PHOENIX — A new coach and a new style didn't change the result for the Phoenix Suns against New Orleans.

The Hornets won, just as they did all four times the teams met last season.

Chris Paul had 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds and New Orleans held off a rally, then pulled away to beat Phoenix, 108-95, last night and spoil the home debut of new Suns coach Terry Porter.

The Hornets, who never trailed, improved to 2-0 on the heels of a season-opening victory at Golden State on Wednesday night.

"The first two games of the season, it's a good sign we're hitting big shots when we need them and we're getting big stops when we need them," New Orleans coach Byron Scott said.

Peja Stojakovic added 20 points before leaving the game with a sprained right ankle in the first few seconds of the fourth quarter. New Orleans already was without starting center Tyson Chandler, who sprained his right ankle against the Warriors.

Morris Peterson added 21 and David West 18 for New Orleans. James Posey scored 13, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

"Man, that was a great team effort," Paul said. "The way those guys started knocking down shots, as a point guard, it made my job so easy."

Steve Nash had 24 points and nine assists, and Amare Stoudemire added 21 points and 12 rebounds for Phoenix. The Suns committed 24 turnovers, resulting in 21 New Orleans points.

"I just thought we tried to force things when we didn't need to," Porter said. "It really hurt us. Turnovers lead to easy baskets. When you give up easy baskets in this league and you let a team shoot 54 percent, you're going to really struggle."

ROCKETS 112, MAVERICKS 102: Yao Ming and Ron Artest powered a 16-2 run late in the fourth quarter, carrying visiting Houston over Dallas in the debut of new Mavs coach Rick Carlisle.

Yao finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Artest had 29 points. He had seven points in the decisive run, which began with the score tied at 92.

During the spurt, Yao caught an elbow from Dallas' Josh Howard. When the two started to go face-to-face, Artest came running in between them. Officials weren't happy to see Artest and hit him with a technical foul.

Yao certainly appreciated the support. He even went over to an official to gripe about the technical, saying, "He was trying to separate us." Yao and Artest then slapped hands and walked away.

Cavaliers 96, Bobcats 79: LeBron James scored 22 points, and Daniel Gibson scored 20 of his 25 in the first half as Cleveland won its home opener and spoiled well-traveled coach Larry Brown's debut with Charlotte.

James just missed a triple-double, adding nine rebounds and nine assists in only 30 minutes for the Cavs.

"It was kind of weird seeing LeBron on the bench (getting a rest)," center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. "We got away with it, and if we can do that it will only help us and help his career."