AtTheHive.com (“Hornets 99, Spurs 90: Third Quarter Dominance Leads to 3-0 Start”):
The Hornets won at the AT&T Center for just the third time since 2002 with another convincing defensive performance. Chris Paul was also involved.
As the offense went from abysmal to good to stellar, the defense steadily tightened. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around (when the Hornets’ offense dipped and the defense struggled to contain a Spurs squad fueled by desperation), the lead was insurmountable. We’ve seen double digit leads vanish in three consecutive games now, but on the flip side, we’ve eventually managed to protect each one successfully.
Tim Duncan looked absolutely terrible tonight, and Emeka Okafor certainly deserves a lot of credit. While Duncan was able to back Okafor down on occasion, Mek did a terrific job denying the face-up game. Okafor was only credited with one official blocked shot, but he challenged or altered almost every single Duncan attempt.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Duncan so rattled. He’s still one of the game’s best, and he’ll undoubtedly post another stellar year. But for one night, he looked like a lost rookie. And it surely wasn’t all Okafor’s doing. The defining moment came in the fourth quarter when Duncan caught a pass underneath the hoop with no Hornet nearby. All he had to do was flip it in, or if he wanted to get fancy, dunk it. Instead, he traveled. Without the slightest possible reason to move at all, he traveled!
