Due to the damage sustained to the New Orleans Arena from Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets will play 35 of 41 regular-season games at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahama, NBA commissioner Dave Stern announced on Wednesday.

Stern also said in New York that the Hornets will also play six home games at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in their 2005-06 season.

"The devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region has made it necessary for the Hornets to move to a temporary location for the upcoming season," Stern said.

"But it was important to the Hornets and the NBA that we maintain a presence in Louisiana in anticipation of a return to New Orleans next season," the NBA boss added.

The New Orleans Arena, the Hornets' home, was used as a shelter in last month's storm.

The Hornets open their season at Cleveland on November 2. The team will be known as the New Orleans Hornets/Oklahoma City for games played in Oklahoma. Those games will be against the Hornets' Eastern Conference teams.

The six games in Baton Rouge will be against Western Conference opponents, including the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.

Source: Xinhua