Hornets slow down Duncan, beat Spurs in opener

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New Orleans Hornets held San Antonio's Tim Duncan to five points and raced to a 101-82 home victory over the Spurs in the opening game of their Western Conference second-round series on Saturday.

David West scored a career playoff-best 30 points to lead the Hornets with Chris Paul adding 17 points and 13 assists.

The Hornets trailed by 11 points late in the second quarter before roaring back.

"We just came back with a lot more energy," West told reporters.

"They were beating us to loose balls," he added. "There's no excuse for that. We've got the fresher legs, the younger legs and we want to be the aggressor the entire series."

Tony Parker led San Antonio, last year's NBA champion, with 23 points while Duncan made only one of nine field-goal attempts and had just three rebounds.

The points total was a playoff low for Duncan and shackling him will be the Hornets' strategy throughout the series.

"We just don't want to give him in easy looks," West said. "We know he is one of the best players in the league when he catches the ball two or three feet from the basket. We are going to have guys running at him the entire series."

The game was delayed between the first and second quarters when a stunt involving a mascot going through a ring of fire went wrong. Workers had to use fire extinguishers to put out the flames and it took 20 minutes to clean up the court.  Continued...