After losing on the road on Sunday to the Orlando Magic 128-118, the New Orleans Pelicans returned home on Tuesday to host the Nikola Jokic-less Denver Nuggets. The Pels were up for most of the game but couldn’t come up with enough clutch shots, losing 122-116 and dropping their record to 9-33 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Jamal Murray got off to a hot start through the first six and a half minutes of the game, scoring 11 of Denver’s first 16 points. Murray knocked down a couple of three-pointers and a pull jumper from 11 feet.
Trey Murphy III was the spark for the Pelicans’ offense through the first quarter, scoring 12 of the team’s 25 points with less than two and a half minutes to play in the first quarter. Early on, New Orleans found success getting to the basket, scoring 10 of its first 18 points in the paint. Down the stretch of the opening period, both teams matched bucket for bucket with the Pels down 32-31 after 12 minutes of action.
After Zion Williamson fouled Tim Hardaway, who made three free throws, New Orleans went on a 14-2 run to take an eight-point lead. A Saddiq Bey assist to a Jordan Hawkins three-point shot got things started, with Williamson and Yves Missi scoring the next six points before Hawkins knocked down another three. That shot forced Denver to take a timeout and make a couple of substitutions before Bey capped off the run with a layup to put New Orleans up 45-37 with 8:21 left in the second quarter.
The Nuggets clawed back to a three-point game midway through the second, going on a quick 8-3 run with the Pels failing to score in the paint on multiple occasions in transition. Spencer Jones and Peyton Watson were the ones to score for Denver, cutting their way to the basket and scoring twice from the charity stripe.
Murphy III was responsible for eight of New Orleans’ final nine points of the first half, recording a dunk, three-pointer, and an and-one layup with 35 seconds to go. Murray found Aaron Gordon for a layup on the second-to-last possession of the half, but it was the Pelicans that went into the locker room with the 65-60 lead.
New Orleans built on its lead by scoring the first six points of the second half before Denver scored the next seven. The rest of the third quarter was back-and-forth, with the game getting as close as three points on multiple occasions.
There was a flurry of buckets by both teams in the last two minutes with four consecutive made shots, three of which were three-pointers (two were courtesy of Jordan Poole on back-to-back possessions). A Murray free throw was the only point scored in the final minute of the third as the Pelicans entered the fourth quarter with a 92-89 advantage.
Hardaway Jr put up a fast five points to open the final period to give the Nuggets their first lead since the early part of the second quarter. New Orleans responded by putting up eight straight with Poole hitting Missi for an open shot in the paint and hitting another shot from downtown before Williamson hit an and-one floater. Jalen Pickett and Hardaway Jr combined for another seven points to put the Nuggets up by one with 8:05 to play. Bruce Brown assisted on two of the made shots by Denver.
Down the stretch, with four minutes to go, three straight three-pointers sank through the hoop. One by Murphy III and the other two were by Murray and Pickett, then Bey and Murray traded buckets after back-to-back turnovers by Jeremiah Fears and Murray. The Nuggets were ahead by two after a 15-foot floater with 1:58 left.
In the final minute, Murphy III tied the game with a layup but couldn’t do it twice, missing on a running shot to the left. That was due to Watson hitting a turnaround fadeaway with Derik Queen defending. Murray found Gordon for a two-hand dunk to put Denver up by four. Murray and Watson each hit a pair of free throws in between a Murphy layup to secure the 122-116 home loss for New Orleans on Tuesday evening.
BIG NUMBER: 30
In his two trips to the Big Easy, Denver’s Peyton Watson has scored at least 30 points in both games, putting up 31 on 11/16 shooting in Tuesday’s contest. This was after Watson was the Western Conference Player of the Week.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jamal Murray
Even with another big performance by Watson, Murray led the way for the Nuggets, putting up a team-high in points (35), assists (9), and steals (3). Murray also shot 11/19, 5/8 from three-point range, and 8/9 from the charity stripe as the Pels fell 122-116 at home.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Pelicans will return on Wednesday, January 14th, to host the Brooklyn Nets. Tipoff from the Smoothie King Center is set for 7:00 PM.