| 29 April 2009
Denver Nuggets 107, New Orleans Hornets 86
The Denver Nuggets seemed to have perfected closing out third quarters.
Denver had yet another scoring flurry to close out the third quarter going on an 18-4 run. They continued their hot shooting by scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter thus crushing any hope for a New Orleans' comeback and winning dominating the series. But as I said they really perfected that third quarter. The Nuggets were an amazing +40 in the third quarters of this series. Those big quarters led to an average margin of victory of 24 points. And we thought the Cavs dominated their series when they only managed a margin of victory of 15.5 points, and they didn't even lose a game.
Many have speculated that the Hornets may have quit on Byron Scott. One particularly talented writer even postulated that the team really was quitting on Chris Paul because he is such a hard ass that hates to lose (An excellent piece Zach Harper posted yesterday), but isn't that a way to justify how poorly this team played? Isn't it just a convenient way out of really looking at the flaws of this team or a way to justify why we all thought it would be a better series? I picked the Hornets becuase I thought Chris Paul was that good, but it was a terrible pick in hindsight. He doesn't have a single teammate that can match his intensity. The roster is devoid of a quality post player. Tyson Chandler makes Adam Morrison look tough. Peja Stojakovic's game has a yearly expiration date of April 18. David West is a 6'9" guy that doesn't grab boards or play a bruising style.
It's tough to decide what we should think about Paul. Should we think he is worse than we thought because he couldn't come through in the playoffs (and he had a horrible series 5.3 TO, 1.3 steals and 44% from the field)? Or does this just exhibit how good he was this season? He led a team to the playoffs despite a number of obvious flaws and was more a pinball than point guard in this series. His legacy is still in the balance after this game/series, and it only got a lot more gray.
The theory that NOLA quit also denigrates the Denver Nuggets and how well they played in this series. The Nuggets never allowed Paul to get comfortable. They bumped and pushed him every chance they could. He spent more time on the floor that at the rim. Denver also completely shut down New Orleans' supporting cast. West, Chandler and Peja were held way under their season scoring averages and significantly below their field goal percentages for the season. The Nuggets also torched the New Orleans from long range shooting 48.5% and hitting 49 three in the five-game series. As if that didn't make them tough enough to defend, they also consistently attacked the rim and usually finished.
Why the Nuggets Won This Game
The Nuggets took this game because they are deadly efficient when it comes to scoring off turnovers. The Nuggets scored 23 points off of turnovers in this game. They also played excellent transition defense only allowing 9 points off of their own turnovers. That is a +14 despite the fact that both teams turned the ball over 15 times. The Nuggets just got up and down the court better than the Hornets both offensively and defensively. Anthony's career playoff high 34 points on 25 shots and J.R. Smith catching fire from deep didn't hurt either.
Why the Hornets Lost This Game
It's tough to blame this loss on any one thing when the Hornets were so bad at so many things. New Orleans only managed 38% from the field which I'm sure was aided by their horrendous 3-20 from three. The aforementioned inability to stop Denver's transition offense or three-point shooting. Paul and Stojakovic shooting the ball poorly yet again. Playing Sean Marks significant minutes. No offense to Sean Marks, but he's Sean Marks. Not finding a way to get Julian Wright in the game because there is no reason why Scott would want an athletic forward who is incredibly hungry and can match Denver's athleticism on the floor.
Looking Ahead
We'll see if Byron Scott is let go after this lackluster performance. We'll see if the Nuggets' 4-0 record and overall two-year dominance of Dallas will continue in round two. Can Chauncey Billups, Carmelo and Nene match Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Kidd? Which high-rated bench will provide the most production, and which sixth man will prove to be the bigger game-changer?
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