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Cold Shooting Hurts Nuggets in Loss to the Pelicans

The last time the Nuggets weren’t in the eighth spot in the Western Conference was nearly two months ago – on Feb. 3, when they were 21-27 and percentage points behind Portland for the spot.

Since then, they’d occupied it for a span of 50 days. But on the 51st day, a 115-90 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans put them back on the outside looking in and with one enormous game in Portland on Tuesday to get themselves back in it.

It’s been said on many occasions that the NBA is a make-or-miss league, and for the first time in what seems forever the Nuggets just couldn’t buy a bucket. They’d almost never been this cold from the field as a team all season long – at least a player or two had a hot hand that could be ridden. Not against the Pelicans.

After making 10 of their first 14 shots, the misses piled up. Offensively, the Nuggets didn’t have the same kind of constant movement that broke the will of so many teams prior to Sunday night. And once New Orleans started to find the range, the Nuggets were in trouble.

The second and third quarters featured point totals in the teens, 14 and 19 respectively. And by the time they got some shots to fall in the fourth quarter, it was too late. The damage had been done. The Nuggets finished with a shooting percentage of 37.9 from the field, including just 24 percent from the 3-point line.

Pelicans star Anthony Davis led all scorers with 31 points and 15 rebounds.

So now it comes down to this: The Nuggets can retain control of their own playoff destiny with a win at Portland. A win there is a must.

The Flow: We’ll start at the first quarter buzzer. That was when Anthony Davis hit a 3-pointer that gave the Pelicans the lead, 29-26. And that was notable only because the Nuggets had done a nice job of getting their style onto the court, their customary passing and moving, which helped carve out as large as nine-point lead. But New Orleans chipped away with good court spacing of their own and even better 3-point shooting. The Pelicans made 4-of-9 shots from the arc, which helped them. Converting Nuggets turnovers into points also kept New Orleans in it when it appeared Denver might really get rolling early.

Things didn’t get better in the second quarter. The Nuggets shooting froze over as the team went 5-of-25 from the field and scored just 14 points in the frame. Meanwhile, New Orleans heated up, nailing 50 percent of their tries (12-of-24) on their way to grabbing the lead and pushing it all the way up to 15 points, which was what their lead was at halftime. Anthony Davis continued his solid play with 18 points and nine rebounds in the first half.

The third quarter was only slightly better for the Nuggets from an offensive standpoint, but their defense suffered. The Pelicans put up 32 points that period. They stretched the lead to as many as 35 in the fourth and coasted to the victory.

Deciding Run: A Pelicans 38-14 run spanning the first and second quarters took them from down nine to up 15. It was a lead they’d never relinquish.

What It Means: The Nuggets are now in a situation where they must beat Portland on Tuesday night, or lose control over their playoff possibilities.

Nuggets Standouts: Mason Plumlee had 16 points and six rebounds. Gary Harris finished with 13 points. Danilo Gallinari had 11 points and five rebounds. Nikola Jokic finished with eight points and 13 rebounds.

Stat of the Game: 33: That was the number of points the Nuggets scored in the second and third quarters combined.

Next: The biggest game of the Nuggets season is up next, a Tuesday night game at Portland. Game time is 8 p.m.