Scanning the blogs and beats following the Hornets' 102-84 win over the Spurs in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals ...

Hornets247.com: "The Hornets defense was again the biggest story. Tim Duncan might have had a better offensive showing, but he was made work for those 18 points. Timmy was seeing the double teams again for most of the night, and this time it seemed like we threw a little wrinkle at him: In Game 1 we sent the doubles mostly from the wing, but more so in Game 2 the double (usually Chris Paul) was coming across the key from the weak side to catch him by surprise when he made his move to the basket. It worked well."

Pounding The Rock: "Trimethylaminuria, folks. Trimethylaminuria. It's a rare metabolic disorder that prevents the proper catabolism pf tremethylamine. The result is a faint to very strong, pervasive fish odor. The sufferer could bathe five times a day and still smell like rotting fish. It reminds me of most of the Spurs supporting cast."

Dan Shanoff, The Sporting Blog: "When it comes to NBA MVP, are you going to believe the "voters" or your own eyes? Because, today, the voters are going to say "Kobe." Not a bad choice, though — typically — lacking much inspiration or imagination. But if you watched last night's Hornets-Spurs game, you could feel exceptionally good about supporting the MVP alternative: Chris Paul."

Mike Finger, SA Express-News: "Snarling and outraged, Tim Duncan stood up for Fabricio Oberto. Now someone needs to stand up for Duncan. If the Spurs are going to do what they've never done before — if they're going to win a playoff series they trail two games to none, and stem this tide of alley-oops and layups and shockingly thorough blowouts — then a few guys have to do for Duncan what he's so often done for them. This time they have to be the difference-makers."

At The Hive: "Mo Pete was terrific and was essential to building up that momentum. Morris holds somewhat an underrated role on the team (compared to Paul, West, Peja, etc.), but his hustle and shooting have been key to the Hornets. He shot 5-5 with 12 points, plus he had 3 assists, I think all of which went to Peja three’s. Great effort by him the whole playoffs, Mo Pete is just frickin’ awesome. He doesn’t take over games like Pargo or Paul, but he is the consistent force in the Hornets backcourt that drives these runs."

Buck Harvey, SA Express-News: "Manu Ginobili doesn’t have to be good now. He has to be better than that. He has to become what he was earlier in the season. He has to be what he was the last time the Spurs beat the Hornets, and before he landed badly in the Phoenix series. Against these Hornets, good isn’t good enough. Being down 0-2 doesn’t mean this series is over, and the historical data doesn’t mean much, either. But losing by 19 and 18 points here qualifies as failure by any measure."

48 Minutes Of Hell: "I was blown away by the mediocrity of [Ginobili's] first half play. He had 5 turnovers overall, I believe all of which came in the first half. If it weren't for his sloppy play it could have been a 10 point lead at half as opposed to a 1 point lead."

John Reid, The Times-Picayune: "The Hornets have never advanced beyond the conference semifinals, but are now only two victories from playing the Los Angeles Lakers-Utah Jazz winner in the Western Conference finals. "I'm proud of the way this team has played," Hornets Coach Byron Scott said. "We've had a heck of a season. We still got a lot of people out there that doubt us. I think that's what fuels these guys."

Related: The Internets are alive, 2008 NBA Playoffs