COMMENTARY: Spurs put kick back in series they'll take to 7

SAN ANTONIO — It's a game of chicken, with the Spurs and Hornets on a collision course for Game 7.

I know it's a cliché, but it rings true. A playoff series doesn't start until the home team loses a game, and the San Antonio Spurs reminded us Thursday night that they are the NBA's defending world champions.

So what if this is an even-numbered year? The Spurs will be one tough out, and the New Orleans Hornets are in new territory, perhaps right where the Spurs want them, in a dogfight.

I picked the Spurs to win this series in seven games, and there's no reason to reverse course, not when this thing just got juicy. It's probably not the tempo the Spurs would like, but after a 110-99 win that cut New Orleans' series lead to 2-1, the Spurs will have an easier time working on that concern between now and Game 4 on Sunday.

Some so-called experts slipped into that trap of pronouncing last rites after the Spurs fell behind 2-0, but it's no surprise this team of greybeards has put off that visit from the undertaker, despite two brutal losses in the Big Easy. It's never going to be easy to knock off a defending world champion that still believes it's good enough to get it done in the postseason.

It was almost a flashback to 2007. The Spurs rode their best three players and got just enough support from the second-tier members to hold off a Hornets team that played well enough to go up three games. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan combined for 78 points and, more important, the Spurs took care of the ball with 28 assists to only 10 turnovers.

"This was like a Game 7 for us,'' Ginobili said. "We knew if we went down 3-0 that nobody has come back from that. It was an elimination game, and we had to play that way."

Better yet, the Hornets wasted a combined 58 points from Chris Paul and David West, two players who continue to befuddle San Antonio's veteran defenders.

The Hornets have played well for all three games, except maybe that three-minute period in the fourth quarter Thursday when the Spurs pulled away.

And New Orleans will show up Sunday believing it can push the Spurs closer to the coffin.

That mental tug-of-war, combined with the contrast in age and styles makes for the most intriguing series of the league's four semifinals. LeBron James' shooting percentage against Boston is about as bad as his tipping percentage, and Cleveland could end up getting swept. The Lakers could end up sweeping the Jazz because Utah has no answer for Kobe. And Detroit and Orlando? Well, that's just plain boring.

Give Chris Paul (35 points) and Tony Parker (31) credit for spicing up this series with their lane acrobatics. Let's make this series a seven-gamer, and maybe we can schedule them to play some one-on-one games in the offseason.

"I hope the fans are enjoying it,'' Parker said.

We are. Let's see if the veteran Spurs can give us this type of production on two days rest. Duncan, Bruce Bowen and Parker all played more than 40 minutes, nothing new for this group. At this point, the Spurs know they have the offseason to rest.

For now, they will have two days to suck it up and ease those little nicks and bruises that come with this marathon of a season. The older guys have to be smarter, and Gregg Popovich is a master at resting his players at different points of the regular season to prepare them for this type of challenge.

If they summon it — and I'm a betting man who won't bet against the champions at this point — then this Western Conference semifinal is San Antonio's for the taking. The Spurs are just dangerous enough to ease a little doubt into the psyche of a team of youngsters, not because they won Thursday, but because of how they won. They played with poise. They hit clutch shots. And they played with precision down the stretch.

San Antonio showed a fire born of four championships. It's a fire that will have to burn brightly Sunday, too. Remember, these Hornets came to Texas needing just one win to seize control of this thing.

Now that the Spurs are in this series, the talk of the defending champions being too old, too slow, and not athletic enough to play with the mercurial Paul and Co. has been quieted.

At least for two days.

Cedric Golden writes for the Austin American-Statesman.