The Hornets' defense and David West's shooting returned to the Arena as the Bees reclaimed their stranglehold on the series with a 101-79 romp over the Spurs on Tuesday night. The Hornets lead the series 3-2.
"I don't think we ever lost our swagger," said Hornets coach Byron Scott. "We always have something up our sleeve."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the Hornets' defense in the third quarter was the big reason his team had problems. "They deserve credit for that." said the coach.
Game 6 is Thursday night in San Antonio. The Spurs are 5-0 in playoff games at home and the Hornets are 6-0 in the Arena where Game 7 will be played if necessary.
West, playing with a bad back that required an ice pack when he was on the bench, hit a career-high 38 points and 14 rebounds. The Hornets held Tim Duncan to 10 points on a 5-of-18 shooting night.
"We made Tim uncomfortable all night," said West. The Hornets kept the Spurs out of the paint most of the night. The Hornets hounded Tony Parker and Duncan into bad shots, but especially in the third quarter, when the Spurs shot only 5 of 19 (26.3 per cent).
With 1:45 left, Scott pulled West from the game. West was only a point from matching a franchise scoring high for the postseason.
"I was just happy we were in control of the game," said West. "I was ready to sit down."
West played nearly 44 minutes in pain.
"We didn't want to go back to San Antonio with them having the opportunity to close us out," said West.
Scott let his players decide how they wanted to guard Duncan. Sometimes they double-teamed him when he caught the ball, sometimes they waited until he made a move and sometimes they didn't double him at all. The Spurs shot only 37.7 per cent for the night as the Hornets played their best defensive game of the series.
Duncan was guarded mainly by Tyson Chandler, who ;left the game in the fourth quarter with a bruised left foot. Both West and Chandler will play on Thursday.
For the third consecutive game, Peja Stojakovic scored less than 10 points. He finished with 3-of-8 shooting and 9 points.
Again Chandler was forced to played limited time because of foul trouble. He got two fouls during the first nine minutes, which limited his playing time to 15 minutes in the first half. He didn't score in the first half, but managed an alley oop basket in the second half He had 8 rebounds.
Chris Paul scored 22 points and had 14 assists.
The Hornets had their 12th straight sellout crowd with 18,246 fans at the Hive. Every fan received a free gold T-shirt and there were several celebrities in the crowd. Actor Wendell Pierce, rapper Bow Wow, Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade and Saints quarterback Drew Brees watched the Hornets' victory. Brees signed a football brought to him by a Hornets mascot and threw it to a fan in the upper deck.
"We're going to San Antonio with the mind-set to close it out," said Paul.
The Hornets have never advanced to the conference finals in their 20-year history.
Falcons wide receiver Joe Horn, the former loquacious Saint, said the he wants to be traded. "I want to win a Super Bowl and I want to win a Super Bowl here in Atlanta, but I don't think I can help this team sitting on the bench, waiting for third down," said Horn. "They're going with the younger guys and I don't have a problem with that if that's the course they've chosen. I want to have an opportunity to play with a team that needs a veteran to play and contribute and who helps the young guys." The Falcons wrapped up a mini-campMonday with first-round draft pick Matt Ryan completing 5-of-5 passes and a touchdown in a two-minute drill. I have a name for the Falcons' highlights film this season: "Saving Private Ryan." New Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said the Birds have have plans for Horn. Whether those plans are to try and trade him remain to be seen. However, the Falcons are a team that is getting younger and Horn isn't part of their long-term plan.
