For the second game in a row, New Orleans took over its Western Conference semifinal against San Antonio in the second half.

In Saturday’s Game 1, the Hornets took over in the third, outscoring San Antonio 29-17.

Phot by Ann Heisenfelt / The Associated Press

Spurs guard Tony Parker goes to the basket as New Orleans center Tyson Chandler defends in Game 2.

Monday night was even more impressive. New Orleans outscored the Spurs 36-18 in the third quarter.

“They found a way to really sustain the energy and the mental and physical toughness of the second half,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “We haven’t been able to sustain that during the second half and they ended up with another good win.”

You might say that the Hornets are fresher, coming into the series with younger legs. Hornets guard Jannero Pargo doesn’t really see it that way.

“We’re coming out with a sense of urgency knowing the first five minutes are real key,” Pargo said.

Said Hornets coach Byron Scott, “Basically, at halftime, I really just told our guys we’re one point down and we made four or five mental mistakes on the defensive end that allowed them to have wide open shots.”

Ely coming up big

In New Orleans’ series against Dallas, Scott told Pargo he would play a big part in that series. Pargo responded by giving Scott points and minutes off the bench.

This time, Melvin Ely got the call.

“I haven’t played in a month and a half and Hilton (Armstrong) has been playing well and getting all the minutes,” Ely said. “(Scott) came up to me and asked me if I’m ready. I had the biggest grin on my face. I said, ‘Hell yeah I’m ready.’ ”

The result – Ely has given Scott nearly 28 minutes in two games, scoring three points and picking up four fouls. Four fouls that could have been on Tyson Chandler, but instead went to Ely.

Expecting a zone

Scott knew San Antonio would try something to slow down his Hornets after Game 1. He was right. The Spurs came out and played more zone defense than it did in the first game.

But Scott was prepared.

“There was anticipation they might go to zone more,” Scott said. “We did go over our zone offense this morning (in shoot around). We wasn’t surprised by it. The only thing about going against a zone is sometimes you get passive and settle for jump shots.”

The Hornets hit 48 percent of their shots Monday night.

Spurs down 2-0

New Orleans can breathe a little bit easier this morning. Not much, but still a little.

San Antonio has never come back from down 2-0 in a playoff series, losing the previous three times it has happened.

But it’s not like the Hornets are celebrating right now.

“We’ve changed a lot of our past, too,” Tyson Chandler said. “We didn’t win in Dallas in forever and we won in Dallas to help close out the series.”

In other words, anything is still possible.

This and that

The Hornets recorded their 11th straight sellout dating back into the regular season. … Chris Paul’s 30 points and 12 assists gave him his fifth career double-double in seven playoff games. … Peja Stojakovic scored 25 points, including a franchise record-tying five 3-pointers. In the first two games of the series, he’s 17-of-28 from the floor. … New Orleans forced 15 turnovers, scoring 19 points off of them. The Hornets turned the ball over only eight times.