April 23rd, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Truth be told, I truly thought that the New Orleans Hornets – with their lethal combo of Chris Paul and David West – would have made a better accounting of themselves in their game on Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets. Which explains why I write for Slam Dunk Central and not coach the Hornets, but I digress.
In any case, West did fine and Paul was sub-standard (although I bet a lot of NBA point guards would love to score 14 points and dish out 13 assists every game). Even with that, the Nuggets shot 50% from the floor while Chauncey Billups poured in 31 points, leading Denver to the relatively easy 108-93 win over New Orleans at Pepsi Center.
Thanks to an 18-point first half by Billups, Denver built a 52-44 lead going into the third quarter; the Nuggets made things academic when they put together a 16-4 run which basically iced the game. With the victory, Denver takes a commanding 2-0 lead.
Denver’s high scorer was Billups with 31 points (including four 3-pointers), 4 rebounds and 4 assists while Carmelo Anthony added 22 with 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals and a block; J.R. Smith came off the bench to chip in 15 (including three treys) with 4 rebounds and a steal.
New Orleans was led by West with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks while Peja Stojakovic added 17 (including four 3-pointers); Paul poured in 14 with 13 rebounds and 5 assists. Denver takes their 2-0 lead to the Big Easy as they once again take on New Orleans Saturday.
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