There’s not much Hornets guard Chris Paul would change about his Game 1 performance — except for one crucial thing.
“I would make a lot more shots,” he said Tuesday after practice.
Then he chuckled.
Paul was good, not great, in the opener with 21 points and 11 assists. But Paul is not the point of emphasis for New Orleans in its Game 2 adjustments. Coach Byron Scott has a checklist.
“We saw a lot of things on the tape we feel we can take advantage of, and a lot of things that we did on both ends of the floor that we can do a lot better,” Scott said.
It starts with the pace.
“We do have to up the tempo a little bit more,” Scott said. “We kind of walked in to everything, and when you do that against a set defense, it’s going to be tough.”
The Hornets also want to improve their shooting (37.2 percent in Game 1) and rebounding (Nuggets held a 49-35 advantage, including 12 offensive boards).
“Got to go get it,” Scott said. “You shoot the ball, and guys are watching the birds instead of looking at guys to box out. If you do that against this team, they are going to offensive rebound you to death.”
Looking for split.
Despite a 29-point loss in Game 1, the Hornets remain confident that earning a split in Denver is attainable.
“We still have the opportunity to do what we talked about doing, and that’s coming here and just trying to get one game,” forward David West said.
Said Scott, “It’s always the most important game of the series, especially when the home team wins the first game.”
Mr. Big Shot-Block.
The Nuggets’ Chris “Birdman” Andersen finished ninth in voting for the NBA’s defensive player of the year Tuesday, not bad considering he was the highest-ranking reserve and second-highest center (behind the award winner, Dwight Howard of Orlando). Andersen finished second in the NBA with 2.5 blocks per game, trailing only Howard (2.9).
Denver’s D.
Nuggets coach George Karl emphasized that, for all of Chauncey Billups’ big shots, the Nuggets’ defense preserved the Game 1 win.
“We didn’t have many defensive mistakes,” Karl said. “I thought we had a stretch of five to six minutes where we didn’t defend the 3 very well, and a couple times Chris Paul got into the open court when we should have been more alert. Paul’s going to get 15 points and 10 assists — we just can’t let him get 35 and 15.”
Footnotes.
As of Tuesday, about 1,000 tickets remained for tonight’s Game 2. . . . If Game 5 is necessary in the Lakers-Jazz series, Denver’s Game 4 on Monday in New Orleans will be at 6:30 p.m. If the Lakers sweep, then the Denver game will be at 7:30 p.m. If the Nuggets don’t sweep, then next Wednesday’s Game 5 at the Pepsi Center will be at 8:30 p.m. That would change to 7 p.m. if the Atlanta-Miami series and the Cleveland-Detroit series are over.
