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Brown, Hornets hold down Iverson to top Nuggets

Dec 30, 2006 - 8:32 AM OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- Devin Brown and the New Orleans Hornets took advantage of an off-night by Allen Iverson.

Brown scored a season-high 19 points and added career bests of 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Hornets contained Iverson to post just their second win in nine games, a 99-89 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Desmond Mason scored 17 points for the Hornets, who played without guard Chris Paul (ankle) and forwards Peja Stojakovic (back) and David West (elbow) but had one of their most complete games of the season. The Hornets dished out 25 assists and had six players in double-figures.

"We did a much better job in the second half of getting the ball into the post," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "We are still learning to play without some of our best players. But this was the type of play we expect from our team every night."

One night after Iverson dazzled a home crowd with 44 points and 10 assists in a win over Seattle, the four-time scoring champion could not find the range here. Iverson scored 21 points on just 6-of-22 shooting and handed out three assists while committing five turnovers.

"It was a team effort (defensively). No one guy can stop Iverson, so we threw a lot of things at them and tried to force them into bad shots," Hornets guard Rasual Butler said. "You have to be intense and communicate with your teammates on switches, and then you have to hope he puts up a bad shot."

"This is a game we are supposed to win, especially with their roster depleted," Iverson said. "We approached the game the right way, but we just couldn't get it done."

A little-used player, Brown stepped up with the Hornets shorthanded. The 6-5 guard shot 5-of-11 from the floor, 7-of-8 from the line and nailed two shots from the arc. Butler was 8-of-18 from the field and 3-of-5 on 3-pointers.

"I'm still trying to pick up the system and find my place here," Brown said. "Coach Scott has been working with me to get me up to speed, but I am a pretty smart guy, I'm picking it up. When you are missing the guys we are, it's great to have a bunch of guys sell out on defense and contribute when they can to give us points."

Earl Boykins scored 26 points and Reggie Evans collected eight and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who shot just 37 percent (33-of-89) and scored only 14 points in the final quarter.

"You can make shots all game, but if you don't make shots in the fourth quarter, you are not going to win," Boykins said. "We didn't make the shots and we lost."

Denver still is missing superstar Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith, who were suspended for their roles in a wild brawl against New York on December 16. But Nuggets coach George Karl refused to use that as an excuse.

"Our team played hard," Karl said. "I would like to see us play better offensively and have a better defensive attitude against a team that is shorthanded as well, and as the game went on, I think that hurt us more than being shorthanded."