Five Reasons Why Crippled Hornets Stung Spurs

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Gooden played solid defense and scored on four of five shots from the field. Gooden’s presence with Tim Duncan sealed off the paint, and prevented Chris Paul and the Hornets from inside penetration, yet only in the first half!

Mason played 22 minutes and never scored a point! Is Mason there for his defense?

Then why did Defensive All Star Bruce Bowen sit out the entire game?

Pop blew it on his two decisions: not enough minutes for Gooden, too many for Mason.

Udoka replaced Gooden and played 22 minutes, connecting on 1 of 6 from the field, and played no better defense than Gooden. Thomas, Hill, and Udoka went a combined 1 for 9 from the field yet played twice the minutes of Gooden. 

Let's get more minutes for Gooden, more than the 19 minutes he played last night! This will increase his endurance and get him playoff ready!

As previous articles have stated, the Spurs will rise and fall on the performance of Gooden and Ginobli, who played smart and played hard last night. The Spurs played a strong first half and came out with an expected weak third quarter.

The Spurs fall flat a lot, particularly after a strong first half and against teams with winning records. This fact spoiled a strong first half from Gooden and his defensive presence inside.

At the end of the game, the Spurs ran out of gas, despite two heroic three-point shots in seven seconds to make the final score appear closer than it actually was.

All in all, a good effort spoiled with drowsy periods of OMS.

For the Spurs to reach the NBA Conference Finals, they must avoid playing New Orleans before confronting the LA Lakers. Expect the Spurs to extract revenge against New Orleans in the final game of the season.

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