OKLAHOMA CITY – P.J. Brown, involved in an altercation earlier in the game, sparked the decisive run for the New Orleans Hornets in an 89-76 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Brown and the Hornets also held Tim Duncan to 11 points, matching his season low, before a Ford Center-record crowd of 19,267.

David West scored 19 points and Chris Paul finished one assist shy of his first career triple-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who returned to Oklahoma City after playing their first game of the season in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday.

Michael Finley and Tony Parker had 17 points apiece for the Spurs.

Brown broke a 69-all tie with a jumper from the right elbow with 8:12 left in the game and Speedy Claxton followed with a fast-break layup after Paul’s steal. Claxton then grabbed a steal of his own and raced downcourt for a layup. He hit the ensuing free throw, and Paul followed with a three-point play of his own.

After converting his layup off an inbounds pass, Paul pumped his fist and slapped a high-five with teammates on the Hornets bench.

Robert Horry’s 3-pointer from the right wing pulled the defending NBA champions within 79-74, but West responded with three straight jumpers to ice the game.

The crowd – 104 more than the Ford Center’s capacity – stood and cheered as the final 30 seconds ran off the clock. The Hornets opened a special section of seats in an upper-deck press box for hockey games and set a new attendance record for any event at the Ford Center.

An early confrontation between Brown and Finley helped get the crowd fired up.

Apparently feeling he had been fouled by Duncan on a shot block under the basket, Brown stepped into Finley’s path on his way back up the court and was called for a flagrant foul.

Finley stepped toward Brown and pushed the ball into Brown’s chest as Horry approached. After the players were split up, Finley followed Brown as he backed toward midcourt and the two continued talking to each other.

Brown, Finley, Horry and Desmond Mason were all called for technical fouls, and Finley made both shots from the flagrant foul to pull San Antonio within 35-33. Parker tied the game at 37 with back-to-back baskets before halftime.

San Antonio made seven of its first eight shots to start the second half and took a 53-46 on Parker’s jumper from the right side.

The Hornets responded by pushing the pace for a 9-1 spurt, with Mason getting a three-point play off a fast-break dunk and Paul adding a fast-break layup and two free throws to put New Orleans ahead 55-54.

The Spurs scored seven straight points to go up 62-57 on Rasho Nesterovic’s jumper, but had their lead trimmed to 62-60 at the end of the third quarter.

Notes: San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right foot. Before the game, he was able to run up-and-down the length of the court while being timed. The Spurs had been 3-0 in his absence with wins by one point, two points and in overtime. … Bruce Bowen started and tied Avery Johnson’s Spurs record by playing in his 296th straight game. The streak started on Feb. 28, 2002. … San Antonio fell to 10-2 against Western Conference opponents. … New Orleans had lost four in a row and seven of eight to San Antonio.

AP-ES-12-18-05 2141EST