Hornets rally to burn Spurs

• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: May 4, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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NEW ORLEANS — The San Antonio Spurs couldn’t find a fire extinguisher when they needed it.

They needed one in the third quarter when the Hornets scored 29 points to take control of Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series Saturday night in the New Orleans Arena.

They needed one when Chris Paul orchestrated a fourth-quarter stretch run that was reminiscent of Big Brown’s finish earlier in the day.

And they desperately needed one all game long against David West, who led New Orleans with 30 points.

But the only fire extinguishers that could be found were used to belatedly extinguish a bungled ring-of-fire mascot stunt that led to a nearly 20-minute delay before the start of the second quarter.

Ultimately it was the Hornets who were too hot to handle as they improved to 4-0 at home in the postseason with a 101-82 victory in front of a rowdy gold T-shirt-clad sellout crowd of 18,040.

Game 2 will be played at 8:30 p.m. Monday in the New Orleans Arena.

“We’ve been chasing these guys for a few years,” West said. “We’ve been trying to close the gap on them, and we feel like through the course of the season we’ve been able to do that.”

West made 13-of-23 shots and added nine rebounds. Peja Stojakovic scored 22 points, making 9-of-15 shots. Paul had 17 points and 13 assists, Tyson Chandler had 10 points and 15 rebounds, and Bonzi Wells scored 10 off the bench.

West, Chandler, and seldom-used Melvin Ely combined to hold Spurs power forward Tim Duncan to a career-playoff-low five points on 1-of-9 shooting. Duncan also had just three rebounds as New Orleans out-rebounded San Antonio, 50-34.

“We just did a pretty good job of double-teaming Tim,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “Tim is a very unselfish superstar and he takes what the defense gives him. You just try not to give him any open looks. I thought our double team was real effective in first half.”

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points, Manu Ginobili scored 19, Bruce Bowen had 17, and Michael Finley 13.

San Antonio took a four-point halftime lead after making 9-of-17 3-pointers, but they made just 3-of-14 3-pointers in the second half as New Orleans outscored the Spurs, 56-33.