DENVER— With a little help from the hometown kid, Carmelo Anthony is finally moving on.

Behind Anthony's 34 points and the floor leadership of Chauncey Billups, the Denver native who came home this season and galvanized a city and a team, the Nuggets advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 107-86 victory over the New Orleans Hornets last night in Game 5 of their series.

After five straight first-round flameouts, 'Melo led the Nuggets to their first playoff series win since 1994. They'll face the Dallas Mavericks in the second round.

"That monkey is awful heavy sometimes," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "I'm just really happy for 'Melo."

Dallas advanced to the Western Conference semifinals by defeating San Antonio in five games. Denver swept the season series with the Mavericks 4-0.

Anthony's 34 points were a career playoff best. Billups had 13 points and 11 assists, and J.R. Smith scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half to fuel Denver, which needed just five games to go from traditional first-round fodder to a playoff success story.

"I thought we could be a good team," Karl said. "But I never thought we could be this good."

Despite the final score, the capper wasn't nearly as easy as Denver's three other wins, including the 58-point blowout in Game 4 that matched the NBA record.

Playing without Tyson Chandler but with a pride and passion unapparent through most of the series, the Hornets made the Nuggets sweat. It was tied at 62 midway through the third period before Denver went on a 24-4 run to ice it.

David West led the Hornets with 24 points and Chris Paul had 12 points and 10 assists.

It was especially sweet for Billups, who was born and raised in Denver. He came from Detroit in the Allen Iverson trade a week into the season and transformed his beloved Nuggets from an afterthought into the West's second seed.

HAWKS 106, HEAT 91

ATLANTA — Dwyane Wade banged his head on the court. Al Horford hobbled to the locker room. Jamaal Magloire doled out a shove, and Josh Smith pushed back.

On a night of hard fouls, plenty of banging and staredowns galore, the Atlanta Hawks moved closer to reaching the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time in a decade, beating Miami last night to take a 3-2 lead in the series.

Joe Johnson had his best game of the postseason with 25 points, and the Hawks took control during a decisive second quarter that pushed them to a 63-40 halftime lead. Flip Murray added 23 points. The Hawks already were without one injured starter (Marvin Williams) and lost another when Horford hobbled off the court with a sprained right ankle.

"It's not a good sign," said Zaza Pachulia, one of Atlanta's top backups. "In the playoffs, you need everybody. But what can you do? Whoever we have, they really have to step up."

Wade had 29 points, but banged his head on the court in the first half and didn't really get going until the game was already decided.

NOTES

MAGIC'S HOWARD SUSPENDED:

Orlando's Dwight Howard has been suspended for today's Game 6 of the playoff series against Philadelphia for his elbow on Sixers center Samuel Dalembert, the NBA announced yesterday.

FRANK BACK AS NETS COACH:

Lawrence Frank is returning to coach the New Jersey Nets next season despite posting a second straight 34-48 record and missing the playoffs two years in a row. The 38-year-old Frank has a year left on a contract that was to pay him $4.5 million next season.

PISTONS RETAIN COACH CURRY:

Michael Curry, 39-43 in his first year as a head coach, is coming back as the Detroit Pistons' coach. Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars made the announcement at a news conference yesterday.