Hornets-Nuggets Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD
Posted Jan 31 2013 5:37PM

Playing at an especially high level at home, the Denver Nuggets enjoyed one of the most successful months in franchise history.

The New Orleans Hornets appeared to be having a breakthrough month before struggling the second half of January.

The Nuggets will try to carry their momentum into February and win for the 12th time in 14 games Friday night when they host the Hornets, who have lost four of five.

With a 118-110 victory over Houston on Wednesday, Denver (29-18) won its fifth straight to finish 12-3 in January. That matched the team's 2010 mark for the best January record in franchise history.

After being saddled with the heaviest road schedule in the NBA in 28 years with 22 of their first 32 games away from home, the Nuggets have taken advantage with 15 of 18 at home since the schedule turned in their favor Jan. 1.

The Nuggets have one of the league's best home records at 19-3, and they've won the first three on their six-game homestand.

"We knew from the beginning of the season January was the most important month of the season," said Danilo Gallinari, who had a game-high 27 points against the Rockets. "I thought we responded well."

Gallinari, the team's leading scorer at 17.0 points per game, heads into Friday's contest with a hot hand after totaling 54 points on 19-of-33 shooting - 7 for 15 from 3-point range - in his last two games.

Ty Lawson has totaled 39 points in his last two against the Hornets, scoring 17 on 8-of-10 shooting in a 102-84 home win Nov. 25.

Denver ranks near the top of the league in scoring at home with 108.0 points per game, and has averaged 113.4 during its five-game winning streak.

The Nuggets should be able to keep it going against the Hornets, who have given up 103.6 points per game over their last seven.

New Orleans (15-31) has won seven straight when holding opponents under 100 points, but that won't be easy against a Denver team that has scored 100 in regulation in 10 of its last 13 contests.

After winning six of seven during their best stretch of the season in January, New Orleans has lost five of seven and two in a row.

The Hornets, however, are expected to have Eric Gordon back in the lineup after missing a 104-99 loss at Utah on Wednesday. Gordon has been held out in the second game of back-to-backs while he recovers from a knee injury that caused him to miss the first third of this season.

Gordon has averaged 17.4 points and is coming off a season-best 25-point effort in a 111-106 road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. New Orleans has won eight of the 14 games the guard has played.

Greivis Vasquez is averaging 11.7 assists over his last seven games, but he's shot 18 for 59 (30.5 percent) in his last four for New Orleans.

Without Gordon, the Hornets' starting guards shot 11 of 30 (36.7 percent) from the floor against the Jazz.

"A lot of times you guys look at the numbers and assists and you think they're playing well but they're not," coach Monty Williams said. "We're not managing the game properly."

The Nuggets have won four of six in the series, including two straight at home by an average of 16.5 points.

Lawson leads surging Nuggets past Hornets 113-98

By MIKE KELLY
Posted Feb 02 2013 12:57AM

DENVER (AP) The Denver Nuggets started February the same way they finished January.

Ty Lawson had 21 points and 13 assists, Andre Iguodala scored 24 and the Nuggets beat the New Orleans Hornets 113-98 on Friday night for their sixth straight victory.

The Nuggets continued their fine play in 2013. They won 12 of 15 games in January, including a 10-2 mark at home, and got February started strong.

They grabbed a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and unlike Monday, when they let a 14-point lead against Indiana evaporate, they closed it out.

"In general we've been good getting leads in the fourth quarter, but we've been giving them back," coach George Karl said. "Tonight we didn't do that."

Danilo Gallinari finished with 18 points and Corey Brewer had 17 off the bench for the Nuggets, who scored a season-high 32 points off 22 New Orleans turnovers.

Ryan Anderson had 21 points and rookie Anthony Davis added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who have dropped three straight and five of six.

"Our turnovers cost us the game," point guard Greivis Vasquez said. "It was really hard to take care of the ball."

That was Denver's game plan, and the Nuggets harassed New Orleans' guards. Vasquez, Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers combined for 12 turnovers.

"You want to make the right play but you're just throwing the ball to space instead of throwing it with a purpose," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "It happens to a lot of young guys. Not reading how the defense is playing you. That's what they do, they force turnovers and they're really good at that."

Denver led by three at halftime and increased it to as many as 11 in the third quarter. Iguodala scored 10 points and Lawson had nine, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave the Nuggets an 85-78 edge heading into the fourth.

"I was trying to be aggressive and take what they give me," Lawson said. "If they gave me the shot I took it, if not I went to the basket and find Gallo in the corner."

The lead grew to 16 with 4:08 left after Iguodala's 3-pointer and Gallinari's fast-break layup. Anderson hit two 3-pointers to cut it to eight with 1:28 remaining, but the Hornets never really threatened.

"The story of the night was when we had a 10-point lead with 3 minutes to go, we didn't give it up," Iguodala said.

New Orleans was in control early before Denver clamped down. The Hornets trailed 26-20 late in the first quarter before scoring the next 14 points to go ahead with 9:29 left in the second. Denver turned up its defense after that, forcing eight turnovers and putting together a 16-4 run to go back ahead.

Brewer set the tone with 11 points in the quarter and scored on two fast-break dunks that gave Denver a 42-38 lead. The Nuggets were up 51-48 at halftime.

"We were planning on that run. They were driving it in transition and we were committing three or four guys to one and they were finding," Williams said. "A couple of times we threw it away and Brewer got away for an easy layup."

Gordon, the Hornets' leading scorer, was held to three points on 0-for-2 shooting in the first half. He finished with nine points.

NOTES: Denver had a season-high 14 steals. ... Nuggets C JaVale McGee missed his third straight game with a sore left shin. ... Karl was named the Western Conference coach of the month for January. His team went 12-3. It was the seventh time in his career one of his teams has won at least 12 games in a month. ... The Hornets are 8-7 with Gordon in the lineup and 7-25 without him.

Notebook: Nuggets 113, Hornets 98

Michael Kelly, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:04 AM - Updated Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:04 AM

THE FACTS: Andre Iguodala scored 24 points, Ty Lawson had 21 and 13 assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Hornets 113-98 on Friday for their sixth straight win.

Danilo Gallinari had 18 points and Corey Brewer scored 17 off the bench for Denver, which has won 13 of 16 and improved to 11-2 at home in 2013.

Ryan Anderson scored 21 points and Anthony Davis had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who have lost three straight and five of their last six.

The Nuggets led by seven after three quarters before quickly building an 11-point lead. New Orleans got it down to eight but a 3-pointer by Iguodala, a fast-break layup by Gallinari and a dunk by Kenneth Faried made it a 16-point lead.

QUOTABLE: "I was trying to be aggressive and take what they give me. If they gave me the shot I took it, if not I went to the basket and find Gallo in the corner or a big. When I did that my teammates were knocking down shots."
-- Ty Lawson

THE STAT: The Nuggets set a season high with 32 points off turnovers. Their previous high was 26, a mark they surpassed with 8:43 left in the third quarter.

TURNING POINT: Denver's defense turned around the game in the second quarter. New Orleans reeled off 14 straight points to go up by eight but the Nuggets responded with defense. They turned over the Hornets eight times in the quarter, including two straight steals that led to fast-break dunks by Brewer. It was part of a 15-point turnaround in less than seven minutes.

QUOTABLE II: "We were planning on that run. They were driving it in transition and we were committing three or four guys to one and they were finding [the open man]. A couple of times we threw it away and Brewer got away for an easy layup."
-- Hornets coach Monty Williams

HOT: Lawson had a strong third quarter. He scored nine points, had five assists and two steals. He played solid defense and his 34-foot shot as the horn sounded gave the Nuggets an 85-78 lead heading into the fourth.

NOT: The Hornets couldn't take care of the ball. They had 19 turnovers through the first three quarters before settling down in the fourth. They only had three in the last 12 minutes and finished two turnovers shy of their season high.

QUOTABLE III: "The turnovers got us playing up and down the court. The points off of turnovers gave us confidence to win the game."
-- Nuggets coach George Karl

GOOD MOVE: The Nuggets game plan was to put pressure on New Orleans' guards -- Greivis Vasquez, Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers. The plan was executed well. The three combined for 12 turnovers.

QUOTABLE IV: "They're a really good flow team and if you try to disrupt the flow it'll work to your advantage."
-- Andre Igoudala

ROOKIE WATCH: Davis got most of his points late, when the game was decided. Rivers struggled against Denver's pressure but managed to score eight points. Darius Miller was held in check with just three points.

NOTABLE: Denver had a season-high 14 steals. ... Davis had three blocked shots for the 10th time this season. ... Karl was named the Western Conference coach of the month for January. It is the 11th time in his career he has won the award and the fourth time he has done it with the Nuggets. ... Nuggets center JaVale McGee missed his third straight game with a sore left shin.

UP NEXT: For the Hornets, Saturday @ Minnesota, Wednesday vs. Phoenix, Friday @ Atlanta. For the Nuggets, Tuesday vs. Milwaukee, Thursday vs. Chicago, Sat., Feb. 9, @ Cleveland.

• Hornets: --
• Nuggets: Miller, Stone

• Hornets: --
• Nuggets: Koufos

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #7 Kevin Fehr, #56 Mark Ayotte
• Attendance: 17221
• Duration: 2:03