Denver Nuggets @ New Orleans Pelicans
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA | Game ID: 22500567
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 31 34 27 24 116DEN 32 28 29 33 122
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Murray, Watson help Nuggets beat Pelicans 122-116
NEW ORLEANS -- — Jamal Murray had 35 points and nine assists, Peyton Watson made the tiebreaking jumper with 39 seconds left and the Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 122-116 on Tuesday night.
Watson finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists in his first game since being chosen the Western Conference player of the week. Tim Hardaway Jr . finished with 18 points.
Trey Murphy III scored 31 points for the Pelicans, who lost for the 11th time in 12 games.
Murphy's layup tied it at 114 with 1:02 to play. Watson's basket put Denver back ahead and Aaron Gordon followed with a basket for a four-point lead before Murray's free throws made it 120-114 with 8.6 seconds to go.
Murray scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, making all three shots, including two 3-pointers, in about eight minutes.
Murray had 11 points in the first quarter before Watson went 6 for 6 for 15 points in the second. But Murphy had 22 points in the first half as New Orleans took a 65-60 lead.
Gordon and Jalen Pickett each scored 16 points for the Nuggets, who won for the fourth time in five games since dropping their first two games of the new year.
Saddiq Bey scored 17 points and Jordan Poole had 16 for the Pelicans, who fell to 0-3 against the Nuggets this season. Rookie Derik Queen had 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
New Orleans outrebounded Denver, missing Nikola Jokic , 50-33.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENAG A. Gordon
BB B. Brown
HT H. Tyson
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
PW P. Watson
SJ S. Jones
TH T. Hardaway Jr.
ZN Z. Nnaji
NOPDQ D. Queen
JF J. Fears
JH J. Hawkins
JP J. Poole
KM K. Matković
MP M. Peavy
MA Matkovic
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