Flashbacks to the Nuggets' playoff loss to the Trail Blazers hang over Denver's Christmas Day defeat

Did anyone have flashbacks to last May and the Nuggets and Trail Blazers’ Western Conference semifinal matchup while watching the Pelicans bully the Nuggets on national TV in Denver’s first Christmas Day game since 2012?

In that playoff series, CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard poured in 26.4 and 25.1 points per piece across seven games. But it was what the Trail Blazers got from Rodney Hood, whose 25 points off the bench in what could have been a closeout Game 6 for the Nuggets and 14.7 points per game, that proved to be the difference in the series.

On Wednesday, the Nuggets couldn’t stop a different 6-foot-8 long-armed forward. Brandon Ingram torched Denver for 31 points on 11 of 18 shooting and led the Pelicans to a convincing 112-100 win. Ingram shot 7 of 9 from 3 in 36 minutes, and the Nuggets had no answer for his combination of size, shot-making, and versatility, similar to how they had no answer for Hood eight months ago.

“We don’t have a matchup for Brandon Ingram, so I got to do a better job helping our guys out,” Michael Malone said after the loss. “Game 1 he had 25. Tonight he had 31, and he did it in a very proficient, efficient, and easy manner. So I got to help our guys a little more in terms of trying to guard him 1-on-1.”

The Pelicans went small with their starting lineup and played Ingram at power forward for most of the game, and on five of his scoring possessions, Paul Millsap began as Ingram’s primary defender. On four of his baskets, it was backup Jerami Grant, who opened the possession guarding Ingram. But Millsap and Grant rarely ended up as the closest defender to Ingram when the smooth-shooting wing eventually put the ball in the basket.

New Orleans ran Ingram off one ball screen after another, and the Nuggets were more than happy to switch those exchanges. As a result, two of Ingram’s baskets came with Jamal Murray as his closest defender. On one of those possessions, Murray bungled a switch leaving Ingram wide open from the top of the three-point arc, which caused Will Barton to throw his hands up in frustration. On another, Grant and Murray switched an Ingram-Lonzo Ball pick-and-roll on the left-wing. Ingram then beat Murray off the dribble and drove right past Denver’s point guard and to the basket.

Switching those screens crushed the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic didn’t step up high enough on a switch to contest an Ingram 3 in the first quarter. Gary Harris proved too small to guard Ingram when switched onto the forward, and a costly defensive miscue late in the fourth when Harris rotated to Ball in the corner and left Ingram open on the wing led to another made 3. When Mason Plumlee switched out on Ingram late in the third, Ingram casually dribbled up to the three-point line and launched from distance before Plumlee could close down his airspace.

From my count, Ingram scored two baskets on the Millsap/Grant combo when he didn’t have a screen that switched him onto a more lucrative matchup. Midway through the second quarter, Millsap sunk into the paint on a Kenrich Williams drive and couldn’t recover to the corner in time to contest Ingram’s 3. Then in the fourth, Ingram came around the three-point arc by way of a Ball screen, and Grant stuck with the forward well but was too far off him when Ingram eventually stopped his dribble. Ingram stopped, realized he had the necessary clearance, and sunk his sixth 3 of the night.

“Give him credit. He played well,” Barton said. “He made shots. We know he wants to get downhill and get to the rim, but when he’s making 3s and integrating his drive game, he’s tough. He got it rolling tonight. Give him credit. He played very well.”

Two of the Nuggets’, nine losses on the season are now to the 9-23 Pelicans. Denver fell in New Orleans on Halloween night 122-107, and Wednesday’s loss ended the Nuggets’ season-long seven-game winning streak.

Ingram wasn’t the only reason why the Pelicans beat the Nuggets for the second time this season. New Orleans roasted Denver on the offensive glass, grabbing one momentum-shifting offensive rebound after another. The Pelicans grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded the Nuggets 52-40 overall. Jrue Holiday (six steals) shut down Murray, who shot 2 of 10 from the field for just eight points. Derrick Favors limited Jokic, who shot just 8 of 20 from the floor and 6 of 15 from two-point range, around the hoop. Jokic only tallied four assists, his lowest assist total in three weeks.

The Pelicans also beat the Nuggets to countless 50-50 balls and out-hustled Denver, a point Malone made sure to hit on postgame.

“I don’t think we played hard enough, to be honest with you,” Malone said. “I don’t think on Halloween on national TV we played hard enough. Give them credit. Let’s give them credit. They came in here on Christmas night and played harder than us, wanted the game more than us

“From the beginning of the game, our turnovers were a joke to start, not ready to play, didn’t guard at all in the first half. They have a lot of dribble-drive guards that give us trouble. Their size and length and physicality on the glass has hurt us. We actually did a better job in transition, 37 (points) the first time, and only 12 tonight. We had a great seven-game winning streak, but tonight we were a different team.”

Malone’s assertion that the Nuggets’ “don’t have a matchup” for Ingram overshadowed a frustrating night for Denver. With the Nuggets’ personnel, a switching defense may not work against Ingram. For as good of a defender as Harris has been this season, he’s too small to contest the long-armed wing, as is Murray. Denver’s two centers don’t stand a chance when switched out on Ingram either.

In theory, Grant should be the defender that’s deployed in these situations. It’s a reason the Nuggets gave up a first-round pick for him this summer after all. Grant is supposed to be the rangy 6-foot-9 forward who can check anyone from Giannis Antetokonmpo to LeBron James, to Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard. He won’t shut those All-Stars down and may not have the strength to prevent them from getting to their spots — few do– but he has the combination of size and agility to limit them better than anyone else on Denver’s roster.

The Nuggets wanted Grant to be that guy Wednesday. He outplayed Millsap — 29 minutes to just 16 — and shadowed Ingram for most of the game. That minutes distribution is what will be expected from Denver when going against downsized teams like the Pelicans who start a playmaking four at power forward. Torrey Craig, who didn’t play against New Orleans and has been out of the Nuggets’ rotation for the last couple of games, could be another option to defend Ingram. But Craig wasn’t able to contain him in the two team’s first meeting of the season when he started at small forward, and Ingram dropped 25.

The Nuggets couldn’t stop Ingram Wednesday, just like they couldn’t earlier this season, and like they couldn’t limit Hood in the playoffs last spring. It’s a concern that will hang over the Nuggets for the time being.

There are much tougher matchups in Ingram’s mold that likely await Denver later this season and in the playoffs like James, George, and Leonard. How Nuggets defended Ingram in two games this season won’t work against them either.