New Orleans Pelicans @ Denver Nuggets
Friday, January 12, 2024 at 10:00 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO | Game ID: 22300539
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 37 29 34 25 125NOP 25 26 29 33 113
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Nikola Jokic has another triple-double against New Orleans, Nuggets beat Pelicans 125-113
DENVER -- — Nikola Jokic had 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for his 10th career triple-double against New Orleans in the Denver Nuggets ' 125-113 victory over the Pelicans on Friday night.
Jokic has 12 triple-doubles this season and 117 overall, with the 10 against the Pelicans the most versus one one opponent. He also has scored 25 or more points in 14 straight games against New Orleans.
Denver rebounded from a loss to Utah on Wednesday night to snap New Orleans’ seven-game road winning streak. “We played a little bit faster, I think,” Jokic said. “We were the ones who were aggressive. We pushed the pace. I think that was the difference.”
Michael Porter had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray finished with 20 points and nine assists.
Zion Williamson scored 30 points for the Pelicans. Jonas Valanciunas added 17 and Larry Nance Jr . had 13.
“They got off to an early start in this building,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “They had a 37-point first quarter to 25 (for New Orleans); now it’s an uphill battle the rest of the game. That’s something they do well. They get off to early starts and then they played with a lead. We’ve got to be better starting a game.”
Nance hit a 3-pointer that pulled New Orleans to 95-80, but Reggie Jackson connected on a 3-pointer and then a hook shot in the waning seconds of the third quarter, extending Denver’s lead to 100-80 going into the final quarter.
Down by 22 points early in the fourth, New Orleans fought back to 118-105 on Williamson’s dunk with 2:49 remaining. But Murray answered with a fadeaway jumper off a feed from Jokic and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a 3-pointer to put the game out of reach for the Pelicans.
Jokic delivered a highlight reel assist with a blind, behind-the-back and over-his-head alley-oop pass that Aaron Gordon caught at the rim and dunked home for Denver’s final points in the first half. CJ McCollum answered with a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer but New Orleans trailed 66-51 at the break. Malone said he’s seen Jokic make a lot of memorable plays in his nine years with the team but ranked his latest head-turning pass at or near the top.
“I didn’t imagine the behind-the-back, over-the-head pass,” Malone said. “When you’re a young kid watching NBA basketball, that’s Magic Johnson, that’s `Pistol’ Pete Maravich , the guys that just had this pizazz to their game. Nikola can beat you a lot of ways and that was definitely one of the best passes I’ve seen him make.”
Jokic said he saw Gordon open and just wanted to get the ball to him as quickly as possible. “I just saw him for a blink of an eye, and I just wanted to pass to him as soon as I can,” Jokic said. “Because he's open in that moment, not a moment after that. So, that was the quickest way to pass him the ball.”
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NOPBI B. Ingram
CM C. McCollum
DD D. Daniels
EL E. Liddell
HJ H. Jones
JA J. Alvarado
JV J. Valančiūnas
LN L. Nance Jr.
NM N. Marshall
TM T. Murphy III
VA Valanciunas
ZW Z. Williamson
DENAG A. Gordon
BK B. Key
CB C. Braun
CG C. Gillespie
DJ D. Jordan
JH J. Holiday
JH J. Huff
JM J. Murray
JO Jokic
KC K. Caldwell-Pope
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
RJ R. Jackson
ZN Z. Nnaji
NOP/DEN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur