Spurs Hurt the Hornets

The Spurs not only hurt New Orleans with a 19 point win Thursday night, but also hurt their All-star forward, David West. West left the game after taking a hit in the back by Robert Horry. Apparently back spasms forced West to the back locker room with the help of his teammate and staff. Hopefully for the sake of New Orleans he's able to play again on Monday in a do-or-die Game 7.

The Spurs looked very good in the second half, and due to Chris Paul's foul trouble, they were able to build an impressive lead. Despite Paul's 21 points and 8 assists, San Antonio outscored the Hornets 20-12 in the 3rd quarter. For San Antonio, Duncan notched 20 points, 15 boards and 6 assists, with Ginobli scoring 25 to lead the team. The Hornets didn't really have any other impressive performances, as Peja had just 13, West chipped in 10 and Chandler had 14.

The World champs who were once down 2-0 and seemed "out of it", are now easily in position to return to the promised land. So now we get to see what could be a classic Game 7 on Monday night in New Orleans. At stake is a spot in the Western Conference Finals. According to ESPN Sportscenter,the Spurs have Lost in Game 7 every time they've forced one in the Conference Semis.

As a friend remarked to me earlier in the night, we could see three Game 7's depending on how Cleveland and Utah fare on Friday night. If any team needs to prove itself with a road win right about now, it's the Boston Celtics.