Chris Paul had 30 points and 12 assists, leading the New Orleans Hornets to a 102-84 victory Monday night and a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven, second-round series. Game 3 is Thursday in San Antonio.
Peja Stojakovic made five 3-pointers and scored 25 points for the Hornets, who've won both games by wide margins in becoming the first team to put San Antonio in an 0-2 playoff hole since 2001, when the Spurs were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals.
Tim Duncan led San Antonio with 18 points and eight rebounds, far better than his miserable Game 1, when he tied a career playoff low with five points and three rebounds. But by the final minutes, Duncan was on the bench.
"It's just frustrating losing. That's the biggest thing," Duncan said. "They've obviously done an excellent job defensively, frustrating all of us with their double-teaming, with their shifting. ... It seems like they come the other way and they're not missing shots. That stacked on top of each other just makes the whole game very frustrating."
Manu Ginobili had 13 points for the Spurs and Tony Parker, guarded mostly by Paul, was limited to 11 and had two shots blocked by Chandler. Brent Barry added 14, some of it when the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter.
The Spurs continued to settle for 3-pointers, going 8-of-27 from that distance and finishing at 42.5 percent shooting overall. The Hornets shot 48 percent.
Source: Xinhua/Agencies
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