It's possible that the Hornets were eliminated by the team that will go on to win the NBA title in June.
That shouldn't make New Orleans, or its fans, feel any better about the grisly way in which it was run out of the playoffs, like a poser being chased away from an invitation-only soiree by a horde of no-nonsense bodyguards. It doesn't ease the embarrassment players and coaches should've experienced after landing one blow against the Nuggets in a one-sided fight. And it doesn't lessen the urgency with which the front office should approach an offseason in which the Hornets have to get better, beyond praying for good health next season, or fall farther behind.
But from the time Denver administered its first stomping of New Orleans in the first round, to the time it applied its final chokehold to Dallas in the second round, the Nuggets clearly have looked like the best team in the Western Conference. Arguably, they've been the best team in Basketball.
It's a testament to how fast NBA fortunes can turn -- the Nuggets hadn't won a first-round playoff series since 1994 -- and to how dominant a team can be when every player understands his role, executes his role and is more concerned with winning the game and the series than with anything else.
Which is why, entering the Western Conference finals against the Lakers, Denver very much looks like a team that can take on Los Angeles and end the reign of the defending conference champion.
That, and the fact that the Lakers stumbled around against Houston like they had no idea what they were supposed to be doing half the time before putting away the depleted Rockets in seven games in the conference semifinals.
The Lakers lost more support than they gained against Houston. Winning in seven games gave no one the impression that the team favored to advance to and win the NBA Finals displayed grit. The Rockets were credited with showing the fortitude; the Lakers, with being so arrogant that they believed they simply could show up, look menacing and watch Houston cower and retreat.
Of course, that doesn't mean the Lakers can't and won't win against Denver, and anyone else.
Few teams in NBA history have been pushed to the brink of elimination as closely as were last year's Celtics, who struggled and appeared vulnerable and needed seven games to win in the first and second rounds. And Boston won the title by steamrolling the Lakers.
The Lakers, who mostly have appeared disinterested while getting rid of Utah and Houston this year, are more than capable of rising to any challenge Denver will present.
But the Nuggets aren't quite the same team they were during the regular season, and even then they were good enough to secure the No. 2 seed in the West.
Since the playoffs began, only Cleveland has needed fewer games to advance to the conference finals. And -- all due respect to Detroit and Atlanta -- Cleveland barely was forced to break a sweat against one team (Detroit) that's in sharp decline and barely snuck in the playoffs and another (Atlanta) that was ecstatic to reach the second round.
The Pistons and Hawks did more paying homage than playing defense.
Denver humiliated the Hornets , who won 49 regular-season games, and stripped down Dallas, which won 50. And both series featured a ton of physical play, with the Nuggets mostly enforcing the tone rather than receiving it.
So far, Denver has been as dominant as any remaining team, probably more.
In a few weeks, it could be standing atop the NBA. Then, at least the Hornets can say they were pummeled by the best.
That won't dilute the humiliation, but it'll sound better than folding against anyone else.
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John DeShazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3410.
