West had a playoff career-high 38 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and five blocks, and Paul came alive after halftime as the Hornets stormed to a 101-79 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the pivotal fifth game of the Western Conference semifinals.
Paul had 22 points and 14 assists for the second-seeded Hornets, who moved within one win of their first conference finals and pushed the defending champions to the brink of elimination.
West, who had 30 points in Game 1, scored 22 points in the first half, but his teammates were just 5-of-23 from the field, leaving the Hornets in a 47-44 halftime hole. Paul sparked a huge third quarter as he scored 12 points - one more than the Spurs - giving New Orleans a 72-58 lead entering the final period.
Nursing a sore back, West added eight points in the fourth quarter, when San Antonio got no closer than 10 points. The team that has won the third quarter has won every game in the series.
Morris Peterson scored 12 points and Peja Stojakovic added nine and 11 rebounds for the Hornets, which held a 50-41 advantage on the glass and committed just six turnovers.
Manu Ginobili had 20 points and seven assists and Tony Parker scored 18 points for the Spurs, who managed just 32 points in the second half. Tim Duncan grabbed 23 rebounds but had just 10 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
Game 6 is Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Since Duncan joined the Spurs in 1997, they have been eliminated on their home floor just once - in 2006 by Dallas.
Im expecting the hornets this year to be more active in able to achieve goals in the playoffs, facing san antonio is a huge challenge and facing a wall to the title.
CP3 proved his skills, he can assist and score, his teammates are doing pretty well as West does, Peterson sharing some experiences stojakovic and the rest also including chandler's playoff 2nd round debut.
san antonio and new orleans is such a really really good series.
send my condolences to antonio mcdyess' grandmother. from a concern piston fan
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