The Denver Nuggets, winners of three-straight games, were looking to improve on their already above-average road record with a win in New Orleans against a Pelicans team that is dealing with dysfunction, turmoil, and brutal injury issues.
The Pelicans were without Nikola Mirotic, E’Twaun Moore, Elfrid Payton, and Julius Randle against Denver in addition to Anthony Davis, who had requested a trade from the Pelicans just days earlier, also missing the game with a finger issue. Inversely, the Nuggets were without starting point guard Jamal Murray who was dealing with a sprained left ankle.
After an ice-cold first half, the Nuggets found their footing on both ends of the court and managed to come away with their 13th road victory of the season. Denver defeated New Orleans 105-to-99 behind another Nikola Jokic triple-double and a career-night by Monte Morris.
In the first quarter, things went exactly as would be expected with Jahil Okafor guarding Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets Serbian Sensation was able to get the better of Okafor and it led to the rest of the Nuggets offense opening up early. Despite the Nuggets shooting a bad percentage from the field, they were creating great looks each possessions they had on the offensive end of the floor.
On the defensive end of the floor, the Nuggets were finally able to inject defensive energy from the second that the game started. Denver held the Pelicans scoreless over the first 2:46 of the game, but after a strong start, they let off the gas on defense once again. The Nuggets energy on the defensive end of the floor is far too inconsistent and their inability to play with focus and intention on that end of the floor has kept them from becoming a truly dominant team.
Jokic led the Nuggets throughout the first quarter with 10 points and four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block which gave Denver a 29-26 lead after the first 12 minutes of the game.
The start of second quarter led to offensive struggles for Denver. Without Morris leading the bench unit, Malone turned to the likes of Brandon Goodwin and Will Barton to pick up the slack, but the unfamiliarity was evident throughout the first half of the second quarter. Denver’s bench unit was able to hold onto the Nuggets lead, even if just barely, before handing the keys back to the starting unit to close out the first half.
Once the starters returned, it would be easy to assume that they would have dominated, but the Pelicans continued to fight and eventually took a lead which they did not let go of as both teams headed into the halftime break with the Pelicans leading 56-53. While Jokic was able to do whatever he wanted on offense, Okafor was doing the same as a scorer on the other end of the floor. Okafor had 12 first-half points and was 6-of-7 from the field as a shooter. When Okafor wasn’t scoring in the paint, Jrue Holiday was having his way with Gary Harris.
Harris, who was questionable to play prior to taking on the Pelicans, just did not look healthy. He was not getting much lift when going up for layups and continued missing open 3-point shots. On defense, Holiday was getting by him easier than he should. Harris has had four different lower body injuries this season and it seems the injury issues he has had have taken a toll on him.
In the third quarter, the Nuggets dialed up the defensive intensity, finally started to hit shots on offense, and took off against the Pelicans. The starters began the third quarter on a 16-4 run and quickly turned a three-point deficit into a nine-point lead as Morris and Jokic were in complete control of the game on both ends of the floor.
Morris has been one of the very few constants that the Nuggets have been able to rely on this season and, instead of just being reliable, Morris is also improving with seemingly every minute of playing time that he receives. Against the Pelicans, he was one of the best players on the floor at any given time and was a big reason for the Nuggets big-time third quarter. He was producing as a scorer, facilitator, and was even getting amongst the trees and skying for rebounds when needed.
Then Gary Harris finally got involved in the scoring party with two back-to-back 3-pointers. Harris, who was 3-23 on 3-point attempts prior to hitting those two triples, desperately needed to see his shot fall. Those two makes were much-needed for Harris’ confidence.
By the time the third quarter came to an end, the Nuggets outscored the Pelicans 33-19 and led 86-75.
The fourth quarter did not start well for the Nuggets. Denver allowed the Pelicans to begin on a 11-2 run which resulted in Denver barely holding onto a one-point lead. Denver was settling for bad shots, not getting back on defense, and allowed the Pelicans to regain tons of momentum. Still, the Nuggets would not be denied as their best player took over.
Once Jokic secured his eighth triple-double of the season — the 24th of his career — the Nuggets suddenly locked back in. They began focusing back in on defense and their ability to get stops led to their offense getting back into rhythm.
The Pelicans made things interesting all the way throughout the fourth quarter. New Orleans would work their deficit down to one point before the Nuggets were surge and push their lead back to eight or nine points. Then the Pelicans would fight back within one point once again. With 1:30 left in the game, the Pelicans had worked their deficit back to one-point again, but Jokic continued to battle in the post and got the better of Okafor to push Denver’s lead back to three points and then five points after scoring on Okafor in back-to-back possessions.
As Jokic has done all year, he stepped up when the Nuggets needed it most. They were letting a road game slip through their fingers, but Jokic refused to let his team fall and came up big when they needed it most. Thanks to Jokic’s triple-double, Denver came away with a big-time 105-to-99 win in New Orleans to improve their record to 35-15.
By the time the final buzzer sounded Jokic led the Nuggets with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. Morris also had one of his best career games with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists against 0 turnovers while shooting 8-of-12 from the field. Beasley also came up big with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting including four made 3-pointers.
Next, the Nuggets will have a day off to travel back to Denver where they will take on the Houston Rockets on the first day of February. That game will tip off at 8pm MST from the friendly confines of the Pepsi Center.
