Hornets-Nuggets Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Mar 08 2012 1:40PM

The New Orleans Hornets have only one road victory over a team with a winning record.

They can double that total with another win in Denver.

In a matchup of teams coming off painful defeats, the Nuggets hope to avenge their earlier home loss to the Hornets in Friday night's rematch at the Pepsi Center.

New Orleans' lone victory in its 10 road games against teams currently over .500 was a 94-81 win over the Nuggets (22-18) on Jan. 9. That was Denver's lone loss in its first seven games at the Pepsi Center and came three days after the Nuggets won 96-88 in New Orleans.

The Hornets (9-30) arrive in Denver this time on the heels of Wednesday's 99-98 loss in Sacramento.

New Orleans led by one and inbounded with 8.9 seconds left, but Isaiah Thomas stole Trevor Ariza's pass and found John Salmons cutting to the basket for the go-ahead layup with 6.8 seconds remaining. Ariza, who had three of the team's season-worst 23 turnovers, missed a 16-footer as time expired to saddle the Hornets with a third straight loss.

"You have to take care of the ball," coach Monty Williams said. "I didn't like the fact that we turned the ball over at the end of the game, but we also turned it over 20 times. It's always easy to point to that last play because we had the lead and the game in control."

Jarrett Jack had 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting but turned the ball over five times, while Chris Kaman had 18 points, 11 rebounds and a career-best eight assists.

The Hornets lost for the first time in six games in which Kaman scored at least 18. They're 3-22 when he plays and scores 17 or fewer.

Kaman had 20 points in the win over the Nuggets, while scoring six in the loss.

Denver is also coming off a disheartening defeat Wednesday, falling 100-99 to Cleveland and having a four-game winning streak snapped.

Kyrie Irving put the Cavaliers ahead with a driving layup with four seconds left for the ninth lead change in the final 2:36. Ty Lawson, who made the decisive baskets in wins over San Antonio and Sacramento in Denver's previous two games, missed a layup at the buzzer.

"Just keep moving forward," said Lawson, who had 18 points and six assists. "There's too many games to worry about one."

Similar to New Orleans, Denver's sloppiness with the basketball led to its demise. The Nuggets committed 18 turnovers, leading to 24 Cleveland points, after averaging 10.5 during their winning streak. Lawson was the biggest offender, turning the ball over a career-worst seven times.

Denver also didn't get much help from Danilo Gallinari in his second game back after missing 13 with a chip fracture in his left foot.

After having four points Monday against Sacramento, Gallinari, who averages a team-best 16.1 points, scored five on 1-of-7 shooting in 22 minutes off the bench versus Cleveland. He had 23 points in the win over the Hornets and 15 in the loss.

Afflalo scores 28 in Nuggets' win over New Orleans

Posted Mar 10 2012 1:39AM

DENVER (AP) Arron Afflalo is giving the Denver Nuggets' offense a boost as the team's leading scorer, Danilo Gallinari, tries to regain his shooting touch after returning from an ankle injury.

Afflalo scored 28 points, Al Harrington had 20 and the Nuggets pulled away for a 110-97 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.

Nene added 12 points and Ty Lawson had 11 points to go with 10 assists for the Nuggets, who have won five of six since the All-Star break.

"I thought the effort was great and the defense was better," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "Arron offensively was really into the game and gave us a horse to ride a little bit."

Gallinari, who remains the team's leading scorer, was playing for just the third time since missing a month with a severely sprained left ankle. He missed his first six shots against the Hornets and finished with nine points on 3 of 10 shooting.

While Gallinari has been working his way back to his pre-injury form, Afflalo, who got off to a slow start offensively this season, has gone on a tear. He scored a career-high 32 points in last week's overtime win against Sacramento.

"I'm just starting to get locked in," Afflalo said. "I'm looking to play well for sure. When I play well, when anybody plays well, it's good for your mind. It's good for your team. It's good for the game and I want to allow it to help us win games."

Harrington said Afflalo's scoring surge was no surprise to his teammates.

"He had games like this last year so we knew he had it in him," Harrington said. "It's just him staying confident and when he gets his opportunities to capitalize on them."

Lance Thomas scored 18 points to lead the Hornets, who lost their fourth in a row.

Jarret Jack added 17 points and Xavier Henry and Marco Belinelli had 12 points apiece for New Orleans.

"I didn't think as a whole we brought the energy that was necessary to get through those runs they made," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. "They were playing in our paint. Obviously we have guys out there that don't know what we do, but some of the stuff that was happening it was just simple basketball plays and we weren't making them.

Locked in a tight game most of the way, the Nuggets used a 10-2 run to pull out to their biggest lead to that point, 74-63 with 2:58 left in the third period.

Harrington scored five points in the run, including driving the lane for a dunk and Afflalo finished it off with a 3-pointer.

Chris Kaman responded with successive baskets and the Hornets fought back to within 79-71 going into the fourth quarter.

But the Nuggets again asserted themselves, outscoring the Hornets 16-6 over the first 4 1/2 minutes of the final period.

After a pair of free throws by Thomas pulled New Orleans within six points, Harrington hit a 3-pointer and Andre Miller soon followed with a driving layup as part of the run putting Denver in command 95-78 with 7:25 left to play.

"They did what they pretty much always do in this building," Jack said. "They will manufacture runs at some point throughout the ballgame, for us it happened late in the third. It was kind of difficult for us to catch up from then on."

New Orleans got back within 97-85 after Jack made a 3-pointer and Henry had a layup but the Nuggets put the game away by scoring seven points, with Chris Andersen and Gallinari each muscling in dunks to help push Denver's lead back to 17 points.

Afflalo scored 13 of his points in the first half when Denver took a 50-46 lead over the Hornets.

The Nuggets shot 72.3 percent from the floor en route to a 32-26 first-period lead with Afflalo hitting all four shots he took from the field.

NOTES: Forward Jeff Foote was signed to a 10-day contract by New Orleans prior to the game. A 7-footer who can also play center, Foote bolsters the Hornets' front-court depth. ... The Nuggets were without center Timofey Mozgov for a second consecutive game because of a left ankle injury.

Notebook: Nuggets 110, Hornets 97

Posted Saturday March 10, 2012 12:46AM

By Michael Kelly, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Arron Afflalo scored 28 points, Al Harrington had 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and the Denver Nuggets avenged an earlier home loss to New Orleans with a 110-97 win over the Hornets on Friday.

Ty Lawson had 11 points and 10 assists for Denver, which has won five of six since the All-Star break.

Rookie Lance Thomas led New Orleans with 18 points -- 12 from the foul line -- and Jarrett Jack had 17 points. The Hornets have dropped four straight and six of their last seven.

QUOTABLE: "I'm just starting to get locked in. We're trying to move up the standings a little bit and I'm trying to get my personal game where I would like it to be within the flow of our team concept."
-- Arron Afflalo.

THE STAT: The Nuggets had 33 assists on 41 made baskets. At one point in the game they had 22 on 24 made baskets.

TURNING POINT: The Nuggets led the entire second half but New Orleans was hanging around early in the fourth quarter. With the score 81-74, Harrington hit a long 3-pointer, Corey Brewer sank two free throws and Andre Miller had a layup and a tip-in to help Denver extend the lead to 95-78 midway through the fourth.

QUOTABLE II: "It's been a long season for some of our guys, but for the first time I saw that look on a few guys faces where they were just like, 'Not again.' You can't give into that. You've got to be able to withstand that and play this game we're blessed to play."
-- Hornets coach Monty Williams.

HOT: Thomas was playing on a pair of 10-day contracts until the team signed him for the remainder of the season 12 days ago. Pressed into action due to injuries, he responded with a career-high in points and minutes played.

NOT: Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari is still finding his way back from injury. He missed his first six shots before finished 3-for-10 for nine points.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Former Nuggets great David Thompson presented the game ball before tipoff.

GOOD MOVE: The Nuggets attacked the paint with drives and on the glass. They had 21 second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds and outscored the Hornets 62-32 in the paint.

QUOTABLE III: "That's what we've been doing, especially with [Kosta] Koufas and [Timofey] Mozgov, we were outrebounding everybody. That's what we're going to keep doing."
-- Al Harrington, on Denver's inside game.

BAD MOVE: New Orleans has been forced to use unproven guys with the injuries mounting. They couldn't find the right combination on the front line to stop Denver's penetration.

ROOKIE WATCH: The Hornets signed Jeff Foote to a 10-day contract Friday morning and wasted no time in getting him some court time. The Cornell alum played 23 minutes and scored four points and had four rebounds in his the first NBA action of his career.

NOTABLE: New Orleans rookie Gustavo Ayon returned to the lineup after missing one game with a sore left foot. ... Chris Andersen had three blocked shots. ... The Nuggets wore throwback uniforms to celebrate their membership in the ABA and early days in the NBA.

UP NEXT: For the Hornets, Saturday @ Minnesota, Monday vs. Charlotte, Wednesday vs. L.A. Lakers. For the Nuggets, Sunday vs. Memphis, Tuesday vs. Atlanta, Thursday vs. Oklahoma City.

• Hornets: Gordon
• Nuggets: Koufos

• Hornets: Belinelli
• Nuggets: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #56 Mark Ayotte, #74 Curtis Blair
• Attendance: 19155
• Duration: 2:14