NBA playoffs: Hornets at Nuggets, Game 5 (Denver leads 3-1)

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Just think, if you had the New Orleans Hornets and +57 on WagerWeb.com (not that it was an alternate line option) for Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets, you still lost money!

Yes, the Hornets played one of the worst playoff games in history. Not Hornets history, but NBA history in losing by 58 points at home in Game 4, which means Denver can wrap it up at home tonight.

And the Nuggets are 10.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com, with an over/under of 198.

Really, is there any chance the Hornets can win tonight? Tyson Chandler has been invisible this series, with the Hornets center averaging only 3.8 points and 5.3 rebounds after going scoreless in that Game 4 blowout.

“I can’t cut the way I want to.” Chandler said of his ailing ankle. “I can’t sprint or even jump the way I want to. My timing is off. The thing I can do is just make my presence felt out there.”

And what’s with Chris Paul? The All-Star had four points and six assists in Game 4, also turning the ball over six times. The Nuggets keep running multiple players at Paul, and it’s working as he has been outplayed by Chauncey Billups in this series.

“We compared it to like a football (strategy),” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “We want Chris Paul to feel like he’s being blitzed.”

For all the success Paul had during the regular season — averaging 22.8 points and 11 assists — he’s been limited to 17.8 points and 10.5 assists in the series. He also has averaged 5.3 turnovers against the Nuggets. Karl added that he didn’t think Paul was 100 percent healthy after Paul took a couple of hard falls during Game 3. The Hornets are averaging 83.7 points, 15th among the 16 playoff teams.

The Nuggets won the first two games in Denver by a combined 54 points, so it’s hard to imagine the Hornets putting up much of a fight tonight. If the Nuggets win, it will be the first time since 1994 the team advanced past the first round. They would face Dallas in the conference semifinals.


* Over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Denver.

* Hornets are 0-5 ATS in the last 5 meetings.