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SAN ANTONIO, Texas: Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili
scored 31 points apiece Thursday as the San Antonio Spurs finally
posted a victory over New Orleans in their National Basketball
Association playoff series.
The Spurs, the reigning NBA
champions, rebounded from two defeats in New Orleans to beat the
Hornets 110-99 and narrow the gap in their best-of-7 Western
Conference semifinal series to 2-1.
“Today for us, it was a game
seven,” Ginobili said. “We knew that if we didn’t win today it
was almost over. We played with more passion, more edge. That was
the difference today.”
Tim Duncan recorded 16 points and
13 rebounds and Bruce Bowen chipped in 12 for the defending
champions, who can knot the series at 2-2 with a win at home in Game
4 on Sunday.
“We knew coming in here these
two games were going to be tough. They are the champions,” New
Orleans coach Byron Scott said. “They aren’t just going to lay
down.”
The Spurs, who had been outscored
65-35 over the previous two third quarters combined, held a 29-22
edge in this one as they built an 83-78 lead heading into the fourth
quarter.
“I thought our play overall was
more aggressive, more physical than it was the first two games,”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I thought they really won that
contest, that physicality part that’s always there in the
playoffs. I thought they took it to us in the first two games in
that regard.”
Ginobili scored 9 points,
including a four-point play, in the first five minutes of the
fourth, and Bowen’s three-pointer from the corner gave the Spurs a
101-88 edge with 5:55 left.
--AFP
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