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Some things I noticed last night:

• Early in the game the Hornets were clearly determined to get Peja Stojakovic going. Stojakovic has been a non-factor ever since the Spurs switched Bruce Bowen onto him to start Game 3. Here's why I hated what the Hornets were doing: Stojakovic is at his best when the team creates scoring opportunities for him, not when he's creating his own. And now you're asking him to do something he's only okay at -- create with the ball -- against the best defense he ever faces. It didn't work, and I'm glad the Hornets gave up and eventually resolved to get to the players with efficient matchups, like David West. One other thought: If San Antonio had switched Bowen to Stojakovic from the beginning of the series, Games 1 and 2 might have been different.
  
• There is a lot of talk about New Orleans' insane third quarters. In the Daily Dime John Hollinger tells us that over the three games in New Orleans, the combined third-quarter score is Hornets 93, Spurs 46. "No," adds Hollinger, "that's not a misprint." Hollinger points out that Chris Paul is more aggressive offensively after the half. I'm sure that's a huge factor. But another one that I'd add is that Byron Scott is very timid with Tyson Chandler in the first half, and when Chandler sits with a foul or two, the Hornets lose a ton. Chandler is always on the floor, however, to start the second half, and last night he was pretty effective guarding Tim Duncan one-on-one after the break. I wonder if anyone knows where we can see who was on the floor for the Hornets biggest runs of the playoffs. I bet Chandler is as much a mainstay as Paul. UPDATE: Check out these little charts. Not precisely what I was talking about, but a cool way to see a thumbnail effect. Looks like Morris Peterson is right there with Chandler and Paul in the hot zone. Also, look at Chandler compared to Melvin Ely in the May 6th game.
• One of the clearest ways to see how experience can make a player better is in how they handle the referees. Tyson Chandler gets called for a lot of fouls that are fairly obvious, but not all that helpful to his team. For instance, that leaner of a pick on Tony Parker last night. Doesn't do much for the Hornets, but it's also not something the referees can ignore. In the future, he'll no doubt get better at using his fouls wisely.
• Just a little note about my new pet peeve, which is fouling as a strategy to help the fouling team: The first quarter ended with Robert Horry intentionally fouling Melvin Ely, followed by Jannero Pargo intentionally fouling because the Hornets had a foul to give. Two intentional fouls to end the first quarter? Is this fun to watch? Is this basketball?
• It turned out not to be enough, but Manu Ginobili sure executes when his team needs him. In the first quarter the Spurs could not score at all -- and then he got himself to the line to hit three straight free throws that broke the spell and made it a game again. In the third quarter, the Hornets were on a huge run, and then Ginobili nailed a long three with the shot clock expiring. Both were massive.
• "Pocket Magic." That's what they were calling Chris Paul on last night's broadcast. A little internet research reveals that's the name of a brand of magic tricks. This little device makes a lot of money -- which makes "Pocket Magic" a pretty darned good nickname, I guess. (Also, speaking of magic involving pockets, this is must-watch. And this one ends with a great Tyra Banks quote: "That's not magic, that's some crazy stuff.")
• If you had a visitor from Mars, and you wanted to show them some of the best things about our earth? Show them New York City, show them the Canyonlands in Utah, and show them everything in between. But also, please, be sure to show them alley-oops. There's a pretty good one in the game highlights.
• With New Orleans so good at home, they have to be kind of sad that they had a bundle of silly losses early in the season. But for that, they could have homecourt advantage in the next round even if the Lakers win.
• The biggest single play of this game? I'll take David West's block of Tim Duncan in the fourth quarter. The Hornets were nursing a little lead, but West was playing hurt, and Chandler -- the designated Duncan stopper -- was out with a bad wheel. You knew the Spurs would roar back, and you knew it would come through Duncan, who got to go against an undersized, out-of-position, gimpy West. But with about six minutes left, West blocked that Duncan shot, and the party was on in the Big Easy.
• The scariest moment for the Hornets was when Chandler left the game. The second scariest was post-game, when David West was telling Craig Sager about how much his back hurt, and Chris Paul came up and shook West by the shoulders. Just for an instant, West looked like he wanted to vomit from the pain. He turned it into a smile, though, and kept talking.