CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Darren Collison scored a career-high 24 points filling in for Chris Paul, David West added 21 points, and the New Orleans Hornets gave Emeka Okafor a victory in his return to Charlotte, 104-99 over the listless Bobcats on Saturday night. In the first regular-season meeting since the July trade that sent Okafor to New Orleans for Tyson Chandler, the Hornets rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to snap a three-game losing streak since Paul was sidelined with a knee injury. Okafor, the Bobcats' first draft pick, had 16 points and seven rebounds as the Hornets shot 51 percent from the field. Stephen Jackson scored 26 points and Nazr Mohammed added all of his 15 in the first half for Charlotte, which has lost three straight. With the All-Star Paul out at least a month following knee surgery and Marcus Thornton (lower back pain) out for a second straight game, the former Charlotte Hornets' return to town figured to be a formidable task with the Bobcats entering the night 18-5 at home. But in their first home game in two weeks following a 3-3 West Coast trip, the Bobcats were flat and faded in the second half as Collison took over.
