The Denver Nuggets (6-5) defeated the New Orleans Pelicans (1-10) 115-98 on Tuesday.
In a game where small-ball was on display, the Nuggets prevailed with an impressive victory. Denver shot 53 percent from the field and hit 15-of-30 threes to go 50 percent from long distance. The shooting is no surprise though, as the Pelicans continue to prove they have one of the worst defenses in the NBA. Anthony Davis left this game in the first quarter because of a shoulder injury and did not return. The Nuggets also rebounded the Pelicans 43-33 in the win and scored over 30 points in three of four quarters.
The Nuggets were blown out of the building by the Phoenix Suns in their most recent game, but played angry here. Denver was led by a fantastic performance from Danilo Gallinari, who scored a season-high 32 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists. They also got another great bench performance from Will Barton, who totaled 17 points and seven rebounds. Gary Harris also scored a career-high 16 points and provided four rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win. This was one of Denver's best games of the season, as they recorded a impressive 27 assists in the win. Denver will have to travel to San Antonio on Wednesday in the second half of a back-to-back to take on the Spurs in what will surely be a tough task.
The Pelicans lost Anthony Davis early in this game and couldn’t recover from that. They once again allowed 110-plus points and are undoubtedly the worst defense in the NBA right now. The Pelicans were led by Ryan Anderson, who tallied 24 points and six rebounds while replacing Davis. The perimeter defense was the key to the loss though, as they allowed 15 three-pointers, with many of them being open shots. That's been the problem with this team all year and they'll need to fix that if they want to dig out of this deep hole they are digging themselves. If Davis is to miss significant time, this defense will only get worse. The scary thing for the Pelicans is that they have try to stop the unstoppable Russell Westbrook on Wednesday when they travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder. That's simply a recipe for a monster game from Westbrook once again.
