The Denver Nuggets head into New Orleans to face the Pelicans and looking to get back on the victory wagon. The Nuggets lost to the Bulls in Denver after being unable to find a key stop at any point of the game, and will be playing angry (if also missing two wing rotation players in Christian Braun and Julian Strawther). The Pelicans on the other hand can barely find a win with both hands and a map, having just two on the year and being stricken with injuries while losing six straight, four of those by double-digits. They may be without both Zion Williamson and Saddiq Bey as well, but Denver has found ways to lose to injury-plagued teams in the past. Can Denver keep its focus to bounce back from the embarrassment against Chicago and get back to their winning ways?
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (10-3) at New Orleans Pelicans (2-12)
When: 6:00 PM MDT
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans LA
How to watch/listen: Altitude/ + / Radio. Let security know you’re there as Christian Braun’s personal fit expert and you’re making sure the camo hoodie isn’t his New Orleans sideline flavor.
Rival Blog: Pelican Debrief
Injury Report: Nuggets: Julian Strawther – out (back), Christian Braun – out (foot). Pelicans: Zion Williamson – questionable (hamstring), Saddiq Bey – questionable (ankle), OUT – Trey Alexander, Hunter Dickinson, Karlo Matkovic, Dejounte Murray, Jordan Poole (various reasons).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Who’s suiting up for New Orleans, and can they make it matter?
Denver has a lot of size on its side, with Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas manning the center spot and Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson as long defenders. Christian Braun’s absence leaves room for guards to find lanes to attack, but Cam Johnson and Bruce Brown can also hold their own as mobile and strong wings. Against that, New Orleans is going to try to find openings with Trey Murphy, Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen. Denver is built to defend Queen, especially if Zion can’t go. Fears and Murphy will have to get by Denver’s defense and more importantly slow down Denver’s offense – Herb Jones can’t do it alone. The Pelicans have pieces but no coherent plan – they aren’t good behind the arc or inside of it, they have no real interior presence despite Yves Missi so they can’t stop Denver’s bigs, they don’t get to the line and they are the worst scoring team in the league with the third-worst net rating.
Denver has the second-best offense and net rating. If you cannot keep up they will steamroll you – 9 of their 10 wins on the season are by double digits. The Pelicans have gotten some good scoring performances from their bench but Denver’s own bench is deeper this year despite the injuries. Can New Orleans find a way to force turnovers and get easy buckets? Beating Denver in a half-court game is a losing plan. With Cam Johnson’s offense emerging there are really no weak points in Denver’s attack, so the Pelicans need Zion to play – and play well – along with a much more efficient approach on both ends than they have shown so far. Trying to accomplish all that with a new head coach – Willie Green was fired just 4 days ago and replaced with James Borrego – makes for a tough mountain to climb.
The thing to remember: Denver will be playing mad
The Nuggets should have had that Bulls game but they started too slow and were too inconsistent against a great shooting Chicago club that had more energy than the Mile High crew despite coming off a double-overtime back-to-back. Denver relied on the schedule loss instead of actually approaching the game with the intent to win it, and letting the Pelicans hang around in this one is not the game plan. Expect Denver to come out swinging hammers and finding out whether New Orleans plans to play or fold. Pelicans fans deserve a better team than they’re getting, but the Nuggets have something to play for and that’s dangerous for New Orleans.
The thing to bet: Take the +13
The poor Pelicans can’t catch a break, either with injuries or scheduling. Before the Nuggets they played the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. The closest of those games was 14 points. Denver will be mad, the Pelicans don’t have anything to play for, and half their squad is not available or is wounded. Pride matters, but Denver should have it as well with their loss to the Bulls still stinging. Denver has put together a string of blowouts this year in their victories, and this feels like another one in the making.
