The thundersticks began clapping well before the game began. Fans slapped together the plastic noisemakers handed out at the Pepsi Center on Sunday, eager to provide a playoff-type soundtrack for the home team.
The problem was the Nuggets couldn’t hit a single note, falling more flat than an ill-tuned saxaphone.
An atrocious shooting performance and defensive lapses to match doomed the Nuggets in a perplexing and dispiriting 115-90 loss to New Orleans, a major setback in their pursuit of a long-awaited playoff spot.
With Portland playing at the Los Angeles Lakers late Sunday, the Nuggets were staring at the likely prospect of falling into a tie with the Trail Blazers in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.