The Nuggets’ first home loss of the season could have come wrapped with significant amounts of disappointment, only coach George Karl gave his team a quick out after it was thrashed 94-81 by New Orleans at the Pepsi Center on Monday night.
“Coach said there’s going to be three to five games a year that you’re not going to be clicking,” said Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, an ice bag around a strained right foot. “This is one of the games.”
Was it ever.
The Hornets (3-6), who had been beaten by the Nuggets (6-4) three days earlier in New Orleans, held them 23 points below their season average in a payback victory.
“I just don’t think we played with the attitude and aggressiveness that we need to play with to be successful,” Karl said. “I think New Orleans did a great job. I thought they were the first team that really slowed us down and took us away from the paint. We never could find the 3-ball or the penetration that we normally get in the game.”
Said New Orleans coach Monty Williams, “We held them to 81 points and that’s the way we want to play.”
New Orleans thrived on packing the paint and contesting jump shots on the defensive end. Offensively, the Hornets were methodical and never let the Nuggets’ turnover-and-sprint game get into full effect.
“It just seemed like we had dead legs,” said Denver forward Al Harrington. “We just weren’t ourselves, and as a result we weren’t getting up the court like we usually do. On defense we were getting any stops.”
Chris Kaman, Marco Belinelli and Carl Landry were all the Hornets needed to stay on schedule offensively. Collectively, that trio scored 60 points and hit 26-of-44 shots from the field.
The Nuggets didn’t have it so easy. They put four players in double figures, led by 15 points from Danilo Gallinari and 15 from Lawson, but no one could find a consistent rhythm. Gallinari scored just three points after halftime and Lawson had just five after the break. The Nuggets shot just 40.8 percent as a team.
None of their offensive struggles could have been easily identified when the Nuggets rolled to an 8-2 lead on 3-for-3 shooting from the field.
“We never got a high-level game,” Karl said. “Some of the guys that had been playing great for us didn’t play great tonight. We didn’t get any juice in the building; seems like everyone was watching the (BCS national title) game or something like that.
“It’s a tough home loss. You don’t like losing them. I think you’re seeing a lot of these games in a lockout type of year that one team kind of comes in and does all the right things and the other team is searching. We didn’t find many answers tonight.”
Lawson limped out of the arena late in the first half with the injured foot. He returned after the second half started, was immediately inserted into the game and played the rest of the way.
Lawson said he expects to play Wednesday night when the Nuggets face New Jersey at the Pepsi Center.
“It’s all right,” he said. “It’s a little sore, but it should be better in a couple of days. I plan on playing on Wednesday.”
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
Nuggets Recap
What you might have missed
Nene had a season-high 11 rebounds. … Lawson’s 15 points marked his seventh game of 15 or more points this season. … The Nuggets’ 81 points are their fewest in a home loss since Dec. 20, 2004 (92-73 loss to Cleveland).
Final thought
A throwaway performance by a tired-looking Nuggets team.
Up next
Vs. New Jersey, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
