The Denver Nuggets entered their Monday night contest against the New Orleans Hornets undefeated at the Pepsi Center, but like all good things, the Nuggets saw their home winning streak come to an end. The Hornets earned a 94-81 win by riding hot shooting the entire night, and also finished with decided advantages with rebounds and assists. The loss drops the Nuggets to 6-4, while New Orleans improves to 3-6.
Power forward Carl Landry scored 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting to lead all Hornets scorers. Center Chris Kaman added 20 points and seven rebounds on 10-of-16 shooting. Guard Marco Belinelli finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
The Nuggets struggled from the field the entire night, shooting just a shade over 40 percent (29-for-71). Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson each scored 15 points. Shooting guard Arron Afflalo added 13 points in the loss.
The Denver Nuggets are hardly accustomed to losing at the Pepsi Center, but if Denver doesn't find a way to get back on track soon, they'll lose a home game to the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets lead 78-64 after three quarters on Monday thanks to some hot shooting. New Orleans is 33-for-62 from the field (53.2 percent) and have connected on five of their nine three-pointers.
Shooting guard Marco Belinelli leads the way for New Orleans with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting that includes three makes from three-point range. Chris Kaman has 16 points and five rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting. Carl Landy has come off the bench for New Orleans on 6-of-12 shooting.
Ty Lawson leads Denver with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Danilo Gallinari (14 points) and Arron Afflalo (11 points) have helped pace the offense for the Nuggets.
The New Orleans Hornets are without their best player Eric Gordon tonight against the Denver Nuggets, but thus far the Hornets' offense hasn't seemed to suffer as they've gotten out to a 54-46 lead at halftime at the Pepsi Center. New Orleans outscored the Nuggets 28-19 in the second quarter to secure the lead at halftime.
Marco Belinelli, taking Gordon's place in the starting lineup, leads New Orleans with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Power forward Carl Landy came off the bench to 13 points on grab four rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting. After a half, New Orleans is 23-for-46 (50 percent) from the field.
Denver has turned the ball over nine times, and looked overmatch defensively in the second quarter. Danilo Gallinari has a team-high 23 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Ty Lawson has 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Nene has seven points and eight rebounds.
The Denver Nuggets are looking to get back on track after a loss on Saturday to the San Antonio Spurs, and after a quarter against the New Orleans Hornets on Monday, George Karl's has a one point lead. The Nuggets lead the Hornets 27-26 at the Pepsi Center behind seven first quarter points from leading scorer Danilo Gallinari.
Gallinari went 3-for-4 from the floor and also added two assists. Nene is back in the Denver lineup, and has six rebounds and three points after one quarter. Rudy Fernandez and Ty Lawson each have five points.
New Orleans is playing short-handed without its best place Eric Gordon, but the Hornets' offense still looked good. Marco Belinelli scored nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. Chris Kaman added eight points and two rebounds.
That's a lot of missing offensive production, especially in Gordon's case: the point guard averaged 22.3 points and 4.4 assists per game last season. Ariza averaged 11 points and 5.4 rebounds for New Orleans last year. The Hornets have lost six games in a row heading into their game against the Nuggets.
