POD: Oklahoma City-1.0 (NBA) W

POD: Oklahoma City-1.0 @ New Orleans (3K units) W

Preview: New Orleans and Oklahoma City are among several teams battling for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. With Chris Paul out indefinitely, the Thunder also appear to be in good position to get their first win over the Hornets in more than three years.

Oklahoma City looks to snap a 10-game losing streak against the Hornets when it visits New Orleans on Wednesday night.

The Thunder (27-21) have a one-game lead over the Hornets (26-22), Houston and Memphis in the West. However, New Orleans is awaiting further word on the extent of Paul’s injured left knee.

On Monday, coach Jeff Bower refused to confirm reports that a torn meniscus would sideline his star for a month. Paul averages 20.4 points and a league-high 11.2 assists per game.

“We are still in the fact finding stages right now, gathering as much information as possible,” Bower said. “It is likely there will be a surgical solution for it. We don’t have a timetable (for Paul’s return) right now, nor do we know a surgical procedure right now.”

Paul has missed the last two games since re-aggravating the injury on Saturday, including Monday’s 109-100 loss to Phoenix. That dropped the Hornets to 5-5 without Paul in the lineup.
Marcus Thornton(notes) scored 25 points and Darren Collison(notes) had 16 and 14 assists in place of Paul. The Hornets finished with a season-high 30 assists.

“We’ll look at everything,” Bower said of adjusting without Paul. “But our whole area of emphasis will be on who we have and what we need to do with this group.”

The Hornets, who have split their last six games and dropped three of four at home, may especially miss Paul against the Thunder. He had 14 points and 13 assists in a 95-92 win on Jan. 6, driving for a key layup in the final seconds, and had averaged 23.7 points and 12.7 assists in the previous three meetings.

New Orleans hasn’t lost to Oklahoma City since Dec. 26, 2006. The Thunder also have dropped eight straight on the road to Hornets dating back to Feb. 23, 2005 when they were they Seattle Supersonics.

Oklahoma City, though, could be in line to end that streak as it comes in with a red-hot Kevin Durant(notes). He had 33 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Thunder to their third straight win, 106-99 over Atlanta on Tuesday.

Durant, who became the first player since Allen Iverson(notes) nine seasons ago to score at least 25 in 22 consecutive games, gave the Thunder a 97-93 lead with 3:25 to go, and then hit two free throws with less than 10 seconds remaining to seal the win.

“I look at him now and he’s playing like an MVP candidate right now in this league,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “I think he’s having a hell of a year.”

Durant is averaging 29.7 points and 7.3 rebounds, but is scoring 36.0 points and shooting 63.8 percent over the last three games. He is averaging 26.0 points in his career against the Hornets.

Wednesday begins a three-game road trip for the Thunder, who will also face the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento. Oklahoma City has lost its last two away from home and hasn’t reached 100 points in seven straight.