Round Two Riot: Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3) - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

FanHouse's Round Two previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Or know what the hell an Udoka is.

Biggest Reason You Should Watch: Because Chris Paul v. Tony Parker is just like Chris Paul v. Jason Kidd, except this time CP3's opponent can shoot and play defense. Oh, and if you really ever wanted a "new - old" rivalry that you could wax all philosophical about by the water cooler, this is it. The Spurs have championships galore. The Hornets won the first divisional championship in the history of New Orleans this year. Plus, we're all a little sick of Manu at his point, no?

New Orleans Can Win If: Well, they can't, if you listen to most of the hating. Paul is going to be otherworldly. Peja Stojakovic has to do what he did last round, which is shoot lights out. It will be tougher this time against Bruce Bowen, who cheats plays hard nosed defense, but CP3 is so good at manipulating defenses that it's entirely possible. Tyson Chandler needs to come up with a little more offense (7.2 against Dallas) to take some of Tim Duncan's heat off of David West too.

San Antonio Can Win If: Tim Duncan can stop the X-man. West averaged 22 plus against Dallas and while Paul makes this team go, if they can't score in the post, it becomes a heck of a lot harder to hit from the perimeter. Duncan's defense is actually still pretty underrated, but then again so is West. Or is he overrated now? I can never remember. Whatever. This is the Spurs. They can't ever not win.

Video Clip to Get You Pumped: Well, I was going to use French disc jockey DJ Hornet (get it?) but I wasn't sure if it was safe for work, and well, frankly it sucked. Instead, a quite possibly irrelevant South Park clip about distinct styles. If Randy Marsh's wail at the end doesn't get you stoked, I don't know what will.



Stud of the Series: Chris Paul. It's not even close, either, folks. Kobe Bryant just reportedly won the MVP award, and even though you might not think of him in this way, I can promise you that no one plays better basketball with a chip on their shoulder than Paul. He is going to go so freaking large in this series, it's borderline absurd. Has anyone ever averaged a triple double over the course of a seven game series before?

Biggest Liability: As mentioned the first time around, the Spurs' offense. Before, there was concern that the Suns might outscore them. Now, they have to play a team that can score and stop the opposition. Witness the Hornets' NBA best FG% differential of nearly 8.5%, in addition to their third best point differential of 8.8. Paul is one of the few players in the L quick enough to keep up with Parker and Chandler/West is a formidable duo for Duncan to deal with down low.
FanHouse Prediction: The defining series of these playoffs, or ... what we thought Phoenix -- San Antonio would be.
No chance it doesn't go seven games. A pair of triple doubles from Chris Paul in New Orleans is too much to overcome as both teams hold serve at home and the Hornets advance in seven.