Another home game. Another chance to make up a little ground.

That's the opportunity looking the Hornets in the face today as they return to the Charlotte Coliseum for the fourth of a five-game home stand, facing Atlanta at 7p.m. And it's one they believe they can best take advantage of with another strong punch from their frontcourt.

After watching power forward P.J. Brown go for a career-high 22 rebounds and center Elden Campbell destroy the Denver Nuggets down low with 21 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks in a 94-80 victory two nights ago, coach Paul Silas is hoping for more of the same.

"I think because of their success (Monday) night P.J. and Elden are going to keep coming with it," Silas said Tuesday. "If they do, it makes our life a lot easier.

"You shore up the middle. When that happens, it just opens up a whole new road.

"There aren't that many big people in the (Eastern Conference). We have one of the bigger teams. So we have to find a way to dominate."

With Brown and Campbell so assertive underneath, the Hornets swamped the Nuggets on the boards, 61-35.

"They are one of the most physical teams we've played this year," said Denver interim coach Mike Evans.

Said Nuggets guard Nick Van Exel: "They had their way with us. If you give up that many offensive rebounds (21-9), you don't have a chance to win."

That hasn't always been the case this season, however. The last time the Hornets played Atlanta, Dec22 on the road, the Hawks controlled the boards 49-41. That was a major factor in Atlanta's 101-88 victory, pointing out even more of Charlotte's need for inside consistency.

"We got 40 rebounds out of two guys (Monday)," guard David Wesley said. "That's not something you can count on, those kinds of numbers. That was a good individual effort. You can't count on things like that or like Baron (Davis) getting 30 (points) or our shots falling every night. It's unrealistic.

"But when they're that aggressive, with P.J. doing his thing on the boards and Elden having that low-post presence whether he's being double-teamed or not, that makes us that much better," guard David Wesley said. "We're a pretty good team when we get that kind of activity.

"I just want us to feel consistent about something we do. I think last season even if we couldn't throw the ball in the ocean, we were going to defend. We may not have run every night. We may not have shot it that well. We didn't even rebound (well) every night. But we defended. We had something to get us through."

Brown and Campbell understand the impact.

"I've just got to have some energy going and the guys looking for me," Campbell said.

Brown said he believes the same effort will be there.

"We won't have the same numbers every night, but we can lead the charge for this team," Brown said. "It's just a matter of doing it and not talking about it."