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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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By Brian Guerra
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- Don't count out the defending
champions just yet.
Manu Ginobili scored 25 points as the San Antonio Spurs avoided
elimination by blowing out the New Orleans Hornets, 99-80, in
Game Six of their Western Conference semifinals series Thursday.
Tim Duncan added 20 points, 15 rebounds and six assists for the
Spurs, who aim to become the first road team to win in the
series when they head to New Orleans for Game Seven on Monday.
"We're happy to force a seventh game," Duncan said. "And we'll
do our best to make a game of it, and hopefully do a little
better than we did in the past."
Usually their Achilles heel against New Orleans, San Antonio
survived and thrived in the third quarter. The Spurs outscored
the Hornets, 20-12, to take a 78-63 lead heading into the fourth
quarter.
"That third quarter was ugly for us," Hornets superstar Chris
Paul said.
"I thought we played a good first half, but the third quarter
really broke our back tonight," said New Orleans forward David
West, who actually left the game in the third quarter with a
back injury.
Ginobili, who was 6-of-9 from the arc, then hit back-to-back
3-pointers to open the quarter and give the Spurs a 21-point
lead that the Hornets would never challenge. Duncan took a seat
on the bench shortly thereafter.
Battling through foul trouble for most of the game, Paul had 21
points and eight assists for the New Orleans, which never led by
more than three points.
Behind Duncan's 10-point first quarter, the Spurs, who shot 71
percent from the field in the opening period, jumped out to a
36-24 lead.
"It wasn't pretty and, if I could figure out what was going on
with this home court stuff, I'd bottle it and sell it to the
other 29 teams in the league," Hornets coach Byron Scott said.
In the second quarter, the Hornets were able to tighten the game
a little by scoring five straight, cutting their deficit to
46-39 with 6:17 left in the quarter.
Shortly after, Ginobili knocked down two straight 3-pointers
which gave the Spurs a 52-43 lead with 4:05 left in the half en
route to a 58-51 advantage at halftime.
Ime Udoka came off the bench to score 13 points on 5-of-5
shooting for the Spurs. He was 3-of-3 from the 3-point line.
"Our top players played well, and I thought they were supported
tremendously by the bench," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Early in the third, Paul's running jumper cut the Spurs' lead to
60-55. But Paul and West committed some costly fouls.
The pair combined for five quick fouls just under three minutes
into the third. West, who had three fouls in 26 seconds,
received a technical for arguing his last infraction.
"It was just bad timing," Scott said. "The offensive fouls took
away possessions and chances to score."
Paul kept his answer even shorter.
"Wow," Paul said about the calls. "No comment. Game Seven in
New Orleans. Let's go."
Things didn't get much better for West, who caught a forearm in
his back on a pick by veteran San Antonio forward Robert Horry.
West stayed on the ground before being escorted to the locker
room.
"I took a hard shot to the back," West said. "The nice thing is
we have a couple of days to work all the pain and get me ready
for Game Seven. We have one game, one opportunity to move on."
A few possessions later, a nifty bounce pass from Duncan to
Fabricio Oberto gave the Spurs a 65-55 lead with 8:05 left in
the third.
San Antonio started applying the pressure when Tony Parker, who
had 15 points, hit a 3-pointer from the corner that gave the
Spurs a 68-57 lead. On the next play, though, Paul found Tyson
Chandler for a lob dunk.
But it wasn't enough to get the Hornets going and, with the game
well out of reach, all of the starters were on the bench a few
minutes into the fourth.
Once again, at home, the Spurs were able to move the ball around
the court more effectively. They finished with 28 assists on
their 38 field goals, compared to the Hornets' 13 assists on 33
field goals.
"Things went our way tonight," Popovich said. "That's for
sure."
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