Denver Nuggets @ New Orleans Pelicans
Wednesday, November 19, 2025 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA | Game ID: 22500260
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 30 28 25 35 118DEN 26 36 35 28 125
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Jokic's triple-double and Watson's career-high 32 points push the Nuggets past the Pelicans, 125-118
NEW ORLEANS -- — Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 125-118 on Wednesday night.
Peyton Watson scored a career-high 32 points as Denver won for the eighth time in nine games. Jamal Murray had 14 points, including a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left.
Zion Williamson scored 14 points for New Orleans in 29 minutes in his return from a left hamstring injury that had sidelined him for eight games.
Rookie Derik Queen , who started opposite Jokic at center, scored a season-high 30 points to go with nine rebounds. He also helped cause Jokic to commit nine turnovers and foul out with 2:44 left.
Trey Murphy III added 23 points for the Pelicans, who lost their seventh straight and fell to 0-3 under interim coach James Borrego.
After trailing by as many as 19, New Orleans reduced its deficit to single digits in the final minutes, but former Pelican Jonas Valanciunas , who scored 14 points, hit a pair of clutch jumpers for the Nuggets.
Pelicans rookie Jeremiah Fears scored 16, giving the guard 11 or more points in all but one of New Orleans' 15 games this season.
Watson scored 11 of his points in the first six minutes of the second half, when the Nuggets widened their lead from 62-58 at halftime to 81-70.
That's when Jokic started to take over, hitting a putback layup, a 7-foot pull-up jumper and a 3 that made it 93-76.
With Williamson back in the starting lineup, the Pelicans raced to a 13-point lead when Herb Jones' 3 made it 23-10 in the first quarter. But Denver steadily erased its deficit and took the lead for good when Watson's 3 made it 51-49 with 3:02 left in the second quarter.
Up next Nuggets: Visit the Houston Rockets on Friday night in NBA Cup West Group C play.
Pelicans: Visit the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night in NBA Cup West Group B play.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENBB B. Brown
CJ C. Johnson
JM J. Murray
JV J. Valančiūnas
JO Jokic
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
SJ S. Jones
TH T. Hardaway Jr.
ZN Z. Nnaji
NOPDQ D. Queen
HJ H. Jones
JA J. Alvarado
JF J. Fears
JH J. Hawkins
KL K. Looney
MP M. Peavy
SB S. Bey
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