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Spurs overcome double-digit halftime deficit, top Hornets

Nov 28, 2010 - 11:31 PM New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Manu Ginobili scored 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out eight assists to help San Antonio forge a 109-95 win over New Orleans.

Tim Duncan added 21 points and seven boards, while Richard Jefferson supplied 19 points for the Spurs, who overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to win for a 13th time in their last 14 games.

David West poured in 23 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Chris Paul provided 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Hornets, who lost for the first time in eight home dates.

"We just got a little stagnant on both ends," West said about the Hornets in the second half. "I thought they were just more aggressive and we just didn't respond. We still had opportunities, we still had the lead, and I just don't think we played to close the game out."

Jefferson's three-pointer capped a 17-7 surge to open the third quarter that brought the visitors to within 68-61 with just over seven minutes remaining.

New Orleans pushed the lead back to nine before the Spurs trimmed the margin to 77-72 at the end of the period.

Jefferson's running jumper to start the fourth quarter ignited a 19-5 surge that put the Spurs ahead to stay, at 91-82, with 7:53 to play in the game.

New Orleans never got closer than 10 points in the final seven minutes, as the Spurs shot a blistering 15-of-21 from the field in the fourth quarter.

"Today we played 24 minutes of good defense," Ginobli said. "We really need to step it up because teams have been shooting over 50 percent and that is not good enough to be a championship-caliber defensive team."

West scored 16 of his points, on 7-of-10 shooting, to give the hosts a 34-26 advantage after the first quarter during which they made 13-of-21 from the floor.

The Hornets continued their hot shooting in the second quarter, knocking down 12-of-20 en route to a 61-44 lead at the intermission. The visitors were never within single digits in the second quarter.

Game Notes

The Spurs have won 16 of the last 21 meetings, including three straight in New Orleans...San Antonio is off to the best 16-game start in team history at 14-2...The Spurs are 7-0 on the road...George Hill provided 14 points off the bench for the visitors, who got six points, six boards and nine assists from Tony Parker in the win...West played in his 476th game as a Hornet to move past P.J. Brown into fourth place on the franchise's all-time list...Emeka Okafor and Marco Belinelli added 12 points each in defeat...New Orleans shot 50 percent from the floor, while the Spurs shot 48.8 percent.