Swamigp’s Weblog

David West poured in a career playoff high of 30 points to lead the Hornets past the experienced Spurs 101-82 in the first game of their playoff series. Experience wasn’t a factor in this one as the Hornets dismantled the Spurs in the second half, outscoring them by 23 over the final 24 minutes to pull out the easy win. Chris Paul heated up late, finishing with 17 points, 9 in the 4th period, dished 13 assists and collected 4 steals. San Antonio was hot from the floor in the first half, making 9 threes to climb to a 4 point half-time lead despite nearly no production from Tim Duncan. After scoring only three points in the first half, Duncan scored only 2 in the second half to match his career playoff low with 5 points in 37 minutes, shooting just 1-9 from the floor.

The Hornets dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Spurs by 16, 50-34 and the paint, where they out-scored San Antonio by 20, 46-26. David West led the Hornets in the 3rd quarter outburst, scoring 11 points in the frame, including 4 in a 13-0 run to gain a 7 point lead, 61-54, midway through the period. The Hornets defense, especially Tyson Chandler, were tremendous in the this game. Chandler guarded Duncan, and was benefited by double teams to disgruntle the Spurs star center, getting the ball out of his hands. Once the outside shot left the Spurs, 3-14 on threes, 12-33 overall in the second half, they couldn’t do anything else. The Spurs, throughout the year, have been a great defensive team, but couldn’t contain a relentless Hornets attack. New Orleans was lights out in the second half, shooting 25-44 in the final two periods, 50% overall for the game. They went inside at will, with Paul’s penetration into the lane and West’s outside shooting killing the Spurs all night.

Tyson Chandler, as well as holding down Tim Duncan, was an offensive force as well, scoring 10 points to go with 15 rebounds, including 6 offensive. Of the Spurs thirteen turnovers in the game, 11 were steals by the Hornets, leading to 25 points off turnovers throughout the game. Besides shutting down Duncan, Manu Ginobili cooled off as well. After scoring 11 points in the first quarter, including 3 threes, Ginobili scrambled for only 8 the rest of the game.

Peja Stojakovic led New Orleans in scoring behind West with 22 points on 9-15 shooting. Bonzi Wells made a solid contribution off the bench, scoring 10 points in the game, 8 of which coming in the 4th quarter to put the Spurs away. The Hornets were 24-44 in the second half to complete the comeback. They were down by 11 at one point in the first half, but hot shooting in the second led to a 30 point turnaround. The Hornets took care of the ball very well, committing only 7 turnovers, and just two for Chris Paul.

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, but with the ineffectiveness of Duncan, the Spurs were going nowhere. Manu Ginobili added 6 rebounds and 7 assists to go with his 19 points for a Spurs team hat shot only 40% for the game, compared to 50% for the Hornets.