David West Drinks Tim Duncan's Milkshake

Home cooking continued tonight in the Bayou, with the Bugs following the script of the first two games of the series -- tight early, build a lead in the third, and pull away late -- to take the 3-2 series lead. The Best Bug was the fantastic West, who had 38, 14 and 5, along with 5 blocked shots. He didn't make Tim Duncan curl up in a ball (10, 23 and 2), but he was clearly better, and the best player on the floor. Chris Paul crushed Tony Parker (22 and 14 assists to 18 an 4), and the result was yet another fourth quarter with garbage time. There has not been a close game in this series, and the final was 101-79.

Here's all you need to know about this game: the Bugs had 8 blocks and 8 steals. The Spurs had 1 and 2. If the Spurs were the Pistons, we'd be accusing them of falling asleep for this one.

Despite the runaway win, this one's almost certainly going 7. The Bugs got beat up in this game, with West sporting a back problem and Tyson Chandler suffering a bruised knee. The Spurs played out of sorts all night, with Tony Parker settling for 3s and the team shooting under 38% from the floor, including 9 for 21 from three point land. I can't imagine Popovich taking that again, or the young Bugs having the stones to close on the road.

Regardless of what happens in the next 1 to 2 games in this series, tonight was a night to remember for one key point: Paul and West were a *lot* better than Parker and Duncan, and West utterly carried the Hornets with 22 first half points. This is the first time in the Duncan Era where the other team might have the better power forward. (Sacrilege!)