Likewise, Horry's legacy as "Big Shot Bob," (that's "Big Shot," not "Cheap Shot") and the Spurs' reputation as the clean-shaven, old-school champions notwithstanding, San Antonio will do anything and everything to get under the skin of the Hornets and defend its title. Their silver and black colors don't automatically make them cousins to the Oakland Raiders, but they're not exactly Mother Teresa's team either.

They are a special blend of international personalities and talent, don't get into trouble off the floor and tend not to dress like a bunch of sixth-graders with their pants falling off. But that also doesn't necessarily mean they are above occassionally dirty play on the floor.

You see, West was already playing with a pinched nerve in his back and the Spurs were playing at home with an insurmountable 21-point lead in Game 6. Not only was Horry setting a blind-side screen, but replays showed he pointedly hit West's lower back — leaving the Hornets young All-Star writhing in pain, face first on the floor.

He was even lauded by television analyst, and one of the great assist men in NBA history, Mark Jackson, for putting on a good, "old school" hit on West. Really? Was a hit like that even necessary, let alone worthy of commendation?

Not in my book.

That being said, it was a not-so-subtle message that the Spurs are in it to win it ... period. So it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks at this point, unless the NBA front office had a problem with it. And given that Horry will be suiting up for Game 7, it clearly didn't.

In the big picture, we have been blown away by Horry's ability to hit clutch 3-pointers during his 16-year career. After all, he has more 3-pointers than anyone in NBA Finals history, and only six players — all Boston Celtics from the 1960s — have more than the seven championship rings he has earned for the Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets in his career. He and John Salley (Detroit, Chicago and the Lakers) are the only players in history to win rings with three different teams.

It would be an exaggeration to say Horry is tainting his legacy with this hit on West following the cheap shot he took during the Suns series last year, in which he knocked Phoenix guard Steve Nash into the scorer's table and altered the course of the playoffs. However, it is certainly worth noting for the obvious reasons that he's done little else the past two seasons but add physicality to the Spurs front line.

But Horry's not alone in his approach to the postseason. None of the Spurs' key players will go away quietly into the night Monday in the Big Easy.

People love Spurs forward Bruce Bowen away from the game. By all accounts, he is a good family man to his wife and two children, is benevolent with his time and foundation. But on the floor, arguably the best perimeter defender in the game is loathed and constantly accused of being one of the dirtiest players in the NBA.

The biggest star of pop culture in Argentina and perhaps the most underrated player in the NBA is Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili. He also will push, tug, lock arms and stick his foot in between a shooter's feet. Ginobili also flops and feigns hits in order to draw a charge as well as anybody who has ever played the game.

And even if Mr. Clean Tim Duncan — who evidently has never committed a foul in his 11-year career and been fouled on every drive to the basket (count how many times his eyes bug out at officials with his arms stretched out in disbelief) — will stick a needle in the Hornets with his his incessant whining.

This is who the Spurs are.

While head coach Gregg Popovich is a great basketball man, exceedingly bright and very engaging and humorous in the right setting, he is also a product of the Air Force Academy and tends to be intolerant when his expectations are not met. He also doesn't suffer fools lightly who question the integrity of his team — his sarcasm carrying the stuff of a Nolan Ryan fastball.

Consequently, you can be sure that Hornets coach Byron Scott, he of the 2008 NBA coach of the year award and three championships as Magic Johnson's backcourt mate with the Lakers, knows what is coming. He'll be tested as a coach like never before Monday night, imploring West, blossoming superstar guard Chris Paul, and the rest of the Hornets to play their game and keep their cool. Sure he was seething over the Horry hit, but other than send it to the NBA office to no avail, there was little else he could do. It was time to quickly drop and move on for the benefit of his team's psyche.

Even playing at home, it will be the biggest challenge any of them have faced in their basketball careers.

Whether or not Horry, entering his NBA record 239th playoff game, intended to hit the pinched nerve in West's back, is now officially irrelevant. West and his teammates just have to deal with it. And that's just the beginning because once Game 7 tips off, it will be the Spurs' intention to pinch every nerve of every player on the Hornets for the right to meet the Lakers in the conference finals.

Soon enough we'll find out if they've got what it takes to sting back.