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The Nuggets’ offense might be the best carnival ride in Denver. Already averaging 130 points through three games, Nikola Jokic and company eviscerated the Pelicans with ball movement Wednesday night, piling on a 29-2 run to start the third quarter en route to a 122-88 win at Ball Arena. The rest was an encore. Jokic went for 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his fourth consecutive triple-double to start the season, tying the all-time record with Russell Westbrook’s 2020-21 start and Oscar Robertson’s 1960-61. Jamal Murray sprayed 3-pointers from the same spot on the left wing throughout the third-quarter run. He wrapped up his night with 17 points and six assists. Neither star played in the fourth. “A lot of positives tonight,” coach David Adelman said. The Nuggets (3-1) amassed 40 assists and won the rebounding battle by 15. They outscored their visitors 62-44 in the paint and 21-11 on fast breaks. Their bench scored 51 points, led by Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 11. Peyton Watson tallied five rebounds, five assists and three blocks, including two on the same possession in a globe-trotting five-second stretch. One was in the paint; the other out at the perimeter. “Really good to see,” Adelman said. “I just liked our attitude the whole night.” Except for maybe four minutes. Denver’s starters did need a quick wake-up call before they took over. In one of their most peculiar second quarters in recent memory, the Nuggets outscored New Orleans 17-8 and stretched their lead to 18 in a prolonged stint without Jokic on the court — 8 minutes, 27 seconds to be exact — only to give up a 14-2 run to end the half immediately after the three-time MVP checked back in. The result was a head-scratching 53-47 halftime edge. “I think last year, when they got it back to six, it could have been a dogfight coming out of halftime,” Aaron Gordon said. “To turn it back on is nice. But it would be even better if we didn’t sleep.” Gordon was the only starter with a positive plus-minus (seven). David Adelman was mirroring his minutes with Zion Williamson, similarly to how he tried to manage the previous game with Timberwolves power forward Julius Randle. Gordon proved that to be a worthwhile strategy, limiting Williamson to five points in the half on 2-of-5 shooting. The Pelicans star finished the night with 11. Trey Murphy III and Jordan Poole were also held to a combined 3-for-19 shooting night. “There’s only a few human beings walking around that can deal with Zion Williamson,” Adelman said, “and Aaron’s one of them.” Before the mini-disaster to end the half, Denver’s non-Jokic minutes were another exhibit in effective team basketball. Jonas Valanciunas scored six points on perfect shooting. Bruce Brown supplied solid defensive possessions and knocked down a 3-pointer when dared to shoot. Julian Strawther played his first rotation minutes of the season and scored twice as a cutter. He also played some pick-and-roll with Valanciunas, finding the backup big man with a clean pocket pass for a midrange jumper. Christian Braun was also a bright spot for Denver after a slow first week, amassing 17 points and six points. His buckets included a floater out of the two-man game with Jokic — an atypical shot selection for him — and a poster dunk over Yves Missi — a highly typical shot selection for him. Former Nugget DeAndre Jordan played his second game since signing with the Pelicans last week and was given the start in his return to Ball Arena. Jokic gave him a kiss at center-court before winning the opening tip against his friend. A tribute video and standing ovation for Jordan soon followed. Braun later regretted not trying to dunk on his former teammate; he had chosen not to out of fear of an out-of-context photo being used against him. “The first play was pretty cool tonight because I had a chance I think to go challenge him at the rim,” Braun said. “But I knew that even if I just got fouled or something and I was on the ground, there was gonna be a picture of DJ looking at me on the ground. So I decided to pull it out and sort of wish I had tried something. … I regret it honestly. He was in a good position, but I still regret it. … You know how he is, man. I wasn’t gonna hear the end of it.” Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.
