Denver Nuggets: 15 greatest playoff moments of all-time

12. Carmelo Anthony’s 34 vs. Hornets to win playoff series

• 2009 Western Conference Quarterfinals, Game 5
• April 29, 2009 (Pepsi Center, Denver, CO)
• Denver Nuggets 107, New Orleans Hornets 86

After drafting Carmelo Anthony No. 3 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft, the Nuggets would go on to make the Western Conference Playoffs every year of the Anthony era in Denver. However, the Nuggets would fall in their first-round series five straight springs from 2004 to 2008.

Despite having a superstar out on the wing in Anthony, the Nuggets were essentially playoff fodder much of the decade. That being said, the Nuggets were finally able to put it together in year six of Anthony in Denver with an incredible postseason run in 2009. It all started with a dominating series victory over the then-New Orleans Hornets in five games.

Three games in fact will be featured from that series between the Hornets and Nuggets with the first being Anthony’s 34-point performance in Game 5 to end New Orleans’ season. Denver was up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series entering Game 5 at home at the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets’ stifling defense held New Orleans to under 100 points scoring in the first four games of the series. So there was no way Denver was going to let down the defensive effort in a potential series clincher at home on April 29, 2009. Of course, the Nuggets would need a playmaker to go off on the other end of the floor to put the Hornets out of their misery.

Anthony answered that call with 34 points on 13-of-25 shooting. He made all seven of his attempts from the charity stripe, converting on one of his 3-point field goal tries. Denver might have had five players in double figures scoring, including 20 from J.R. West off the bench, but it was Anthony who was a constant thorn in the Hornets’ side in the easy 21-point victory for the Nuggets.

Denver won its first playoff since the Dikembe Mutombo era that late April day. The Nuggets crushed New Orleans like it did in just about every game of the series, winning Game 5, 107-86. Denver would go on to face the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals in the ensuing best-of-seven series.

Sure, it could have been seen as a lopsided No. 2 versus No. 7 affair between the higher-seeded Nuggets and the underdog Hornets. That being said, Denver up to that point had seen five first-round exits in the previous half decade. The Nuggets had to take care of business. They did so by wiping the floor with New Orleans.

Anthony would have other big moments in the 2009 NBA playoffs, one we will certainly get to in a bit. However, his 34-point performance in Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals stands as a reminder that in his prime, Anthony could be counted on to carry the weight of his team’s offensive workload to decidedly win a playoff series.