The Hornets, down 51-42 to open the period, could not manage consecutive baskets throughout the quarter, never getting closer than seven.

New Orleans went nearly a three-minute stretch without a basket before Paul hit a pair of free throws to close the gap to 58-50.

Michael Finley then responded with a 3-pointer and Parker added a jumper, putting San Antonio up 63-50.

New Orleans finally began to look overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment, even missing open shots. Peja Stojakovic, who finished with a relatively low seven points, shot an airball on an open 3-point attempt. West missed an open 12-footer. The Hornets shot 5-of-17 for the quarter.

“What we did today was play better D in the third quarter,” Popovich said. “We held them down and it really was about that for us.”

New Orleans continued to play solid defense inside, holding Duncan in check and limiting San Antonio to 6-of-18 shooting in the quarter. But that didn’t help much with the Spurs hitting clutch shots from outside.

Finley added another 3, as did Horry, and Ginobili’s free throws gave San Antonio a 71-54 lead late in the period.

Buoyed by a home crowd that stood throughout the fourth quarter, the Hornets fought back to make a game of it, largely behind Pargo, who had done little in this series. He scored seven straight on four free throws sandwiched around a 3-pointer, pulling the Hornets to 81-77 with 3:10 to go.

Pargo made another 3 to cut it to 83-80 with about 1½ minutes left, then attempted another for the tie with a minute left, but it rattled out.

Parker drained a jumper on the other end with 50 seconds left to make it 85-80, and New Orleans could not recover.

“I’m glad that’s over,” Popovich said afterward. “The Hornets are an unbelievably tough team in every way you could imagine, and they had a fantastic year. I don’t think there’s any doubt their time will come.”

Notes: The Hornets fell to 0-5 in second-round series. ... This marks the first time the Spurs have gotten past second round one season after winning a title, and the first time they won a series after losing the first two games. ... Home teams were 22-3 in the second round of this season’s playoffs, with Detroit, the Lakers and Spurs getting the only road wins. ... A replay review wiped out what initially was called as a three-shot foul at the first quarter horn, when Ginobili was called for blocking on Paul’s half-court heave. The replay showed time expired just before the foul and the release of the shot.

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