Clippers-Hornets Preview

Lottery-bound teams often have a chance to influence opponents' playoff positioning down the stretch. Fortunately for the New Orleans Hornets, the Los Angeles Clippers hardly appear cohesive enough to play the role of spoiler.

The slumping Hornets, in a battle for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, look to take advantage of a matchup with the woeful Clippers on Tuesday night.

New Orleans (55-25) had the inside track to clinch first place in the West entering the final week of the regular season, but it has lost three of four and is a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, who wrap up their regular-season schedule on Tuesday against Sacramento, control the tiebreaker with the Hornets based on a better conference record.

New Orleans missed an opportunity to keep pace in that race Saturday night, losing 94-91 at Sacramento. The Kings, playing without leading scorer Kevin Martin, will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.

"We've been up top of the West just about all year. It's a shame that we're in a position where we could let it slip away from us the last week of the regular season just because we can't put together a good basketball game," Hornets forward David West said.

A matchup with the Clippers (23-57) might help New Orleans bounce back. Los Angeles has lost five straight, including four in a row against playoff contenders.

On the road this season, the Clippers have beaten just one team that is currently in playoff position, winning at Toronto 102-98 on Feb. 8.

Also, New Orleans is 3-0 against Los Angeles this season, outscoring the Clippers by an average margin of 14.0 points. The Hornets have won five straight in the series since a 100-90 loss on Jan. 8, 2007.

New Orleans badly needs a win Tuesday as it's run into trouble in the Southwest Division. If the Hornets fall out of first in the Southwest, they could go from fighting for home-court advantage throughout the West playoffs to opening on the road when the postseason begins next weekend.

"Now we're just about tied with everybody else and we have to watch the standings instead of just worrying about winning ourselves," New Orleans point guard Chris Paul said.

Paul's play has lifted the Hornets to the best regular season in franchise history, but the All-Star has struggled over the last week. He's averaging 13.0 points -- more than five below his season average -- and shooting 33.3 percent (16-for-48) from the field in his last four games.

Paul has also struggled with his shot in three games against the Clippers this season, averaging 11.7 points while hitting only 29.7 percent (11-for-37) from the floor.

Los Angeles, though, has allowed 112.0 points per game during its current skid. The Clippers have dropped 24 of their last 28.

"The season's tough, but that's what it is," Clippers guard Cuttino Mobley said. "I can see if we had all of our guys and all of us were healthy and we lost, but it's life sometimes. Maybe next year we'll get blessed."

Los Angeles, which lost 122-116 to Golden State on Saturday night, concludes its season Wednesday night at Houston. New Orleans visits Dallas that night in its last tuneup before the playoffs.