That was a game for the ages.

Rookie Julian Wright risks a glance at the infamous Duncan Face.

Oh boy, where do I start? I already extolled the virtues of David West (below) so now let's take a look at the rest of the crew.

Chris Paul was Chris Paul, outscoring SA 12-11 in the 3rd despite an awful 6-18 shooting night. CP's biggest impact came from the line, where he knocked home 9-11. Tony Parker got into some foul trouble thanks to Paul's exploits.

Peja was shut down again by Bowen, but honestly, that isn't as big a problem for us as it may seem. For one, Mo-Pete has stepped up in Peja's stead (4 triples last night). Second, this is something unique to playing the Spurs. Only a San Antonio (Bowen) or a Houston (Battier) has a guy they can use exclusively for defense. Tiring out Kobe by having him chase Peja around would be too risky for the Lakers. Utah would suffer greatly on the boards if Kirilenko were forced to hang around the three point line. Get through one more game without a top-flight Peja, and he'll come back strong in the Conference Finals.

West may be the guy who leads the team in blocks, but Tyson Chandler is undoubtedly the center of the defense. Not only is he the most athletic defender we have, our entire defensive strategy revolves around him- even Paul, Peterson, and Pargo's defensive strategy is dictated by him. Take last night for example. The first half, Byron Scott continued to send the double at Duncan (not as fervently as Games 1-4). Then the third quarter rolled along, and Tyson only had 2 fouls. So Byron decided to let Tyson play Duncan one on one, and voila. The mad guard scrambling to switch and close out shooters was no longer needed. You may have heard the TV commentators repeat over and over that San Antonio's ball movement suddenly disappeared. Want to know why? Look no further than Tyson's D.

Staying on the subject of Chandler, I now look pretty foolish for calling a 20/20 from him. But I'll take his great defensive effort. If he has to sit parts of Game 6 due to his foot, we could be in some bad trouble. On to the factors:

There comes a game in every great player's career where he is absolutely unstoppable on the biggest of stages. Think Dirk Nowitzki's 30/19 performance in a 2003 Game 7 versus the Kings. Think Tim Duncan's 37 and 14 at Staples Center versus the Lakers in '98, paving the way for a sweep of a team that would eventually three-peat. Think Kevin Garnett's 32 and 21 in Game 7 in the 2005 Conference Semis. I could keep going with this list.

But the point is, tonight, David West became that player. He became that guy who found it within himself to go to the next level. No, he didn't show us that he will be the next Tim Duncan, the next Kevin Garnett, or the next Dirk Nowitzki. He showed us that he is ready to step into their shoes.

And that's what made this game so special. We could see the future, smell it, touch it, feel it. Win one more game, and this team will have achieved greatness unseen by the Hornet franchise. The future is now. It's very rare that an entire fan-base can see a new age unfolding before its very eyes, all within a single game. I imagine this is how San Antonio fans felt as the Duncan era began to take shape. I'm elated that the new website's first day also witnessed David West's break out party.

Tonight definitely ranks up there with Glen Rice's 39 versus New York, and Baron's triple double madness versus Orlando. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, David West's 38/14/5/5 will go down as one of my fondest Hornet memories.

[Note: I'll get some numbers and similar less sappy things up tomorrow morning.]