Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans Takeaways | Denver Nuggets

On By Littum

It was a bit of an adventure, but the Denver Nuggets narrowly avoided what would have been another disappointing loss Sunday in New Orleans.

Here are three takeaways from Denver’s 132-129 victory that required a 17-point comeback and five minutes of overtime:

1. That game could have been decided much sooner if Nikola Jokic played with more of a score-first mentality early on. Despite being guarded by rookie Yves Missi, a promising albeit undersized prospect, Jokic didn’t seem interested in scoring even when he had the opportunity for most of the first half.

He scored his first points on a pair of free throws in the final three minutes of the second quarter and finished the first half with six points. He finished the night with another triple-double — 27 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists — on 11-of-20 shooting, but a more aggressive approach early on might have kept him from playing nearly 43 minutes on the first night of a back. -to-back set.

Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers: 3 takeaways from Denver’s last-second loss in Portland

2. Michael Malone made the right call and ended the game with Russell Westbrook instead of Michael Porter Jr. Porter looked disinterested or a step slow most of the night.

Denver’s starting small forward finished with eight points on 2-of-8 shooting. He grabbed four rebounds and blocked a pair of shots, but any positive production was offset by his four turnovers and a handful of disengaged defensive possessions.

The trade talk surrounding the Nuggets, largely centered around a potential Porter deal, may not be easy to play through, but Denver needs a more professional approach from Porter. There’s a good reason he played less than 24 minutes while the rest of the starters played more than 35 minutes.

Friday Faceoff: Which rumored trade target would be the best fit for the Nuggets?

3. The Nuggets don’t win that game without bench contributions from the four reserves who played.

Your daily report on all things Colorado sports – covering the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and columns from Woody Paige and Paul Klee.

Success! Thank you for signing up for our newsletter.

Westbrook led the way with 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Julian Strawther scored 13 points on eight shots and finished with a team-best plus-minus mark of plus-20 in 20 minutes of playing time.

Peyton Watson had a pair of highlights to go with five points, five rebounds and five assists, while DeAndre Jordan was serviceable in the non-joke minutes.

The bench has been one of the biggest problems throughout the season, but it wouldn’t have been their fault if that game went the other way. Performances like that from the second unit give the starters considerably more room for error.

Jamal Murray deals with foot problem ahead of Denver’s busy stretch; evaluation of Nuggets’ trade options | NBA Insider

NUGGETS 132, PELICANS 129, OT

What happened: The Nuggets trailed by one after the first quarter and trailed 67-59 at halftime. New Orleans stretched the lead to 12 after three quarters, but Denver forced overtime thanks to Jamal Murray’s one-foot jumper with nine seconds left. Nikola Jokic and Murray led the Nuggets through overtime to improve to 15-11.

What went right: After a tough game in Portland, Aaron Gordon returned Sunday afternoon. After scoring two points against the Trail Blazers, Gordon scored 17 points on 12 shots and grabbed eight rebounds.

What went wrong: The Nuggets turned it over 11 times in the first half, leading to 14 Pelicans points before halftime. Denver finished with 22 turnovers, resulting in 27 points for the Pelicans.

The highlight of the night: Murray hit another big shot in the final seconds of regulation. With Denver down by two in the final 20 seconds, Murray deflected a Jokic screen, dribbled out of a double team and hit a one-foot jumper to tie the game with nine seconds left. Murray matched Jokic’s 27 points to share the team lead.

Next: The Nuggets flew back to Denver for Monday’s game against the Suns.