Spurs Finish Off Hornets
Posted on: Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 06:00 CDT
By Chris Colston
NEW ORLEANS -- In this Western Conference semifinal playoff series, everybody marveled over each team's home-court advantage.
And with good reason, since the home team won the first six games of the series.
But it turns out it didn't matter where they played the game. It mattered how they hit the boards.
The defending champion San Antonio Spurs outrebounded the New Orleans Hornets 51-42, a key factor in their 91-82 victory.
The team that won the battle of the boards won each game in this series.
"For us, rebounding had to be important throughout the whole series," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who got his 100th playoff win, tying him with Larry Brown for third all time. "What we did today was play better 'D' in the third quarter. We held them down, and it really was about that for us."
The Spurs face the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals, their fourth appearance in six years. Game 1 is Wednesday at Los Angeles.
New Orleans, playing in its first Game 7 playoff game under coach Byron Scott, looked nervous at times in the first half. The Hornets missed three layups and mishandled two alley-oop passes, things they never did in three previous home wins.
On the other end, the Spurs' playoff experience -- they've won four titles in the last nine years -- served them well. "It's just a lot of confidence," said Tim Duncan, who had 16 points and 14 rebounds. "A lot of games under our belt."
San Antonio's Manu Ginobili coolly drained four of seven three-pointers in the first half, giving the Spurs a 51-42 halftime lead. They hit eight three-pointers in the half, tying a team playoff record.
But San Antonio had led the previous three games in New Orleans, too. The third quarter decided the six previous games of this series. And the Spurs won that battle, too, outscoring the Hornets 20-14 and outrebounding them 13-9.
San Antonio fended off a New Orleans fourth-quarter rally to become the 14th team to come back and win after trailing 2-0 in a best-of-seven series.
Source: USA TODAY
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