Cavaliers 81, Hornets 96: (Chris Paul is down)

The Cavaliers lost to the New Orleans Hornets 96-81 on a night where New Orleans lost its best player, Chris Paul.

Midway through the third quarter, New Orleans point guard Chris Paul collided with Ramon Sessions and laid on the floor for about 10 minutes. He was later carried out on a stretcher and did not return to the game.

The crowd stood and applauded Paul while leaving the building, Paul gave thumbs up as the crowd went crazy.

Cleveland was winning 61-60 when Chris Paul laid on the floor with an apparent head injury. Both teams surrounded one of the best point guards in the game while laying on the floor.

However, the game resumed without Paul and it looked like the Cavaliers would have an advantage without Paul on the other side of the ball.

The Hornets responded though, they went on a 24-8 run to take an 84-69 lead with just over 7 minutes in the game.

Baron Davis, who made his Cavalier debut at Quicken Loans Arena, hit a 40-footer at the end of the third to get the Cavaliers within seven. Davis scored 17 points and had 6 assists in 28 minutes of work coming off the bench.

Semih Erdan also made his Cavalier debut, playing 11 minutes and grabbing 5 rebounds and missing all three of his shots. Luke Harangody, who also came over from Boston scored four points in 16 minutes of action.

The Cavaliers were outscored 33-45 in the second half with Paul out of the game.

David West was a beast in the second half. He ended up with 23 points and had 7 rebounds. With Paul out, West proved to be the leader and helped push the Hornets to an 18 point lead.

Marco Belinello scored 18 and Jarret Jack filled in for Chris Paul with 14 points and 5 assists.

Cleveland stuck with the Hornets the entire game before Paul left the game. Cleveland was down only three at halftime and was tied with the Hornets before the All-Star point guard left the game.

JJ Hickson had another strong game, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds and Samardo Samuels continued to play tough. He scored 11 points and 6 rebounds, but Samuels also looked like he has been working with Anderson Varejao. Samuels continued to play stunning defense, taking charge after charge.

The Cavaliers found themselves down as many as 18 points in the 4th quarter and could never recover. The Hornets took advantage of what it seemed like an overconfident Cleveland team.

Cleveland (12-49) hasn't won consecutive games since winning three games in a row back in November.