New Orleans Pelicans @ Denver Nuggets
Wednesday, February 5, 2025 at 9:00 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO | Game ID: 22400726
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 36 32 45 31 144NOP 36 32 27 24 119
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Porter ties career high with 39 points, Jokic adds 38 as Nuggets beat struggling Pelicans 144-119
DENVER -- — Michael Porter Jr . tied a career high with 39 points on the eve of the trade deadline, Nikola Jokic added 38 and the Denver Nuggets beat the struggling New Orleans Pelicans 144-119 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight win.
Porter finished 16 of 23 from the field, including five 3-pointers, and had 12 rebounds. His name has been mentioned in trade speculation ahead of Thursday’s deadline, but coach Michael Malone recently dismissed the notion.
Jokic added 10 assists and eight rebounds for the short-handed Nuggets, who were missing Russell Westbrook (hamstring) and Peyton Watson (knee). Aaron Gordon matched a career best with 12 assists.
Denver and New Orleans met for the second time in three nights. The Nuggets won 125-113 on Monday.
Zion Williamson finished with 28 points for the Pelicans, who lost their seventh straight game.
Takeaways Pelicans: Trey Murphy III had 25 points after going for 40 and 41 in his previous two games.
Nuggets: The Nuggets had 40 assists, 37 fast-break points and 74 points in the paint. They entered the game leading the league in all three categories. ... Christian Braun had 23 points. ... Porter also had 39 points on April 24, 2021, against Houston.
Key Moment Tied at 72 in the third quarter, Porter hit a running layup to give the Nuggets the lead for good. It was part of a 41-23 run to close out the quarter.
Key Stat Jokic attempted a career-high 13 shots from 3-point range and made five.
Up Next The Nuggets host Orlando on Thursday, while the Pelicans are at Sacramento on Saturday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENAG A. Gordon
CB C. Braun
DJ D. Jordan
HT H. Tyson
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
JS J. Strawther
JO Jokic
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PH P. Hall
SJ S. Jones
ZN Z. Nnaji
NOPAR A. Reeves
CM C. McCollum
JC J. Cain
JG J. Green
JH J. Hawkins
JR J. Robinson-Earl
KB K. Brooks Jr.
KM K. Matković
MA Matkovic
TM T. Murphy III
YM Y. Missi
ZW Z. Williamson
DEN/NOP 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