Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets looked like the only ones having fun in the party town of New Orleans.
Anthony (Towson Catholic) scored all of his 26 points in the first three quarters, and Denver dismantled the New Orleans Hornets, 121-63, on Monday night to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
The New Orleans Arena was mostly empty by the end of the third quarter, when Denver led by 89-50 on its way to matching the most lopsided victory in NBA playoff history. The Minneapolis Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks, 133-75, in 1956.
"I wouldn't have thought that we would win by 58 points," Anthony said. "I never thought anyone could win by 58 points in the playoffs."
The Nuggets held Hornets All-Star Chris Paul to four points and six assists; it was the first time he had ever scored fewer than 14 points in a playoff game.
"Their defense was fantastic tonight," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "It's the worst we've played since I've been here. That's the worst basketball game I've ever seen us play and it just came at the wrong time."
Said Paul: "Every time we tried something, they countered. We didn't play well, and they executed their game plan to perfection."
Hawks 81, Heat 71: Zaza Pachulia - with a black right eye for his trouble - finished with 12 points and 18 rebounds, and visiting Atlanta raced out to a huge first-half lead and frustrated Dwyane Wade endlessly, tying the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at two games apiece. It was Atlanta's first road postseason win in nearly 12 years.
Lakers: Luke Walton, averaging 4.8 points, will miss at least one week with a partial ligament tear in his left ankle.
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Anthony (Towson Catholic) scored all of his 26 points in the first three quarters, and Denver dismantled the New Orleans Hornets, 121-63, on Monday night to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
The New Orleans Arena was mostly empty by the end of the third quarter, when Denver led by 89-50 on its way to matching the most lopsided victory in NBA playoff history. The Minneapolis Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks, 133-75, in 1956.
"I wouldn't have thought that we would win by 58 points," Anthony said. "I never thought anyone could win by 58 points in the playoffs."
The Nuggets held Hornets All-Star Chris Paul to four points and six assists; it was the first time he had ever scored fewer than 14 points in a playoff game.
"Their defense was fantastic tonight," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "It's the worst we've played since I've been here. That's the worst basketball game I've ever seen us play and it just came at the wrong time."
Said Paul: "Every time we tried something, they countered. We didn't play well, and they executed their game plan to perfection."
Hawks 81, Heat 71: Zaza Pachulia - with a black right eye for his trouble - finished with 12 points and 18 rebounds, and visiting Atlanta raced out to a huge first-half lead and frustrated Dwyane Wade endlessly, tying the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at two games apiece. It was Atlanta's first road postseason win in nearly 12 years.
Off the court
Bulls: Guard Ben Gordon, Chicago's leading playoff scorer, is listed as day-to-day after a magnetic resonance imaging confirmed that he has a strained left hamstring that he suffered during Sunday's double-overtime victory over the Celtics. The series is tied at 2 with Game 5 in Boston on Tuesday night. Gordon is averaging 24.8 points in four playoff games.Lakers: Luke Walton, averaging 4.8 points, will miss at least one week with a partial ligament tear in his left ankle.
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