NBA playoffs: Spurs spear Hornets, stave off elimination

Ginobili scores 25; Game 7 is Monday in New Orleans

| The Associated Press

5/15/2008 - 5/16/08

SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs' Big Three came through. Now they have to win one on the road to keep their title defense alive.

Manu Ginobili scored 25 points, Tim Duncan had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Tony Parker added 15 points in the Spurs' 99-80 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in Game 6 on Thursday night.

The win forced a seventh game in the Western Conference semifinals on Monday in New Orleans. Home teams are 20-1 in the second round.

Chris Paul led the Hornets with 21 points and Tyson Chandler scored 14. David West had 10 points before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter after apparently aggravating a back injury.

The aging defending champions and the injured Hornets now get three days of rest before playing Game 7.

"I have confidence," Parker said. "We've won a lot of big games on the road."

Despite the closeness of the series, Game 6, like the five before it, was a double-digit win. Also like those before it, the game was won in the third quarter, when the Spurs outscored the Hornets 20-12.

"I don't know what to say," Paul said. "That third quarter was ugly."

The Spurs took the lead for good after Parker's jumper with 4:27 left in the first quarter broke a 17-all tie. They led by as many as 24.

The Spurs hit 11 of 21 3-pointers, led by six from Ginobili. The Hornets had just two 3s. But the Hornets had 48 points in the paint to San Antonio's 28.

The Spurs shot 49 percent from the field (38-of-77) to the Hornets' 41 percent (33-of-80) and outrebounded them 45-40. The Spurs had 28 assists and the Hornets had 13.

"Thank God we get to go back to New Orleans for Game 7," Paul said.