NEW ORLEANS – Baron Davis made six 3-pointers and scored 37 points to lead New Orleans over the Boston Celtics 97-90 Saturday night, giving the Hornets the first 3-0 start in franchise history.

Davis was 6-for-7 from 3-point range, his last coming with 4:26 left and giving the Hornets a 91-87 lead. The Hornets hit 12-pointers in all.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 25, while Raef LaFrentz scored 17 coming off the bench. Vin Baker, who led the Celtics with 24 points and eight rebounds in a victory a night earlier in Memphis, could not sustain a strong start and finished with only eight points.

The victory gave new Hornets coach Tim Floyd a 3-0 start. Floyd’s best winning streak in Chicago during three-plus losing seasons was three.

David Wesley scored 18 for New Orleans, while P.J. Brown added 14.

Davis had his best game of the young season. He hustled in transition to finish fast breaks with dunks and finger rolls, drilled quick jumpers coming off screens and added seven assists and five steals.

Led by Pierce, Boston began the second half with a 17-2 run to take a 65-58 lead – with the rally capped by an alley-oop pass from Mike James to Kedrick Brown.

But Davis helped pull the Hornets back ahead with 11 third-quarter points, including consecutive baskets on a jumper and a two-handed reverse dunk to put the Hornets ahead 73-72.

Pistons 96, Magic 85

ORLANDO, Fla. – Richard Hamilton scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and backcourt partner Chauncey Billups added 17 to lead the Pistons over the Orlando Magic 96-85 Saturday night.

Chucky Atkins, Detroit’s third guard, had 14 points.

Ben Wallace had 13 points and 17 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, leading the Pistons to a 50-33 rebounding advantage.

It was the first meeting between the teams since the opening round of last season’s playoffs. Orlando held a 3-1 lead in that best-of-seven series, but Detroit rallied for three straight wins.

Tracy McGrady scored 31 points – 18 in a 6:28 span of the third quarter – with nine assists. But he missed his last seven shots, finishing 10-for-24 from the field.

Juwan Howard had 12 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double with the Magic. However, he missed 10 of 14 shots, and is shooting 35 percent (14-for-40) on the season. He also committed all of his four turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Guard play was the difference in last year’s playoff series, and the Pistons’ advantage carried over. Detroit trailed 76-69 early in the fourth, but Hamilton scored six points and Atkins five during a 17-2 run that put the Pistons ahead by eight with 5:10 remaining.

Detroit’s three-guard rotation of Hamilton, Billups and Atkins combined to shoot 18-for-38.

Nets 98, Wizards 85

WASHINGTON – Jason Kidd had 30 points and nine assists to lead the New Jersey Nets past a raw and younger image of themselves, 98-85 over former assistant coach Eddie Jordan’s Washington Wizards.

Richard Jefferson added 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Nets, who never trailed. Brian Scalabrine, starting for injured forward Kenyon Martin, had 12 points, including the first three in a 9-2 run that opened the fourth quarter and restored New Jersey’s double-digit lead.

Martin sprained his left ankle in Friday night’s victory over Minnesota. Coach Byron Scott did not give a timetable for Martin’s return, saying only that the forward is doubtful for Tuesday’s game against Houston. Jordan, who oversaw pregame planning of the Xs and Os in the Nets’ movement offense for the last four years, said it was “fighting your big brother” as he faced his old team as a head coach for the first time.

Timberwolves 73, Raptors 56

MINNEAPOLIS – Kevin Garnett had 20 points and seven rebounds, and Latrell Sprewell’s defense helped the Minnesota Timberwolves hold Toronto to a franchise- low for points in a 73-56 victory Saturday night.

Michael Olowokandi had 14 points and Sam Cassell added 13 for Minnesota, which scored a franchise-low 61 points the previous night at New Jersey. Toronto’s 56 points was the lowest total ever against the Wolves.

Vince Carter was the only member of the Raptors in double figures, scoring 15 points. Toronto opened with a 2-0 record for the first time in franchise history, but Carter shot just 5-for-15 as Sprewell guarded him tightly all night.

The Raptors were 19-for-69 (27.5 percent) from the floor and scored a franchise-worst 24 points in the second half.

Carter tried to carry Toronto in the third quarter, scoring the team’s first six points to bring them within 45-38. But Minnesota went on a 14-4 run to take a 59-42 lead into the fourth. Seven different Timberwolves scored during the stretch, and the Raptors totaled just 10 points in the quarter.

Pacers 103, Hawks 99, OT

ATLANTA – Anthony Johnson hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer in overtime, then sealed the victory by taking an elbow to the face from Jason Terry, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 103-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.

Johnson scored 15 points for the Pacers, who fell behind 14-0 at the start of the game but rebounded to keep the Hawks winless in their home opener. Atlanta has lost three in a row to start the season, including a pair in overtime.

Ron Artest led the Pacers with 22 points, but Indiana got huge contributions from the bench. Al Harrington scored 20 points and the reserves outscored their Atlanta counterparts 38-8.

That didn’t even include Fred Jones, who scored 15 points as a fill-in starter. Reggie Miller didn’t dress because of a sore lower back.

Johnson, who played parts of two seasons with the Hawks, burned his old team by hitting a 3 out of the corner with 22.6 seconds left in overtime, breaking a 97-97 tie.

Atlanta tried to set up for a 3-pointer of its own, but Johnson tied up Terry for an apparent jump ball. Frustrated, Terry swung a left elbow at Johnson, grazing his chin.

The officials tossed Terry from the game, and Johnson hit a couple of free throws to finish off the Hawks.

The ugly finish ruined a big night for Terry, who scored 29 points. Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 26.

The Hawks, cheered on by a near-sellout crowd of 18,818, stormed back in the final two minutes of regulation.

Atlanta scored the last seven points to send the game to overtime tied at 90.