Tuesday, January 08, 2002 - CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Fans, please open your NBA dictionaries. Included are many jargon words such as dunk, trey, swish and swingman. Today's lesson for hoop novices are "bigs" and "smalls," or "littles."

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Strong numbers: Playing with an injured back, Nuggets guard Nick Van Exel had 24 points and nine assists. Nuggets reserve forward Zendon Hamilton had five rebounds in 20 minutes.

Wrong numbers: Hornets forward P.J. Brown set a career-high rebound mark with 22, which was one shy of Larry Johnson's franchise record. Charlotte recorded a season-high 61 rebounds to Denver's 35. The Hornets outscored the Nuggets 27-15 in the second quarter. Hornets center Elden Campbell had 21 points and 18 rebounds.

Next: At Dallas tonight.

Final thought: Hey, isn't rebounding wild man Dennis Rodman still a free agent?

Bigs is defined as those playing power forward or center. Smalls or littles are defined as players at point guard, shooting guard or small forward.

During a 94-80 loss to the