Time for fast start

• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: May 8, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:40 a.m.

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NEW ORLEANS — The way the Hornets figure it, they need to start Game 3 of their playoff series against the Spurs (8:30 p.m. today in San Antonio on ESPN) the way they started the second half of Games 1 and 2.

In grabbing a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals, New Orleans fell behind in each first half — by as many as 11 points in Game 1 and as many as seven in Game 2. They trailed by four at halftime of Game 1 and by one at halftime of Game 2.

But in each game the Hornets got off to excellent starts in the second half and wound up routing San Antonio in the New Orleans Arena.

“I guess we just focus in and smell blood late in the game and we really lock down,” Hornets center Tyson Chandler said. “We’ve been consistent with that. That’s the only thing I can say. I don’t understand how we come out in the second half and it’s almost like we’re a different team.”

In Game 1, the Hornets started the third quarter with a 16-5 run and outscored the Spurs, 56-33, in the second half. In Game 2, they started the third quarter with a 10-0 run and outscored the Spurs, 60-41.

But New Orleans knows how dangerous it would be to try to follow that script in Game 3. San Antonio is the defending NBA champion, four-time champion in the last nine seasons, has lost just twice at home since the Hornets beat them there, 102-78, on Jan. 26, and knows no NBA team has won a seven-game playoff series after losing the first three.

If the Hornets don’t start any better than they did in New Orleans, by the start of the second half it might be too late to turn around Game 3 the way they did the first two.

“We know that they’re going to be at home, they’re going to be a lot more comfortable, they’re going to be around their fans, and they’re going to have a lot more energy,” Chandler said, “so we’re going to have to do the same thing we did in Dallas and be able to resist that first punch.”

In the first-round series against the Mavericks, the Hornets won the first two games by double digits at home. Then they went to Dallas, where the Mavs were in the same predicament the Spurs are in tonight.

Dallas jumped on New Orleans, grabbing a quick 12-2 lead. Though the Hornets rallied to lead by as much as three points in the second quarter, they trailed by seven at halftime and never caught up.

“We know they’re going to come out and run a little harder than they’ve been running,” Chandler said. “They’re going to shoot better, and they’re going to focus in more. We’ve just got to make sure that we match their intensity.”

New Orleans has outperformed San Antonio in virtually every statistical area. The Hornets are shooting 49 percent, the Spurs 42 percent. The Hornets have made 14-of-27 3-pointers, the Spurs have made 20-of-58.

The Hornets have outrebounded the Spurs in both games, though the Spurs cut the margin to one in Game 2 after it was 16 in Game 1. The Hornets have committed just 17 turnovers, leading to 17 San Antonio points. The Hornets have scored 44 points off 28 Spurs turnovers.