DENVER — Go ahead, dream.

The Denver Nuggets laid waste to the New Orleans Hornets, ended a 15-season playoff drought and terrified the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night at Pepsi Center.

Pity the Hornets. They never had a chance.

It's been a long, painful wait, but these Nuggets have the potential to be powerful.

The Mavericks just dumped the San Antonio Spurs and might have ended the best days of the Tim Duncan era.

But the Mavericks don't play defense with the same ferocity as the Nuggets. During the stomping of the Hornets, the Nuggets played with more fire on defense than they did on offense, a rarity in the NBA.

The Mavericks don't boast a bench that goes 10 deep. Anthony Carter, Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith lead one of the NBA's best collections of reserves.

Add it up, and the Mavericks look doomed. On Sunday, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and, alas, Mark Cuban arrive in Denver for Game 1.

And there's no doubt which team is the favorite.

The Nuggets did little wrong in this clash with the Hornets. There was one blip on Saturday when Denver fumbled a 16-point lead, but that was it.

The Nuggets played with generosity and wisdom. For the past five playoff seasons, Denver opponents employed a simple strategy:

Defenders surrounded Carmelo Anthony and dared the rest of the Nuggets to score. The dare worked every time.

The dare failed to work in this series. In the first game, Anthony struggled while battling an array of Hornets defenders.

Didn't matter. Chauncey Billups blitzed the Hornets for 36 points while making an emphatic statement. This is, finally, a balanced Denver offense.

If you stop Carmelo, Billups might stand up. Or Smith. Or Nene.

The Hornets marched into this series with 49 wins and the NBA's best point guard, Chris Paul.

They trudge back home after losing four of five games, but even those numbers are deceptive. The Nuggets defeated the Hornets by an average of 33 points.

Did this series deliver thrilling basketball?

No, but Nuggets fans enjoyed every ugly minute.

Wednesday night, Pepsi Center turned into party central. Fans chanted and booed and danced and ended the night with mass rejoicing.

The Nuggets have given their fans little to celebrate during their history, which dates to 1967. Denver had won four playoff games, and lost 23, since 1994. The Nuggets had taken five straight first-round exits from the playoffs.

This is a different team, one that has a chance to chase away all those bad memories.

When the third quarter ended, coach George Karl took a walk on the court. He slowly turned around, looking at the packed, rocking arena.

He was smiling while enjoying a sweet moment.

There should be many sweet moments in the near future.