Game Four
The Nuggets will look to take control of the series tonight, and they’re a good bet to do so.
I watched the Hawks-Heat game instead, so this will just be a box score report … and it’ll be even shorter than that, because of how this game turned out.
Thoughts On Game
The Nuggets repeated (Game Three) their superb opening performance to the game by opening up a 36-15 lead after the first quarter. Their lead was never threatened, and the game was effectively over at this point.
The Nuggets and Hornets played each other even in the second quarter, but the Nuggets destroyed the Hornets once again in the third quarter. They won that quarter 27-11 and built their lead to 38 points entering the final quarter.
From there, the Hornets completely folded. The Nuggets were ahead 97-53 shortly after the nine minute mark, ahead 103-53 at the seven minute mark, ahead 115-56 at the five minute mark, and finished the game with a 58 point lead — 121-63.
A 58 point loss ties a record for the worst playoffs loss in NBA History.
Box Score Thoughts
The Hornets mustered up a mere 63 points. Why? Let’s look at some individuals
- Chris Paul had only 4 points in 36 minutes.
- David West was the team’s leading scorer with an inefficient 14 points, and a pathetic 3 rebounds in 30 minutes.
- Tyson Chandler was scoreless and only played 13 minutes. He did however pick up four fouls.
- Peja had 10 points but was 2-9 from the field.
How about the team in general?
- The Hornets had only 17 field goals and shot an awful 31.5% from the field. That rises to 33.3% eFG% when we account for their three point shooting.
- The Hornets were spared a more embarrassing loss due to their 27-32 FT shooting.
- The Hornets had 27 turnovers
- Their offensive efficiency was 72.4
The Nuggets beat up the Hornets 41-32 on the backboards.
By looking at the box score, it appears only one Hornets players — James Posey — played well. He had 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals in 23 minutes. His four turnovers were a major negative though.
The plus/minus scores for the Hornets players are quite funny:
- All twelve players played
- Peja Stojakovic — -39
- Chris Paul — -38
- David West — -38
- James Posey — -21
- Sean Marks — -20
- Antonio Daniels — -20
- Hilton Armstrong — -20
- Devin Brown — -20
- Mo Peterson — -20
- Julian Wright — -20
- Sean Marks — -20
- Rasual Butler — -18
- Tyson Chandler — -16
Meanwhile, the Nuggets
The Nuggets had an offensive efficiency mark of 139.1 with an eFG% of 63.2%.
Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 26 points, 7 dimes, 6 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Billups added 17 and 8. Beyond that, it was a fairly balanced effort with five other players scored between 11-14 points.
Final Thoughts
Terrible offense or excellent defense? In a game like this it has to be a combination of both.
The Nuggets could, and should, close out this series at home in Game Five.
