Nonetheless, the Hornets' season ended earlier than they would have expected when the season began. Instead of making a trip to the conference finals or even NBA Finals, as many had projected, they quietly bowed out of the playoffs in the first round.

The Hornets, who won seven fewer regular-season games than they won last season, when they came within one victory of the Western Conference final, limped into the offseason. Their top three players -- point guard Chris Paul, forward David West and center David West -- were battered and bruised and no match for the Nuggets.

"We're going to reflect on some of the good things we did do," coach Byron Scott said. "I'm very proud of them because we had so much adversity with the injuries. I'm more proud of them this season than I was last season. We could have folded a long time ago, but we kept fighting."

The Hornets, who lost by a record-tying 58 points in Game 4, almost had to come up with a more respectable performance in Game 5. They did, playing the Nuggets even for 2 1/2 quarters, but much like Games 1 and 2 in Denver, the Nuggets pulled away late.

The Hornets' losses in the series came by 29, 15, 58, and 21 points. Their victory came by two points.

NUGGETS 107, HORNETS 86: The score was tied at 62 midway through the third quarter before the Nuggets scored 14 consecutive points to take a commanding lead and roll to their first playoff-series victory in 15 years.

The Hornets led after the first quarter (27-24) for the first time in the series and were even at halftime. They stayed even until the decisive run late in the third quarter.

Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high and career playoff-high 34 points to lead five Denver players in double figures as the Nuggets advanced to play the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.