Nuggets drop must-win matchup with Pelicans, lose grasp on eighth seed

DENVER — The Nuggets came into their matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans looking to continue building positive momentum to carry them through their road-heavy end to the regular season. With seven of the last nine on the road, Denver could not afford to lose to the struggling Pelicans.

Instead, Denver came out and blew one of their last four home games and lost to the Pelicans by a score of 115-90.

It was all Nikola Jokic to start. He took the first four shots for Denver, hitting three of them, including two dunks and had the Nuggets first six points o the game. He was going directly at Anthony Davis and was looking assertive from the opening tip. Denver had all eight of their points in the paint to start and all were scored or assisted by Jokic. He finished the first quarter with six points, seven rebounds, and one assist.

After the torrid start from Jokic, it was the rest of the team that began to get involved. Danilo Gallinari converted a four-point play while Wilson Chandler exposed mismatches at every opportunity. Jameer Nelson was doing all of the little things for Denver while Gary Harris helped lighten the scoring load with nine points on 4-6 shooting in the first quarter.

The second unit came in to finish the first quarter and eventually gave up the lead and Denver went into the second quarter down 29-26. The Nuggets bench posted a combined -8 plus-minus in the few minutes they played and looked out of sync. Mason Plumlee was especially bad as he missed two easy layups at the rim, had a very unnecessary goaltend, and travel in transition to end the quarter.

“Our bench came into the game and was awful tonight. It just kind of fell apart from there,” Michael Malone explained. “Awful effort. This is not who we have been which gives me hope that we can hopefully turn the page and get back to being who we have been lately. We have bee a very good team. One of the best teams in the NBA but tonight, obviously, for whatever reason, we did not have that competitive fight, the energy, or the sense of urgency that you really need to have right now.”

The Nuggets deficit grew to ten points and the torture would not subside when Jokic returned at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter. The Nuggets looked out of sorts on both offense and defense. The player and ball-movement fell off of a cliff and isolation basketball was the main component of the Nuggets’ offense in the second quarter as Denver’s deficit ballooned to 15 points.

Anthony Davis was an inferno as he put up 18 points on 7-11 shooting in the first half and the Nuggets took a deficit of 55-40 into the break.

The pure lack of energy and aggression out of halftime for Denver was the writing on the wall for the rest of the game. Everything felt forced offensively and the majority of players looked visually frustrated and discombobulated. The deficit grew to 20 points and the Nuggets appeared lifeless.

The third quarter eventually doomed the Nuggets as they went into the fourth down 87-59 with no momentum on their side. Denver scored just 33 points in the second and third quarter combined.

Malone was so fed up with the lack of energy he eventually resorted to playing a lineup consisting of Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Juancho Hernangomez, Darrell Arthur, and Kenneth Faried, looking for anything that could spark some energy to help Denver climb back into the game, but to no avail. Denver’s urgency was non-existent and it led to the game being out of reach before the fourth quarter had even arrived.

“We did not have the urgency, energy, or aggressiveness needed to get this win,” Malone said. “Once again, hopefully we can get it back before Portland.”

Jokic finished with just eight points, 13 rebounds, and two assists in only 18 minutes of action.

The fourth quarter was purely a formality as Denver’s lackluster energy gave them no shot to catch the suddenly explosive Pelicans. Hernangomez and Murray played the majority of the final frame as Denver eventually lost 115-90. Gary Harris led Denver with 13 points and one assist.

“Embarrassed by the effort. I feel bad and apologize to the fans,” Malone said. “We had a bunch of great fans show up believing in this team and, obviously, this is not the effort they were looking for.”

Quote of the Game

Malone shared his thoughts on not over-reacting and trusting how his team has been playing as of late.

“I am not going to over-react because this is not who we have been. We have been a very good basketball team lately and I think we will get back to that next game in Portland,” Malone explained. “I am very disappointed that it happened tonight but, once again, we got off to to a good start. I like how we started the game. We were playing good basketball offensively and defensively.”

Playoff Outlook

The Portland Trail Blazers started the night a game behind Denver for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, but the Trail Blazers could become the official owners of that final playoff spot if they top the Lakers in Portland Saturday night.

Footnotes

DeMarcus Cousins (right ankle sprain) did not play but Davis carried the Pelicans to a victory behind a monstrous 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 assists.

What’s Next

Denver travels to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers on Tuesday in what could be the defining game of the season. Not only does the matchup have massive playoff implications but it’s also the first time that Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic will be matched up on opposing teams. With Denver losing to the Pelicans, it’s the matchup with the Trail Blazers that is now the most important game of the season.