Spurs-Hornets: San Antonio Eliminates New Orleans; Kobe Bryant, Lakers up Next

The San Antonio Spurs dispatched Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets, 91-82, to advance to the conference finals against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.  The game seven win was significant for a number of reasons.

It was a road win, which the Spurs previously were unable to do.  All of the games in New Orleans were blow-outs, and San Antonio looked old and confused in those games. 

Their detractors doubted whether they had enough in the tank to throttle the younger and more energetic Hornets.

San Antonio didn’t shoot well either in those road games and struggled to score, while New Orleans thrived in the second halves of the contests in their building.  They played like the team that was confident they would win. 

We must not forget that winning on the road has been a rare commodity in these playoffs, so it is understandable that the pun-dents doubted the Spurs could get it done.

What happened to the Hornets in game seven is what happens to a lot of upstart teams when they realize they are on the cusp of doing something special and have never been that way before. 

They played scared and panicked when San Antonio delivered the first hard shot.

In the first half, the Spurs, led by Manu Ginobili, were on fire shooting from the outside and from three point land.  They took a nine point lead into half-time, and early in the second half, found themselves down 17 points. 

The Hornets’ response was to rush shots, forget to run their half court sets on offense, and become completely unglued.

They wilted under the poised pressure the Spurs put on them, and they forgot that they were down at the half before and went on to win handily. 

This is what happens to young teams in this position, and this is just part of the progression that New Orleans has to go through to get to the next level. 

Now they know how it feels, and mentally, they won’t shrink in those situations in the future.  Instead, use this as a springboard. 

When you really look at this, what happened in this game was really predictable.

What was surprising to me was the fact that Jannero Pargo stepped up and took over the game for the Hornets in the fourth quarter and didn’t play afraid. 

I would have thought that Chris Paul would have played that role, but he actually deferred to Pargo.

In the end, the Spurs knew how to win and wanted it more that the Hornets.  Under pressure they were the better team, and in this type of pressurized environment, poise and experience will win you some games. 

I can’t help but think that the Lakers were secretly hoping that the Hornets would win.

San Antonio matches up very well with them, and they know the Spurs will not fold.  Spurs in six, and say good bye to that Celtics-Lakers match-up the media has been dreaming about.