Chris Paul led a balanced scoring effort with 20 points as the New Orleans Hornets upset the short-handed Celtics 83-81 at Boston on Friday afternoon.

The Celtics lost their second straight game and third in their last four outings when Ray Allen missed a potential game-tying jumper with five seconds to play.

Boston played without Rajon Rondo, who missed his seventh straight game with a sprained left ankle. Forward Kevin Garnett also missed the game with a strained right calf.

Rondo, who leads the league with 13.8 assists per game, went through a workout Friday but was kept out of the game by coach Doc Rivers.

The Hornets (19-14) snapped a tie game at 77-all late in the fourth quarter when Trevor Ariza buried a 3-pointer. David West then followed with a short jumper to give New Orleans an 82-77 lead with 54 seconds left and New Orleans never trailed again.

Boston (24-7) got a 12-footer from Pierce and a pair of free throws by Allen to cut the deficit to 82-81 with 21 seconds left.

West then hit one of two free throws to make it 83-81 with 19 seconds left before Allen missed a long jumper to tie it with five seconds left.

Four Hornets scored in double figures. West had 19 points and Emeka Okafor finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Allen led Boston with 18 points. The Celtics shot just 3-of-16 from 3-point range.