Los Angeles - After years of frustration, Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets are celebrating a Rocky Mountain High.
Anthony scored a career-playoff high 34 points, J. R. Smith added 20 and the Nuggets rocked the New Orleans Hornets 107-86 at home on Wednesday to wrap up their Western Conference opening-round playoff series in five games.
Denver had lost five consecutive first-round series before advancing for the first time since 1994.
Los Angeles - The Orlando Magic's hopes of closing out the Philadelphia 76ers in Game Six on Thursday, and moving into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, took a giant hit on Wednesday.
The NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson said that Magic All-Star centre Dwight Howard was handed a one-game league suspension for elbowing Sixers big man Samuel Dalembert in the head.
The costly incident occurred with 9:15 remaining in the first quarter of Orlando's 91-78 home-court victory on Tuesday night.