NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Just a night after one of the worst shooting

performances of his career, Quentin Richardson kept firing away and

broke a franchise record in the process.

Richardson set a new Suns mark for 3-pointers in a game with

nine and finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, leading Phoenix

to a 107-96 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night

in matchup of the NBA's best and worst.

"Until somebody else comes along or I beat it again, I'll be in

the history books," Richardson said. "That's something to be

really proud of, especially when you help your team win. That's the

best part about it -- to make a difference in the game."

Richardson, who was 0-for-7 in a loss Monday at San Antonio,

drilled his final 3-pointer right after a 3 by rookie J.R. Smith

had pulled New Orleans to 98-93 with 56 seconds to go.

"Q's a gamer. He came off a bad game against San Antonio. He

stepped up big, made big shots," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.

"He's only done it about 10 times this year. I appreciate it every

time he does it."

Steve Nash, also stifled in San Antonio, got back in form with

22 points and nine assists for the Suns. Amare Stoudemire scored 15

to help Phoenix improve its NBA-best record to 25-4.

Jim Jackson was supposed to make his debut for New Orleans two

days after being acquired in a trade that also brought Bostjan

Nachbar to the Hornets in exchange for David Welsey. Nachbar played

but Jackson failed to show up and the team suspended him

indefinitely.

Smith, who started in Jackson's place and scored a career-high

23, hit three jumpers early in the third quarter, two from 3-point

range, as the Hornets opened the second half with a 20-9 run. P.J.

Brown capped it when Dan Dickau fed him underneath to give the

Hornets -- who had trailed by 13 late in the first half -- a rare

lead at 64-63.

Richardson quickly turned the game around, however, hitting

three 3-pointers in a 16-4 Phoenix run. Five quick points from

Steven Hunter gave Phoenix an 80-70 lead heading into the final

period.

"Richardson had a tremendous night and picked up the slack for

that team," Brown said. "When a guy's shooting like that -- I

thought we had some hands in his face -- there's not much you can do

about that."

"You've got a point guard like Nash that collapses the defense

and brings them in, and (Richardson) doesn't need that much room to

get a shot off. That was a big-time killer for us."

Baron Davis and Brown each scored 18 points for New Orleans,

while Lee Nailon added 12 as the Hornets fell to a league-worst

2-26.

"I was very proud of the way we just hung in there and we kept

playing," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "There were some

pleasant surprises. I though J.R. came of age tonight on both ends

of the court."

Coming off their humbling 21-point loss at San Antonio a night

earlier, Phoenix took an early lead and dominated the second

quarter. Richardson, who had shown up early to practice shooting,

had 14 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers, while

Nash had 11 to that point.

"Steve was getting real good penetration today and that makes

all the difference for us as shooters," Richardson said. "When he

gets penetration, other guys are going to get open because they've

got a lot of respect for his drive."

The Suns opened a 54-41 lead with 21 seconds left in the second

period on Joe Johnson's layup. Dickau's 3-pointer cut it to 54-44

at the half.Game notes
The Suns have the league's best road record at 12-2. ...

Johnson finished with 12 points and nine rebounds and Hunter had 10

points. ... Nachbar scored his first points as a Hornet on a

22-footer with 1:53 left in the first quarter and finished with

seven points. ... The Hornets have allowed at least 100 points in

each of their last six games. ... The Suns came in averaging 108.8

points per game, best in the league, while New Orleans' 85.2

scoring average was last in the NBA. ... With an influx of sports

fans in town for the Sugar Bowl, the Hornets had one of their

better crowds of the season, announced as 16,905.