The New Orleans Pelicans limp into the Pepsi Center to wrap up a five game road trip, coming off a tough loss against the Phoenix Suns Friday night. A loss in which star Anthony Davis and coach Alvin Gentry each blasted the team’s effort, particularly on the defensive end. New Orleans has only won one of the first four games on this roadie, beating Utah on Wednesday night by ten after thumping the Jazz 31-15 in the fourth quarter.
Denver followed the Pelicans into Utah on Friday night, and saw the other end of that equation, with the Jazz outscoring Denver 20-8 to close out the game with a 97-88 loss. The Nuggets stats around their offense and the 100-point threshold still stay on point, with games when they are above the century marker a handsome 11-3, and when below it 0-for-a-dozen. Denver needs their sporadic offense to produce, or wins have eluded them.
The loss to Utah the other night saw the two teams switch places in the standings, with Denver sliding past Phoenix to the tenth seed. New Orleans has struggled even more mightily and unexpectedly currently sitting only one slot above the bottom of the Western Conference. There's a lot of pride on the New Orleans side, and the Peilcans will want to end this road trip as positively as possible. Working against them is their actual road record, a brutal 2-13. Davis barely played in the last contest, so will be wanting to make a mark in this one. Sadly, Denver has a slightly better winning percentage on the road (6-8, 43%) than at home (5-7, 42%). Something's gotta give, let's hope the ball bounces the Nuggets direction.
The Basics:
Who: The New Orleans Pelicans (7-19) at the Denver Nuggets (11-15)
When: 6:00 PM MST
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
Where to Watch: Altitude TV
Opposition's Blog: The Bird Writes
| New Orleans Pelicans |
Denver Nuggets | Advantage | |
| PG | Eric Gordon | Jameer Nelson | Pelicans |
| SG | Tyreke Evans |
Gary Harris | Even |
| SF | Alonzo Gee |
Danilo Gallinari | Nuggets |
| PF | Anthony Davis | Kenneth Faried | Pelicans |
| C | Omer Asik | Joffrey Lauvergne | Even |
| Bench | Jrue Holiday, Dante Cunningham, Ryan Anderson, Kendrick Perkins, Ish Smith, Norris Cole | Darrell Arthur, Will Barton, Nikola Jokic, Randy Foye, J.J. Hickson, Mike Miller |
Even |
Injured players: Wilson Chandler, hip (out), Jusuf Nurkic, knee (out), Emmanuel Mudiay, ankle (out), Alexis Ajinca, calf (day-to-day), Quincy Pondexter, knee (out)
Two Things to Watch:
The Nuggets offense is either Jekyll-or-hiding this season, and the team has leaned far too heavily on the scoring of Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton. If those two don't have anything going, or their teammates are unable to offer a little help, the Pepsi Center's friendly confines turn further into confounds.
The Pelicans intensity has been brought into question more than once of late by New Orleans head coach Alvin Gentry. Everyone who's been on this blog for more than nine months remembers exactly how that sort of dynamic felt when watching your favorite team stumble out of the gates. Though I'm hoping we see a Nuggets win tonight, you have to feel for any fan base going through that sort of unexpected gut punch.
Prediction:
Though the Pelicans still look pretty on paper, Denver finds enough good things today to take their home record a notch above the road percentage. Final score, Nuggets 101, Pelicans 94, only because I don't want to bet against the Century voodoo.
Ready for a post-Broncos Nuggets game to wrap up your weekend, Nuggets Nation? The Colorado Avalanche are playing tomorrow night, so multi-sport Colorado sports fans may need a cigarette by Monday bedtime over this condensed sportsgasm. What about our game tonight? How do you see the outcome?
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