Hornets go 2-0 over Spurs

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Hornets dominated the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs for the second straight game, Chris Paul scoring 30 points to lead them to a 102-84 win on Monday.

The Hornets, trailing by one point at halftime, dominated the third period to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

After chants of "MVP! MVP!" had swept the stands for much of the game, Paul paid tribute to the home fans.

"It’s our home crowd, our fans have really been coming out and supporting us, they motivate us, and we love playing here in front of our home crowd," Paul said.

Kobe Bryant of the Lakers is expected to be named the NBA’s MVP on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) but Paul said just to be mentioned in the same breath was an honor.

The Boston Celtics host the Cleveland cavaliers in Game 1 o f their Eastern Conference semifinal on Tuesday.

"If Kobe wins it he absolutely deserves it, he had an outstanding year," Paul said. "His team won the Western Conference, he was unbelievable.

"There are a lot of great players in this league, just to be mentioned with them is an honor. This is just my third year so I have a long way to go."

David West led all scorers with 30 points in the Hornets’ 101-82 win in the series opener. On Monday the Spurs focused on stopping West and held him to just 10 points, resulting in more opportunities for Paul.

"My teammates and my coach told me to be aggressive. David West was unbelievable in game one so I knew when I got to the lane I had to shoot the ball and make them honest," Paul said.

Peja Stojakovic added 25 points for the Hornets, the first team to lead the Spurs 2-0 in a series since the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001.

San Antonio’s Tim Duncan scored 18 points just claiming only five in Game 1. The series moves to San Antonio for Game 3 on Thursday.