Nuggets too much for Paul's one-man show
Hornets guard Chris Paul tries to elude a leaping Chris Andersen of the Nuggets in Sunday night's game. Paul finished with 21 points for New Orleans. (Photo by Joe Mahoney/INDenverTimes)
See Chris Paul dribble. See Chris Paul pass. See Chris Paul draw fouls, steal passes and crash to the floor.
See the crowd – and the rest of the New Orleans Hornets – watch Chris Paul.
That’s sort of how the night went for the Hornets at Pepsi Center on Sunday night.
Paul did a little bit of everything, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Nuggets from scoring a 113-84 victory over New Orleans in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series.
The Hornets’ All-Star guard – and 2008 U.S. Olympian – finished with 21 points and 11 assists. But they were harmless numbers on the stat sheet.
The Nuggets planned to give Paul a series of different looks throughout the game, with guard Dahntay Jones drawing the initial defensive assignment. It didn’t matter. Paul was intent on dribbling through the Nuggets – and content on taking a shot if he couldn’t find an open teammate.
On a night when Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups rocked the home crowd by scoring all of his game-high 36 points before the start of the fourth quarter, Paul couldn’t find the right key to put the Hornets offense in rhythm.
Billups stripped Paul, stepped to the three-point arc and stroked a jumper – a Nuggets single-game playoff record eighth three-pointer – that gave Denver a 86-69 lead.
With New Orleans trailing by 18 points, Paul engaged in a lengthy conversation with Hornets coach Byron Scott on the sideline before the start of the fourth quarter. While New Orleans was in conference mode, the Nuggets were all about hammering the nail – stretching their lead to 26 points before a timeout was called with 8:43 left in the period.
When play resumed, Paul was on the bench. So were four other Hornets starters – David West, Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler and Rasual Butler. West and Stojakovic combined to shoot nine of 26 from the floor – with West missing 12 of his 16 shot attempts.
Chandler did more fouling than scoring and rebounding, and Butler’s eyes were stuffed with three-pointers off Billups’ fingertips.
And the Hornets bench really didn’t have much to offer in the way of resistance. In the game’s final six minutes the Nuggets reserves displayed a decisively superior advantage – something Scott expressed his concern over in a pregame meeting with the media.
New Orleans had a regular-season record of 7-18 when its opponents scored 100 or more points. Denver had gone 44-8 during the regular season when it scored 100 or more points. Those two stats met head-to-head Sunday night and resulted in a Nuggets blowout.
The Hornets should have learned at least one lesson. That is, Paul won’t win games – let alone a series against Denver – all by himself.
