Spurs beat Hornets 110-99

SAN ANTONIO -- The Hornets came into the second round of the playoffs knowing they had the opportunity to advance beyond the conference semifinals for the first time in franchise history. Now the San Antonio Spurs have a possible first on the horizon: coming back from a 2-0 playoff series deficit to advance.

A home court and better performances from two of the Spurs' stars mattered for them Thursday night, as San Antonio beat New Orleans 110-99 before a sellout crowd of 18,797 at the AT&T Center. The Hornets lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 in San Antonio on Sunday night.

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili had 31 points, while point guard Tony Parker had 31 points and 11 assists. The Hornets still managed to limit forward Tim Duncan, who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

But the Spurs shined in a spot where the Hornets had previously dominated this series -- the third quarter. San Antonio won that period 29-22, taking their biggest lead of the game to that point, 83-78, and building on it in the fourth quarter.

"I thought we played 48 minutes for the first time this series, and it got us a win," Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said.

Point guard Chris Paul led the Hornets with 35 points and nine assists, and forward David West finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds. The Hornets' perimeter shooting was relatively quiet, as forward Peja Stojakovic had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting and guard Morris Peterson finished with three points.

"Basically, they took us right out of our game, and I thought we lost our composure a little bit, as well," Hornets Coach Byron Scott said.

The Hornets' last win at the AT&T Center was their first against the Spurs this season, a breakthrough 24-point victory Jan. 26 that Scott called his best win with the team.

"That was the turning point of our season for our team," Hornets center Tyson Chandler said Thursday morning. "Up until then, we had beaten teams, but nobody like the Spurs, nobody that held that kind of weight. I think it gave us confidence as a team and even as individuals."

More than three months later, the Hornets found themselves coming to San Antonio with even more confidence -- and with a 2-0 series lead against the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. The Spurs have never recovered to win a playoff series after losing the first two games, a fact that Scott said scared him before Game 3, especially after seeing the Hornets accomplish so many firsts this season.

"I don't think you're going to see anything but a hungry team coming out tonight," Chandler said of the Hornets before the game, dismissing the idea of a possible letdown. "We still understand that we're playing against the champs. We're never going to forget that, no matter what the case is."

In case they needed a reminder, the Hornets got it in the second half. The Spurs completed an 11-0 run that carried through about the midway point of the fourth quarter and ignited the crowd. That was enough for the Spurs to overcome a first half that somewhat resembled the two previous games in the series.

"They're not a team you're going to stop," Popovich said about the Hornets. "You just try to hang in there and you try to do your work for 48 minutes."

The first quarter quickly established Paul and Parker as their teams' biggest early threats. Paul made 7-of-11 shots in the first period for 14 points, while Parker had 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The Hornets began the game on an 8-0 run -- another early shock to the Spurs' system -- but led 23-21 after 12 minutes.

"We just have to be able to withstand their runs," West said Thursday morning. "We know they're going to come out feeding off the energy of the crowd, make a run. We just have to make sure we can withstand it."

Popovich started Ginobili in place of Michael Finley for the first time in the series, a move that was probably designed to create some of those runs and that seemed to pay off. Ginobili led the Spurs at halftime with 16 points, while Parker had 12 and Finley 11 off the bench.

The Hornets, however, shot 53.2 percent through two quarters and grabbed their first halftime lead of the series, 56-54. Paul had 18 points and six assists at the half, while West had 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Hornets had a halftime lead in almost every major statistical category -- rebounding, points in the paint, points off turnovers, second-chance points and fast-break points. But just as the Hornets had already recovered from two halftime deficits this series, the Spurs found a way to do it and win on their home court