There was no third-quarter breakdown for the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, just the desperate play of a team whose quest for a second straight NBA title was on the line.

Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both scored 31 points to lead the Spurs to a 110-99 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

With the win, the Spurs avoided falling into an ominous 0-3 hole from which no NBA team has never returned.

Chris Paul led the Hornets, who still hold a 2-1 series lead, with 35 points and nine assists. David West had 23 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, which was dominant in the first two games of the series.

Game 4 is Sunday night in San Antonio.

With the Spurs' win, the home teams are 10-0 in the four conference semifinal series.

After trading leads all night, the Spurs led 83-78 entering the fourth quarter.

Ginobili led a Spurs charge early in the final period. Left alone, he hit a wide-open 3 and was fouled by Bonzi Wells, who scrambled at him to guard the shot. Ginobili's free throw put San Antonio up 87-82, and another 3 by Ginobili 38 seconds later made it 90-84.

New Orleans got within 90-88 before the Spurs took over, playing out the fourth quarter better than they have played all series.
NBA NOTES
CELTS TAKE 2-0 EDGE OVER CAVS: Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland. Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added

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13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. One game after going 2-for-18 from the field and missing his last six shots, including a layup to tie the game with 8.5 seconds left, James missed his first three tries and finished with 21 points on 6-for-24 shooting. Game 3 is Saturday night in Cleveland. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points for the Cavaliers.

BRYANT UNANIMOUS PICK FOR ALL-NBA TEAM: Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant added another honor Thursday to go with his MVP award, becoming the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team. Joining Bryant on the first team were New Orleans guard Chris Paul, who was three votes shy of being a unanimous pick, along with Boston's Kevin Garnett, Cleveland's LeBron James and Orlando center Dwight Howard. Voting was done by a panel of 127 sports writers and broadcasters, with points being awarded on a 5-3-1 basis. Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash of Phoenix were voted to the second team along with San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Utah guard Deron Williams and Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki. The third team consisted of Houston's Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, plus Utah's Carlos Boozer, Boston's Paul Pierce and the Spurs' Manu Ginobili, the league's top sixth man.

NETS PROMOTE VANDEWEGHE TO GM: Kiki Vandeweghe became the New Jersey Nets' general manager Thursday, less than six months after being hired as a special assistant to team president Rod Thorn. Vandeweghe replaces Ed Stefanski, who left in midseason to become the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers.