NEW ORLEANS — Life was detected in the most cavernous building in the NBA for a few minutes on Wednesday, as the Pelicans flew to an early 13-point lead over their lethargic visitors.
Life was briefly detected again toward the end of the proceedings, when the Pelicans sliced a 19-point deficit to six after Nikola Jokic fouled out. There might have even been noise from the uninhabited upper deck.
But the Nuggets escaped Smoothie King Center in the end with a 125-118 win, buoyed by a mostly solid night of defense and Peyton Watson’s career-high 32 points.
In his second game starting for Christian Braun, Watson finished with a 13-for-19 double-double. Jokic added 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists on another night with two starters missing.
And Denver (11-3) finished the game with a frontcourt of Zeke Nnaji and Jonas Valanciunas after Jokic’s disqualification. Valanciunas knocked down a pair of clutch 15-footers to fend off a late comeback from the Pelicans (2-13).
From the start, this was a game layered with more intrigue than the records indicated. Zion Williamson, the Pelicans’ explosive but aloof star forward, was cleared to play after missing the last eight games. Denver’s Aaron Gordon was a last-minute scratch from the lineup for hamstring injury management, which sidelined him for one other game earlier this season.
These developments were related. Gordon has been described by Nuggets coach David Adelman as one of “only a few human beings walking around that can deal with Zion Williamson.” Adelman mirrored their minutes when the Pelicans visited Denver three weeks ago, determined to force Williamson to play against that matchup.
Without Gordon, Nnaji was enlisted as the starting power forward. He had been out of the rotation entirely to start the season.
The idea had a sound precedent, though. Gordon was out when the Nuggets hosted New Orleans in February, and former coach Michael Malone also started Nnaji for the occasion. Williamson scored an inefficient 14 points on 13 shots that day, as Trey Murphy III had to shoulder more of the Pelicans’ offensive burden. As a team, they went 4 for 11 on shots defended by Nnaji.
This time, even with two rim protectors on the floor in Nnaji and Watson, the Pelicans scored 18 points in the paint (and 23 total) in the first eight minutes. It didn’t help that Jokic committed four turnovers before he made a shot, surrendering easy transition opportunities to a struggling team that has played faster since firing coach Willie Green last week.
Out of an early Adelman timeout, the Nuggets gave up two consecutive fast breaks that ended with New Orleans missing the initial layup only to score on a second chance.
“They had a coaching change,” Adelman said pregame. “New energy. … So this is a totally different challenge.”
Jokic finally kick-started the Nuggets with five straight points after they fell behind 23-10. He was on his way to a triple-double by the end of the third quarter — those are the norm when he faces New Orleans — but the upstart Pels showed him multiple defenders and made him work all night. On offense, he finished with nine turnovers. On defense, rookie Derik Queen wasn’t afraid to attack him off the dribble.
Drafted 13th overall after a controversial trade in June, Queen is the latest new-gen prospect whose play style is clearly in Jokic’s lineage. He was responsible for Colorado State’s heartbreaking NCAA Tournament loss at the buzzer last March. Now, a franchise desperate for future answers wants to develop him into a hub of half-court offense. He paced the Pels on Wednesday with 30 points, nine boards and four assists.
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As for Williamson against the short-handed Nuggets? Nnaji and company settled in against him for a performance that would make Gordon proud. New Orleans won his minutes, but he was held to 14 points on 13 shots.
“It’s an everybody job,” Adelman said. “It’s one guy gets matched up with him, but when he attacks the basket, he’s an historical paint-point player. Everybody has to key in on him. And you can’t let him go get second opportunities. If you guarded him well once and he misses the shot, he’s so good at going back and getting it again. … Sometimes you have to wrap the guy up because he’s so explosive. But it’s a team challenge with that guy. Very, very unique talent.”
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