Nuggets sixth-man JR Smith
The Denver Nuggets may have won by 21 points on Wednesday night, but this game was not as lopsided as the Nuggets’ three other victories in this series. Denver trailed the New Orleans Hornets by 9 in the first quarter, were tied at the half, and withstood a barrage of inspired play from Chris Paul and the New Orleans bench.
Even a solid effort from the Hornets was not enough to derail the Nuggets on this night; their first chance to win a playoff series since 1994’s upset victory at Seattle. In fact, this was the Nuggets’ first winner in a best-of-seven series since a four games to one triumph over Utah in 1985. And this dangerous Denver squad played like a team that could afford the luxury of enjoying this win.
Despite their early struggles, the Nuggets stood tall and delivered late in the third quarter when they turned a tie game into an 86-66 lead on the wings of a 24-4 run. By the fourth quarter, J.R. Smith was calmly burying deep threes, and Carmelo Anthony was brutalizing a tired and resigned Hornets team with powerful drives through the lane. The Nuggets knew that New Orleans would come to play in an elimination game, and they patiently produced a resounding victory.
Chauncey Billups brought more than just playoff swagger and consistent play to this undisciplined Denver team. He also sparked the Nuggets to victory with his 36-point performance in Game 1 of the series. In the Game 5 finale, Chauncey took a back seat to the Nuggets’ talented offensive core, instead dishing out 11 assists. Carmelo rang up 34 points as the top scorer for the Nuggets, but was paced by an impressive performance off the bench as J.R. Smith scored 20 in limited play.
By beating the Hornets in five games, the Nuggets stayed on-par with the Dallas Mavericks, who finished off the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of their first round series on Tuesday night. Denver will tee off in the Western Conference Semifinals series at home versus Dallas Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm MST on ABC.
