It wasn’t exactly a successful road trip for the Denver Nuggets. They dropped the first three games but bounced back to win both games over the weekend. Now, they return to Denver for two straight games against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans might be the most snake bit team in the league. They came into the season with high hopes after acquiring Dejounte Murray to go with the trio of Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and C.J. McCollum. Murray hurt his hand on opening night, McCollum has dealt with a myriad of injuries and Williamson & Ingram have continued their career long battle with getting on the court the same time. Murray returned to the lineup a few weeks ago, but sadly went down with a torn achilles over the weekend and is now out for the year. Simply put, nothing’s gone right for the Pelicans this year and thus they’re already looking towards the offseason.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (30-19) vs New Orleans Pelicans (12-37)
When: 7PM MST
Where: The Can. Denver, CO.
How to watch/listen: KTVD My20, Altitude+, NBA League Pass for those not in the Nuggets market, Altitude Radio 82.5FM
Rival blog: The Bird Writes
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Pelicans | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Jose Alvarado | Nuggets |
| SG | Christian Braun | CJ McCollum | Even |
| SF | Michael Porter Jr. | Trey Murphy III | Even |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | Zion Williamson | Pelicans |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Yves Missi | Nuggets |
| Bench | Julian Strawther, DeAndre Jordan, Jalen Pickett, Zeke Nnaji | Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Karlo Matkovic, Brandon Boston, Jordan Hawkins, Javonte Green | Even |
Injury report: Peyton Watson – out (knee), Vlatko Cancar – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles), Russell Westbrook – out (hamstring); Jordan Hawkins – questionable (illness), Daniel Theis – questionable (thumb), Brandon Ingram – out (ankle), Herbert Jones – out (ankle), Dejounte Murray – out (achilles), Keion Brooks Jr – out (G-League).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: replacing Peyton Watson
The Nuggets are going to be without their best shot blocker for an extended period of time. Watson suffered a knee injury in Denver’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday and is now going to re-evaluated in four weeks. Forward depth is an issue for the Nuggets. Aaron Gordon has dealt with lingering calf issues all year, DaRon Holmes was lost for the season before it even got started and Vlatko Cancar has been sidelined indefinitely with his own knee injury. Meanwhile the rest of Denver’s forwards simply haven’t been up to the task whether that’s Zeke Nnaji, Hunter Tyson or Dario Saric. At least one of those guys is going to have to step up now. Michael Malone went with Nnaji in the Charlotte Hornets game on Saturday and Zeke played well. He’s probably the Nuggets best bet in terms of replacing some of Watson’s shot blocking ability so I won’t be surprised if he continues to get minutes.
The thing to remember: Zion is still Zion
Look, if you want to call Zion a bust then I get where you are coming from. He was a #1 overall pick and billed as a generational talent who would dominate the league. Up to this point he simply hasn’t done that in his career. However, the reason is health, not ability. Williamson remains one of the most difficult players to guard in the league and his skill set is still tremendous. He’s been dealing with a hamstring issue but is not listed on the injury report so I assume he’s a go tonight. Aaron Gordon probably draws the unenviable task of guarding him but if I’m Denver I look to double any time he has the ball in his hands. Though he’s only played in a handful of games against the Nuggets since 2020, he’s been absolutely dominant in those games. The Nuggets can’t get caught thinking they’ve got an easy night when there’s a player of that caliber on the other team.
The thing to bet: Zion Williamson over 23.5 points (-105)
Normally don’t bet the opposition in the TTB but like I said, Zion generally crushes the Nuggets. In the eight games he’s played against Denver in his career he’s scored over 23 points in five of them (and one where he didn’t was 2020 when he played just 21 minutes). The Pelicans are reeling from the Murray injury as well. I expect Zion to make it a point to remind everyone that New Orleans still has a lot of teeth scoring wise if he’s on the floor.
