Denver Nuggets New Orleans Hornets Game 4 Predictions
Written April 27, 2009 by Jason Lowry
What a difference playing at home can make, at least for the New Orleans Hornets, who came back with a huge 95-93 win in game 3 to cut their opening round series with the Denver Nuggets to 2-1. The thing that makes this win so impressive, is the Hornets looked dead in the first two games of this series in Denver, as they lost game 1 by 29 points and game 2 by 15. Just like I predicted Chris Paul took over the scoring for the Hornets, dropping 32 points to go along with his 5 rebounds and 12 assists. The Hornets also got solid games out of starters Rasual Butler and David West, as Butler had 17 points and West added 19 points and 9 rebounds. James Posey came off the bench to give this team 13 points, and his play is crucial for this team to have any chance at evening this series. For the Nuggets Chauncey Billups finally had an off night shooting the basketball, as he scored just 16 points on 3-10 shooting from the field. Carmelo Anthony was the leading scorer for the Nuggets with 25 points, who also got double digit scoring from Kenyon Martin (13), Josh Smith (14), and Linas Kleiza (13). Game 4 is scheduled for Monday night, as the Hornets try to hold off the Nuggets on their home court and even this series back at 2 games a piece. Here is a look at what I think both teams need to do to win the game, plus my prediction on who comes out on top against the spread.
What the Nuggets have to do to win: It seems pretty simple to say that Billups is the key to the Nuggets if they want to win game 4, as they really struggled on offense at times with Billups not shooting well. I have a pretty good feeling that Billups will come back strong in game 4, as he knows how important this game is from his countless playoff runs with the Pistons. The Nuggets will also need Anthony to keep playing well, and if the Hornets choose to double Melo in game 4 like they have in this series, the Nuggets have to do a better job of scoring off those double teams. The Bench play was solid once again for the Nuggets, as they outscored the Hornets bench by 10 points. Besides that the Nuggets will need to shoot better from the free throw line and try and keep some of their key players out of foul trouble. The Nuggets were just 68% from the line, and both Nene and Martin fouled out in game 3. Bet the Nuggets +2.5 at Sportsbook.com.
What the Hornets have to do to win: It’s not going to be easy for the Hornets in game 4, as they barely won game 3 with an outstanding performance from their point guard Paul. In my opinion the Hornets will not only need another big time outing from Paul, but they need West to shoot the ball better than he has in this series. West is averaging a little over 17 points a game, but is shotting just 37% from the field, well under his season average of 47%. The Hornets will likely need a much better showing from Peja Stojakovic in game 4, as the dead on shooter was just 1-9 from the field for a mere 2 points. Just as it is the key for the Nuggets to get Billups going, I think its just as important for the Hornets to keep him from getting open shots and making him really work to score the basketball. It was a very physical battle in game 3, as a number of hard fouls were committed by both teams. The Hornets also had some foul trouble, as West and their big man Tyson Chandler fouled out, and I think its even more important for the Hornets to stay out of foul trouble, because they really don’t have a deep bench to go to. Bet the Hornets -2.5 at Sportsbook.com.
My Prediction: Nuggets +2.5. The Hornets barely held on to their lead in game 3, and I don’t think they are going to be able to keep Billups from playing much better in game 4. I love the hear the Hornets are showing, as they could of easily given up after the two beatings they got in the first two games, but they simply don’t have the talent and are not healthy enough to keep up with the Nuggets. I look for the Nuggets to actually win this game pretty easily, somewhere around 10 points.
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