett Jack gave NBA fans in New Orleans their first real taste of life without Chris Paul. The standing ovation as the clock wound down indicated they liked what they saw.
Jack had 21 points and nine assists in his season debut, and the Hornets dominated their home opener despite missing Eric Gordon, 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 Paul Pierce, who has yet to play this season because of a bruised right heel.
Gordon was out because he bruised his right knee in a season- opening win at Phoenix in which he scored a team-high 20 points.
Power forward Carl Landry pitched in with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets.
Allen led Boston with 15 points.
“Our defense was terrible. Offensively we didn’t execute. We looked scattered out there on the floor,” Allen said.
Jack inherited the Hornets’ starting point guard job in the preseason after Paul, a fourtime All-Star, was traded 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 Brandon Bass added 11 points and Keyon Dooling 10.
Garnett had a difficult night in what was Boston’s third road game in four nights to open this lockoutcompressed season. One night after scoring 12 in a loss at Miami, 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.
The Hornets led by as many as 16 points before taking a 48- 49 lead into halftime.
Notes — Attendance for the home opener was announced as an overflow 17,802. … Celtics rookie Greg Stiemsma blocked six shots. … Boston also was without Chris Wilcox, who has a bruised right shoulder. … The Celtics return to Boston for their home opener on Friday against Detroit.
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