The Hornets Do Not Respect Their Elders

Tonight in New Orleans, the home town Bugs did something that the Suns were not able to do for their entire series, even in the Game 4 loss where the Spurs were never really in the game. Tonight, the Spurs looked genuinely uncomfortable, like they didn't have confidence in the matchup.

Tim Duncan, especially, didn't look like himself, scoring just 5 points on the night on 1 of 9 shooting. This was mostly lost in the five game first round runaway, but the Spurs didn't win with their big man; as a matter of fact, Shaq held him down to bad percentages, and if he doesn't make that 3 in Game 1, more would have noticed the performance slippage.

No, the Spurs beat the Suns on Parker and Ginobli, most especially Parker. And that's really not going to work as well in this series... because while CP3 isn't exactly a shutdown point guard on defense, he's not the toreador that Steve Nash is, either. And when he does get beaten on the dribble, his bigs -- West and Chandler -- not only have the physical quicks to close out on shooters from pick and roll, but the interest in doing so.

So while the initial response to a 101-82 Bugs Win is not that big of a deal, especially one where the home team trailed into the third quarter before piling on late, you need to look deeper into the numbers.

The Spurs were only in this game due to the 3-point shooting of Bruce Bowen. They had serious problems guarding Peja Stojakovic off the dribble, which hasn't been his game for years. The refs didn't seem interested in giving the Spurs the benefit of the flop all night. West makes Duncan come away from the basket to guard him, leaving space for Paul and his finishers. And finally, the Bugs have Bonzi Wells, who might be the only guy in the NBA willing to play dirtier than Bowen. (And how is it that no one, especially in a late game, hasn't just gone after Bowen with a clothesline? Bowen didn't do much after the pain. Oh, the irony.)

Can the Spurs get Game 2? Of course. Duncan is the best power forward in NBA history for a reason, and he might have avoided guarding David West in this game just to set him up for the next one. Bowen could still hurt someone. The Spurs got little from their bench. Popovich is a dramatically better coach than Byron Scott. The Bugs will look worse on the road. The Spurs have been beaten badly before; they know how to respond.

But after watching tonight's game, especially in the second half, leads one to wonder if maybe the Suns didn't just beat themselves. Because if tonight's Spurs team shows up for the whole series, they are going home in 5.