Somehow, some way the Denver Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in overtime 132-129 in a game that for 3+ quarters looked like Denver was going to sleepwalk their way to a loss. They trailed by double-digits entering the fourth but then turned on the intensity and took advantage of some crucial Pelicans mistakes to snag the victory. Jokic finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists while Jamal Murray also had 27 points to lead Denver with their play down the stretch and secure the win. Russell Westbrook added 21 points and Julian Strawther had a key 13 off the bench including some great plays in the waning minutes of the fourth – he was a +20 on the night for his efforts. The Pelicans had 4 players with 20+ points led by Jordan Hawkins with 25 and CJ McCollum with 24, but McCollum missed a shot at the end of regulation and Denver executed better in overtime to take the victory and a 2-1 road trip back to the Mile High with them.
Game Flow
Jamal Murray got to the line to open the scoring, making both but DeJounte Murray and CJ McCollum made contested buckets in response. Murray got a great rebound but Nikola Jokic missed a couple of attempts by the bucket and the Pelicans hit a three. MPJ turned the ball over trying to get it to Jokic, but Jokic set a screen for MPJ the next time down and Mike buried a 3 and then Gordon hit a corner three. A great pass from Jokic to AG for a layup put Denver up 10-9, but the Pelicans turned a Murray turnover into a dunk and started a run of their own with transition buckets. Jokic stuffed Yves Missi for a Murray layup, but once again the Nuggets absolutely could not stop dribble penetration and turned the ball over 6 times in the first seven minutes as the Pelicans built a 19-12 lead. Jokic finally took an active shot and missed, but Russell Westbrook grabbed the rebound and put it in. Westbrook turned the ball over but Denver got it right back for a Christian Braun finish. Westbrook got to the line, and Strawther had a good defensive possession followed up a tough layup. Jamal Murray buried a 3, Jordan Hawkins blew by Strawther for a layup, but Strawther answered with a three. A Pelicans oop was followed by Jamal Murray turning the ball over on an inbounds – the 8th turnover of the quarter – and despite a buzzer-beating turnaround stepback from Jamal the Nuggets still trailed 29-28 after one.
Pelicans blew by Denver’s perimeter defense easily to start the second quarter, answered by a Murray-to-Westbrook connection for a layup. Hawkins hit a three for New Orleans, Jamal answered with a mid-range stepback, but another oop for the Pelicans kept the lead. DeAndre Jordan had a nice dunk but then Peyton Watson had a horrible turnover that forced Jordan into a foul that was deemed flagrant after review. Hawkins made the free throws, Watson got blocked on the other end and Denver was cold early until Strawther found a loose ball on a broken transition play and finished the shot and free throw after getting fouled. Dejounte Murray finished for the Pels. New Orleans kept driving the hoop relentless, succeed or fail, but the Nuggets kept it close through effort if not good execution. The Nuggets came up short on several possessions, and another Jamal turnover turned into a three for the Pelicans and a 47-38 New Orleans lead when Jokic finally came back. Russ immediately turned it over but stole it right back and Braun finished a left-handed transition lay-in. Another transition attempt to MPJ was stuffed, and then Christian Braun was stuffed as well on his attempt, while the Pelicans made another 3. Porter missed his three, Pelicans had an easy transition dunk and the Nuggets trailed by 12. Russ made a tough layup but Missi dunked on Jokic in return, and AG’s three-pointer barely slowed the Pelicans. Murray missed an open three, AG missed a putback, and McCollum buried a tough three in response. Jokic got his first points of the game on free throws but another McCollum three makde it 62-47 New Orleans. Jokic made his first actual bucket, Braun had a transition finish, but McCollum made another tough shot. AG had a finish, Jokic hit a hook, and Jamal was fouled in the closing seconds and made both free throws, but Denver still trailed 67-59 at the half.
The Nuggets began the third quarter with a defensive stop and then an MPJ three, but McCollum got to the basket for free throws off a Nikola foul. MPJ and Jamal both missed threes, but Braun stopped McCollum. Gordon missed Denver’s third 3 in a row and Missi went through Jokic to get a bucket and finish a traditional 3-point play. Jokic buried a late-clock three, and Jamal Murray had a steal-and-finish off the inbound. Braun’s rebound in traffic led to AG free throws but right when Denver was getting it close, Missi dunked and Trey Murphy buried a three to take the New Orleans lead back to 8. Dejounte blocked AG and then hit a jumper on the other end. Missi dunked again as Denver’s offense stayed cold and Jokic refused to shoot. MPJ forced a 24-second violation with good defense, but the Nuggets kept passing up easier looks and making life tougher with no benefit on the scoreboard. Westbrook finally made a three but Missi got yet another dunk and Murphy hit a transition dunk to boost the Pels lead to 86-72. Jokic-to-Westbrook turned into a layup, but then Jokic missed both free throws the next time down. Jokic hit a three, Russ finished a tough layup, and Jokic hit a buzzer-beater with his foot on the line to help the Nuggets head to the fourth down 93-81.
Westbrook and Watson both made buckets to open the fourth, with Hawkins answering with a 3 for New Orleans. Strawther made free throws, but Jamal Murray fouled Dejounte Murray 4 feet behind the 3-point line to send him to the stripe. Westbrook hit a running finish, and Watson swatted a baseline attempt out of bounds on defense. He then fumbled a rebound that allowed a Pelicans bucket, but got another block the next time that led to a Jamal 3. Strawther hustled for a rebound and a foul against him was called flagrant, made the free throw and then a dunk by Jordan cut the lead to 4 on what was essentially a 6-point possession – but then Hawkins hit another 3. Jamal hit a long jumper, answered by Dejounte, then Herb Jones was hurt on a collision with Jamal that let Denver bring Jokic back after Watson finished the transition bucket. Jokic hit a great spinning finish against Missi, Braun made a free throw, then Jokic took it at Messi again to tie the game at 107-107 with a traditional three point play. McCollum banked in a shot, Jokic answered with a bank of his own, then assisted a Strawther drive to get Denver their first lead since the first quarter. Denver got a steal and CB finished in transition, while Jokic hoovered all the defensive rebounds he could get his hands on down the stretch. Denver had a 5 point lead when Missi had a running dunk, then a Russ turnover turned into another Pelicans finish to cut it to 1. Jamal found AG for a dunk, CB and Russ both missed threes and Jokic missed a paint bucket as the lead stayed at 1 for Denver before McCollum buried a three. Murray missed a three but the Nuggets got the board. Jokic was blocked in the paint, but again the Nuggets got the loose ball and Jamal Murray tied the game at 119 with a stepback. Unlike the Portland game, the Nuggets played a great final possession and forced an airball from McCollum to go to overtime.
Dejounte Murray scored first for New Orleans, answered by a Jokic Jumper. Herb Jones and Jokic then exchanged layups, amd even a Missi dunk didn’t deter Jokic, who made another layup and then found Gordon for an oop dunk with two minutes to go. A goaltend call on a Jokic shot was overturned on review, leaving Denver up one bucket with a minute left. Jamal Murray got a great steal, but Russ and AG couldn’t get a finish. Jokic grabbed a crucial rebound in the waning seconds, getting the ball to Murray who got fouled for free throws with 9.8 seconds left. Jamal hit both in the pressure cooker to make the lead 4. McCollum hit a very quick layup to cut it back to two, then fouled Murray again. He missed the first one, made the second for the 3-point lead, and Denver fouled up 3. Missi got the ball and Denver immediately fouled him for shots, and Westbrook got called for yelling on the free throw attempt. Missi kept missing though, and Denver secured the rebound and the win at long last, 132-129.
Final Thoughts
– The Nuggets are taking “playing down to their competition” to new lows. Denver played the most apathetic roadtrip possible against the weakest string of opponents this season, and yet somehow plundered a win they didn’t look like they wanted for about two and a half hours. Denver had 8 first quarter turnovers, had the ball stolen from them 9 times in the first half alone. They needed to value possessions early and did not, so despite good shooting they simply did not have the possessions to be able to control the game in any way. Jokic came out passive – potentially because he got hit on the wrist on the opening tip and was trying to recover – but his 6 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists didn’t control the game in any way. He never put Missi in danger and while Jamal made some shots he also had some crucial turnovers on simple plays that turned into easy points. The Pelicans simply played harder to start – the same as the other two games on this trip – and Denver had to go find their intensity as the game progressed.
They tell me it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. I mean it sort of is also how you start, but Denver just completed what I think was its 9th comeback of the year when down 10+ points. The Nuggets only HAVE 15 wins – they can’t keep rolling around with no desire to win for 3 quarters and hope the margin is 10 in the final frame when they finally want to put in the work to get the victory. Or maybe they can for a while, because they did again here. MPJ was not in the game for the stretch run or overtime, but there is such a malaise over the team right now that whatever combination can give effort is gonna be given the chance by Malone.
Denver went back to what works – Jamal Murray making tough shots, Nikola Jokic directing the offense and scoring over lesser players, AG in the dunker spot, frantic wing action – and it was enough to steal a win back that Denver had tried for most of the game to throw away. Jokic had 21 points after halftime, and a triple-double! Murray made massive buckets just to get it to overtime! They showed heart down the stretch – but if they would START games with that much heart they wouldn’t need to show so much to eke out wins against bad teams. Denver went 2-1 on the road trip, which they desperately needed to do – and now they face a really tough week stuffed full of games they also need to win. Play harder earlier, Nuggets – your fans need that Christmas gift from you desperately.
