The Nuggets' three-game win streak has come to an end after a 113-108 loss to the Pelicans at Ball Arena.
It was a heartbreaking outcome for Denver as the contest was a tightly-contested matchup with several jaw-dropping plays from both teams.
Nikola Jokić had his 11th triple-double of the season to pace the Nuggets with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Zion Williamson was dominant in his first official trip to Denver, putting up 30 points and six rebounds on 9 of 13 shooting.
"We lost the game because they flat out kicked our a-- on the glass," Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said after the game. "At halftime, they doubled up our rebounding, it was 30-15. For the game, they outrebounded us by eight. We knew, going in, that they are the number one offensive rebounding team in the league and if we weren’t going to be able to match that physicality, it can make for a long night, and that’s exactly what happened."
The Nuggets finished their five-game homestand 3-2 and will now travel to Orlando to face the Magic (5 p.m. MT, ALTITUDE) and kick off a three-game road trip.
Here are the takeaways:
Outmuscled
The Pelicans are a throwback NBA team as they eschew the modern-day ethos of taking a lot of threes for a more physical brand of basketball. Unfortunately, the Nuggets weren’t able to match that physicality.
New Orleans outrebounded Denver 45-37 and had a significant edge in free throws – going to the line 30 times compared to the Nuggets’ 10 trips. Although the Nuggets and Pelicans would ultimately be even in the Points in the Paint battle at 54 apiece, the visitors were dominant in that area in the first half as they put up 36 points to Denver’s 22.
"They overwhelmed us tonight with it. We have to do a better job when we play them again in New Orleans [on Friday]," Will Barton III said. "I feel like, they just out-hustled us on a lot of plays and had too many offensive rebounds.”
Although Paul Millsap helped in trying to keep Williamson out of his comfort zone when the Pelicans superstar had his chances he was almost impossible to guard.
"They had 33 free-throw attempts to our 10, with 16 of those in the fourth quarter," Malone said. "I give Zion [Williamson] credit, he is a downhill attack, puts a tremendous amount of pressure on your defense, he got there 14 times."
Bench struggles continue
The Nuggets’ previous win streak papered the cracks over some of the struggles the bench has had recently.
Facundo Campazzo, P.J. Dozier, JaMychal Green, and Isaiah Hartenstein were all in the negative in plus/minus rating and the group was outscored 23-17. For a team that has heavily relied on its depth over the past four seasons, the lack of production is concerning. Over the past five games, the Nuggets’ bench is averaging 24.6 points (28th) and shooting 43.8 percent (18th). In wins, the reserves average 36.5 points per game (19th) and have a plus/minus of 4.8 (seventh).
Part of the struggles could be down to the absence of Monte Morris, who has been sidelined with an injury. Morris might be a newly-minted starter in place of Gary Harris, who is also injured, but his minutes allow a player like Millsap to run more with the second-unit. Until Morris is back, the Nuggets will need to find more consistency from its reserves if they want to get back in the win column against the Magic.
League’s best duo shine again
Early foul troubles slowed Nikola Jokić in the first half, as he was limited to zero points and eight minutes in the first quarter. He would more than make up for it in the second half, putting up 25 points, seven boards, and five assists in the final 24 minutes. As it has been all season long, the center was clutch in the fourth quarter and shot 5 of 7 in the final 12 minutes.