The defending NBA champion Spurs face elimination at the hands of the upstart New Orleans Hornets, who have a 3-2 lead in the conference semifinals, when they play Game 6 tonight.
“The best opportunity for us is really (Thursday). We’ve got to look at it that way,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “We’ve got a chance to close out the defending champions. Obviously we know it’s going to be a very, very tough game to do that, especially in San Antonio.”
After starting the series in an 0-2 hole against Chris Paul and the Hornets, the Spurs stormed back with home wins in Games 3 and 4. In Game 4 in particular, they were difficult to counter on either end of the court. Duncan had his best game of the series and the Hornets struggled throughout.
Paul insisted after each game in San Antonio that it was not time for his team to panic, but the Spurs seemed to be picking up speed and getting ready to send the youthful Hornets home to try again next year.
Now, after a decisive Game 5 loss Tuesday night in New Orleans, the Spurs are the ones who may be panicking, though their veteran status and deep playoff experience are just the kind of assets that could keep them cool and confident in Game 6.
“The bottom line is that the better team wins in a seven-game series,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I’ve always said that. So whoever wins the series, it will be because they’re the better team.”
The Spurs took the day off Wednesday. The Hornets talked about how to maintain the energy they get from their home crowd while playing on the road in hostile territory.
“That’s something we’re going to talk about probably all day and before the game,” Paul said. “When you make shots and stuff like that, it helps a lot, but we’ve just got to find some way.”
Paul helped in Game 5, but it was David West who carried the Hornets to victory with career playoff highs of 38 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.
So far, home teams have been all but unstoppable in the conference semifinals. Neither the Hornets nor Spurs has lost at home this postseason.
That bodes well for San Antonio in Game 6, but it also looks good for New Orleans in a winner-take-all Game 7 at home, if necessary.
“We can’t relax and say, ‘All right, we’ll wait to beat them when we come back here,’” Paul said. “We need to win (Thursday)."
