Series shifts to N.O.

• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: May 13, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:35 a.m.

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NEW ORLEANS — The Hornets know that home teams have been nearly unbeatable in the NBA conference semifinals.

They also know that it’s going to take a lot more than homecourt advantage for them to beat the Spurs in Game 5 of their Western Conference series at 8:30 p.m. today in the New Orleans Arena.

They’re happy to back in the building where they won Game 1 by 19 points and Game 2 by 18 points. But those performances are faint memories after a trip to San Antonio that included an 11-point loss in Game 3 and a 20-point loss in Game 4.

“If we come out thinking that just because we’re home everything is going to be OK,” New Orleans coach Byron Scott said after practice Monday, “then we’re going to be in for a rude awakening. We have to make it OK. We’ve got to come out here like our backs are against the wall.”

Scott said the Hornets, who are 5-0 at home in the playoffs, have to treat Game 5 as a Game 7, and with good reason. If they lose tonight, they’ll be facing possible elimination Thursday night in San Antonio, where the Spurs have won 11 consecutive playoff games.

After Monday’s 88-77 Cavaliers win over the Celtics in Cleveland, home teams have won 15 of 16 games in the second round. The only victory by a visitor was the Pistons’ one-point victory over the Magic in Game 4 at Orlando on Saturday.

“We’re not relying on (homecourt advantage),” Hornets point guard Chris Paul said, “but at the same time, we’re not in a panic mode. It’s 2-2. We won the first two games and everybody was knocking the Spurs. Now we lost two games and it’s like, what do they do, they’re playing against the defending champs? We’re not down 0-3. Now it’s just a three-game series. I’m not too worried.”

Scott’s worried about his team’s defense, which allowed 110 and 100 points in San Antonio after allowing 82 and 84 points in the first two games.

“They did an excellent job,” Hornets center Tyson Chandler said. “They got us away from what we wanted to accomplish out there and they got a win because of it.

“We’re all right, right now. I think if you want to beat the champs, you’ve got to knock them out. We’ve got to come out and we’ve got to be focused and we’ve got to throw the first punch.”

Scott said he asked his players before practice Monday how they want to defend power forward Tim Duncan and the Spurs’ pick and roll. New Orleans used quick double teams on Duncan to good effect in Games 1 and 2, but the Hornets weren’t as aggressive in San Antonio and Duncan was much more effective.

“I felt that in Games 3 and 4 they got away from trusting what we were doing,” Scott said. “So I pretty much put it in their hands, because whatever we do they have to feel comfortable doing it and they have to have that conviction of doing it every single time.”

Paul said he, Chandler, and power forward David West will continue to discuss what they want to do, and Scott said the Hornets will finalize their game plan during their shoot-around this morning.