I immediately regret that headline. Anyway, New Orleans opened their series against San Antonio in style with an ass kicking of impressive proportions. The Spurs held a four point lead after the first quarter, but once the mascot lit the floor on fire the Hornets outscored the visitors by 23. Tim Duncan was held to five points on 1-9 from the field, adding just three rebounds and two assists in 37 minutes. Chris Paul paced the Hornets with 17 points and 13 assists while David West led the way with a new playoff high of 30 points. Game 2 is tomorrow at 9:30 on TNT.

• The Pistons are good. Detroit showed why they are still the class of the Eastern Conference with a 91-72 win to open their series against Orlando. Nobody scored more than 19 points for the winners, but nobody on the Magic could score that many. Dwight Howard scored just 12 in the loss, and now he has to deal with a sore thumb against the Pistons tough front line. Game 2 is tomorrow at 7:00 on TNT.

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