Danilo Gallinari was fantastic last night, scoring 29 points in three quarter while the Nuggets easily dispatched the New Orleans Pelicans.
Gallinari hit a season-high five 3-pointers, as the Nuggets shot 50 percent from deep on 30 attempts. The Nuggets aren't a 3-point shooting team, but when they're falling, might as well make it rain. It didn't hurt that they were playing in front of what looked like a skeleton crowd, as Smoothie King Arena was absolutely void of fans.
Gallinari has been great when smaller players have switched onto him as well on offense this year. He is tied with Kevin Durant for tenth in the league in isolation points, per NBA Stats. For a team that’s missing a lot of size, and was without Anthony Davis for much of the game, Gallo feasted at the rim. He took 11 field goal attempts inside the paint, and scored on seven of them. J.J. Hickson started at center for Denver, but when the Pelicans went small, the Nuggets countered with Gallo at power forward and it was really effective.
It’s a look that has a lot of appeal, especially when Nurkic is back and at full strength. Playing four out around Nurkic, albeit without Wilson Chandler, will create a lot of space for Emmanuel Mudiay and help the offense go. Gallinari’s rebounding and shooting help that small-ball lineup hum, and last night was proof of that.
Enjoy the highlights.
