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Nuggets search for success in New Orleans

Jan 6, 2012 - 4:36 PM (Sports Network) - The Denver Nuggets just may be in the mood to party when they hit the Big Easy to take on a struggling Hornets team.

George Karl's club is coming off a perfect 3-0 homestand, culminating with a 27-point rout of lowly Sacramento on Wednesday. Al Harrington was one of five players in double-figures with 15 points in that one as Denver cruised to the 110-83 victory.

Rudy Fernandez finished with 12 points and eight assists, while Timofey Mozgov and Arron Afflalo netted 11 points apiece for the Nuggets, who are now a solid 5-2 on the young season. Kosta Koufos was the final Nuggets' player in double- figures with his first career double-double of 10 points to go with 11 rebounds.

"Four quarters of us running up and down is definitely going to wear opponents down," Harrington said of his team's depth and balance. "So that's what we're going to do."

Most thought the Nuggets would falter once they traded All-Star Carmelo Anthony back on Feb 21st of last season but Denver has done anything but struggle. In fact, since dealing the franchise cornerstone, the Nuggets are a are 23-9, the second best record in the entire NBA over that span.

Denver, of course, also lost Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler to deals in China during the lockout but Karl is making due by sending a wave of contributors at his opponents.

"We're going to go after teams with our intensity and hopefully, the flow of flooding good players on to the court," Karl said.

Coming into tonight's came the Nuggets have the league's top bench in both rebounds (20.0 rpg) and assists (11.9), and rank among the leaders with 45.1 ppg from their reserves.

The Hornets, meanwhile, have hit the skids after opening the season with two consecutive wins. New Orleans kicked off a brief two-game homestand by blowing a 14-point lead and losing to Philadelphia, 101-93, on Wednesday, its fourth consecutive setback.

Eric Gordon, who had missed four games with a bruised knee, returned and netted 22 points in the loss. Carl Landry had 21 points and eight rebounds, and Jarrett Jack finished with 19 points and 11 assists for New Orleans.

"It is disappointing because we were playing well in the first three quarters, and we had too many lapses on defense," Gordon said of the fourth quarter. "They did hit some tough shots, but you don't want them to happen being on the run, and there were points during the game where we weren't scoring offensively, so that's a bad combination."

Offense has been the big problem with the Hornets. The team is averaging a Western Conference-low 87.2 ppg and shoots an NBA-worst 19.5 percent from long range.

Coach Monty Williams was hoping Gordon's presence in the lineup started to turn those numbers around but the team announced Friday that Gordon experienced knee swelling after Wednesday's loss and, on the advice of doctors, will sit out two or three weeks.

Denver snapped a two-game skid to New Orleans in March of last season.

These two teams will have a quick turnaround in their rivalry, meeting again Monday in the Rockies.