DENVER — Brutality is in the eye of the beholder.

For Denver Nuggets fans, Dahntay Jones' defense on New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul is aggressive and impressive.

To Hornets coach Byron Scott, Jones is a dangerous man who plays "dirty" basketball. Scott implied Wednesday night Jones is "trying to hurt somebody or ruin somebody's career."

Welcome to the playoffs, a time when the NBA's run-and-fun show converts to slow and bruising.

Nuggets coach George Karl laughed when he considered the Scott's charges.

"It might already be to the point where they don't like us and we don't like them and that's the way it is and that's the way it should be and the way it's going to be forever," Karl said.

Karl takes the right approach. There's no good reason to take Scott seriously.

The Nuggets pounded the Hornets, 108-93, on Wednesday night at Pepsi Center. Scott needs to quit worrying about the Nuggets' rugged ways and start looking at his team's troubles.

So far in this series, the Hornets have struggled with shooting, defending, passing and rebounding. Other than those faults, the Hornets have looked magnificent.

When the series began, the big question was if the Nuggets could end five straight years of first-round playoff exits.

The new question is if the Hornets can avoid getting swept.

And let me offer a translation for Scott's words about Jones. The coach keeps moaning because down deep he really wishes he had someone like Jones.

It's an art to walk the line between being tough and getting booted from a game. Jones walks that line with great expertise, and he can push and bump and elbow while he's doing the walking.

But here's the strange thing:

A few seconds before Scott complained about Jones, he talked fondly about the good old days when the NBA was even more violent.

"This is still pitty-pat basketball," Scott said. "I'm serious, man. This is not physical and aggressive basketball like it was in the '80s and '90s.

"This is so watered-down that it's unbelievable. It's not really a physical game."

Scott's memory is accurate. He began his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983 and spent his nights battling against such beasts as Bill Laimbeer and Mark Eaton.

Both big men missed their calling. They would have made perfect villains in professional wrestling.

Scott played in the days when entering the lane was as dangerous as running across a freeway. Big men had all kinds of fun beating up other big men.

So why is Scott whining so much?

The answer is simple. Paul stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 170, at best. Everything about the Hornets revolves around Paul, who is wise, quick, fearless ...

And tiny, by NBA standards.

Scott wants referees to protect Paul. He wants to hear so many whistles that the Nuggets will soften their approach. He wants the lane to become a friendlier destination for his Hornets.

It is contradictory for Scott to talk with nostalgia for those violent days when, to use his words, you could tell "the mens from the boys."