Hornets glide past Spurs behind 30 points from West

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Web Posted: 05/04/2008 01:10 AM CDT
By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

NEW ORLEANS — There have been better nights for NBA mascots. It would be difficult to imagine a better night for the New Orleans Hornets.

David West set a career playoff high with 30 points and Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists as the Hornets blasted the Spurs 101-82 Saturday night at New Orleans Arena, drawing first blood in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

“They’re a hell of a basketball team,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “They can play with anyone, they have done so, and they will continue to do so. They’re real.”

This wasn’t a newsflash to Popovich, who saw the Hornets hand his team losses of 24 and 25 points during the regular season. By the second half, Game 1 offered a fresh reminder of what the Hornets can do when they’re rolling.

New Orleans shot 50 percent from the field, outrebounded the Spurs 50-34 and held Tim Duncan to one of the worst nights of his postseason career. By most measures, it was a night to remember for the Hornets, who are playing in the first second-round series since relocating from Charlotte in 2002.

It was a night the Spurs would like to forget. So would Super Hugo, New Orleans’ venerable mascot.

Thanks to a stunt involving Super Hugo, a flaming hoop and the contents of a couple of industrial-strength fire extinguishers, the start of the second quarter was delayed by about 20 minutes.

“It wasn’t what I would have chosen, but both teams had to deal with it, so it was fair,” Popovich said.

West added nine rebounds to his score-a-thon, while Peja Stojakovic poured in 22 points for New Orleans.

While West enjoyed one of the best nights of his career, his Spurs counterpart at power forward endured one of his worst.

Duncan had five points, matching a playoff low set against Portland in Game 5 of the 1999 Western Conference finals, Duncan’s second year in the league. He shot just 1 of 9 from the field.

“Obviously, Timmy didn’t have his greatest night, but you have give New Orleans credit for that,” Popovich said.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points and Manu Ginobili had 19, but the Spurs, ahead by as many as 11 in the first half, came unraveled after intermission. New Orleans outscored them 56-33 in the second half.

The Spurs will look to rebound in Game 2 on Monday at New Orleans Arena. Hopefully, by then, Super Hugo will have learned not to play with fire.

The mascot’s ill-fated stunt called for him to bounce on a trampoline, through a hoop of fire and then dunk a ball. That part went as scripted.

After the act, however, arena workers struggled to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers, leaving a film of white flame retardant covering the floor. It took 22 minutes to get the floor clean.

“Whoever’s idea that was will probably get a talking to,” Popovich said.

Super Hugo’s skit-gone-awry wasn’t the most unexpected turn of events in the first half. No. 1? Bruce Bowen, too, was on fire.

The Spurs small forward, who scored four points total in five games against Phoenix in the first round, had five 3-pointers and all of his 17 points before half.

His marksmanship was part of an onslaught from beyond the 3-point arc that saw the Spurs make 9 of 17 in the first half, the key component of their 49-45 lead at the break.

“They were beating us to loose balls in the first half, and outhustling us,” West said. “They looked like the younger team.”

The script flipped in the second half.

The Spurs hit just 6 of 19 points in the third quarter, while the Hornets turned the game over to West.

New Orleans’ All-Star forward had 11 points in the third, and the Hornets rattled off a 13-0 run to take a 61-54 lead with 6:21 to go. They would never trail again.

After a first-half of watching the Spurs play Pop-a-Shot from the 3-point line, it was an admirable show of resilience by the youth-infused Hornets.

“These guys aren’t really fazed by being in the second round,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said.

The night ended the way the Hornets’ two lopsided victories over the Spurs did. It was Paul and West running amok against a collection of Spurs backups.

Super Hugo was nowhere to be seen.