Yet if any numbers were most descriptive of Wednesday night's loss, and cumulatively the series, they are 85 and 128.

Not known for their defensive prowess or efficiency, the Nuggets harassed the Hornets into 85 turnovers in the five games and scored 128 points off those errors, an average of 25.6 per game.

How did that happen?

"A lot of times it was careless passes, and the other times you've just got to give them a lot of the credit," Hornets Coach Byron Scott said. "They did a real good job of pressuring our guys. They turned us. At times, they were so aggressive we almost turned our back instead of looking to attack. And that caused a lot of the turnovers."

It was a spate of turnovers and empty possessions in the third quarter that broke Game 5 open for the Nuggets.

After the score was tied at 62, the Hornets went on a string of six empty possessions. The Nuggets forced a couple of turnovers in that stretch and got a momentum-seizing block from Chris Andersen, then they strung together back-to-back 3-pointers from J.R. Smith and Chauncey Billups and a three-point play from Carmelo Anthony to go on a 14-0 run.

"I told my team tonight, 'Let's just go out there and play harder than them,' " said Anthony, who led all scorers with a postseason-career-high 34 points, the third time in his career he has scored 30 or more in a playoff game. "I think the first half we were trying to win the game all in one possession.

"When we rallied, I told everyone, 'Look, let's take our time, let's execute plays, do what we have been doing, and the game will come to us.' "

The Denver defense forced Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul into committing 24 turnovers in five games. He scored 12 points and had 10 assists Wednesday night, checked out of the game with 1:37 to play and was walking off the court moments before the final buzzer sounded.

"First, I want to say congratulations to Denver," Paul said. "They did an outstanding job all season. I don't think anyone had trapped the ball screens as good as they did this series."

Forward James Posey, who scored 18 points off the bench Wednesday night, said New Orleans' carelessness was critical to the team's demise.

"We had a lot of turnovers," Posey said. "You've got to take care of the Basketball."

The Hornets played without center Tyson Chandler, who missed the game because of an inflamed left ankle. It had been obvious throughout the series that Chandler was far from 100 percent. He had little lift, his mobility seemed impaired at times, and it was obvious he was having some trouble running.

Hilton Armstrong, who had started all four regular-season games against Denver and had 41 points and 19 rebounds in those games, started in Chandler's place. But he had just seven points and six rebounds before fouling out with 8:59 remaining.

"He's our best offensive rebounder, and he means a lot to us," Scott said of Chandler. "Him not being out there obviously hurt a lot. Plus we just didn't make enough shots and didn't do a good enough job of stopping them from making their shots."

So a season that began with such high hopes ended rather ignominiously.

"If you don't win it all," Posey said, "it's disappointing. That was the goal, and we didn't do it."

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Jimmy Smith can be reached at jsmith@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3814.