Cold Shooting Pelicans Nipped by Nuggets 93-85
By Mike Delayo
The Denver Nuggets (19-27) are a pretty simple team to identify: they are either really hot, or really cold. Unfortunately for New Orleans, Wednesday night was the second time this season that the prior reigned supreme.
The Pelicans (24-22) came out with a lackluster effort in the first half. Unfortunately, Eric Gordon shot a whopping 1-10 from the field in the first half. He still managed to dish out 5 assists though, finishing the game with 6. Gordon’s red hot shooting of late fizzled tonight, as he finished 6-15 from the field. Just judging by body language and decision making, this is the same version of Gordon we have been seeing. Hopefully, he got all of his misses out of his system and continues to get open looks in the future.
Jan 28, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Eric Gordon (10) drives past Denver Nuggets guard
Ty Lawson(3) during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The opposite was the case for Denver big men Jusef Nurkic and J.J. Hickson. Combined, they shot 10-11 from the field for 21 points. Neither is a real threat on offense and it showed in their decline in production throughout the second half, as their total only rose to 25.
The Pelicans, who were down by as much as 16, managed to cut the lead to 10 and went into halftime trailing 49-39.
The Nuggets, who shoot 32.4% from deep and rank 26th in the league from there. Led by Aaron Afflalo and Danilo Gallinarri (who combined for 7-12 behind the arc), Denver made seven more triples (10 in total) on only 2 more looks than the Pels, who finished 3-15. All the Pelicans had to do was be bad from 3. Instead they were down right atrocious, and they lost the game as a result.
Denver has some big bodies in Nurkic, Hickson, Kenneth Faried and even Darrell Arthur. The Pels really battled hard all night against these guys and actually managed to win the rebound battle 48-39. Davis and Asik led the way, but an all around team effort on the glass was good to see.
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Tyreke Evans lit up the third quarter, scoring 15 of his 25 points in the quarter. Evans, who was a game time decision tonight due to fever and an upset stomach, faltered in terms of distributing tonight (2 assists, 4 turnovers).
That being said, he got great looks all night and converted at what he does best. 25 points and 8 assists would be fantastic, but it should not be expected
As a non-Nuggets fan, I cannot stand Jusef Nurkic. He talks a bit too much, he is extremely physical, but quite frankly he is pretty good. I can easily see why Nuggets fans love him. He was bullying his way to the hoop in the first half and made a massive impact on both ends of the floor.
When the Pelicans offense faltered early on, most of it was due to Nurkic constantly clogging the paint. It is these types of games that make me thankful we have a nice, thick center in Omer Asik to help take some heavy hits for Anthony Davis.
Despite having Asik as his personal shield, Davis showed tonight that even the Turkish giant cannot protect him from everything. In the third quarter, AD took a fall after an attempt to finish an alley-oop lob.
He instantly reached for his groin area, and was clearly in a ton of pain while being helped off of the floor. I immediately assumed the worst, and that was honestly all I could think about for the next ten minutes or so. His teammates managed to tie the score at 70 in his absence going into the fourth quarter.
Jan 28, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) holds his left leg after sustaining an injury during the third quarter of a game against the Denver Nuggets at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Thankfully, Anthony returned about mid way through the fourth quarter and ran right back onto the court. He finished the night with 24 points and 12 rebounds, which marked his tenth game in a row with 20 points or more.
Although the Pelicans could not pull out the win, I was just happy to see Davis back on his feet. The Pelicans four game win streak was snapped, which is a real bummer considering Denver is not a great team. But some nights, the shots just don’t fall regardless of execution and the team just needs to keep playing well.
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