The New Orleans Pelicans suffered a nail-biting 113-108 loss to the Denver Nuggets in the first night of a back-to-back.
The Pels were led by Zion Williamson’s career night, but it wasn’t enough. After beating Denver on the road just two games ago, the roles were reversed at the Smoothie King Center. New Orleans led for most of the game, with the Nuggets at one point not being on top since being up 4-2 in the first quarter, only to succumb in the last period.
New Orleans remains twelfth in the Western Conference after this defeat, two games behind a qualifying spot for the play-in tournament.
The Denver Nuggets came into Friday night’s game at the Smoothie King Center after a busy trade deadline. The Nuggets added Aaron Gordon to their roster in a marquee trade, as well as reuniting with JaVale McGee and incorporating Gary Clark. Neither of the three featured.
The Pels had a quieter deadline, but still brought in James Johnson and Wesley Iwundu from the Dallas Mavericks. They weren’t available to play either. This deal meant shipping out JJ Redick and Nicolò Melli to the lone star state.
I wondered if Melli’s absence would mean some one-time minutes for Naji Marshall, Wenyen Gabriel, or Will Magnay given that the Italian had featured in the Pels’ last games, but Stan Van Gundy went with a slightly shorter rotation instead.
Here are the player grades for the Pels’ loss against the Nuggets, starting with my personal MVP:
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Denver Nuggets: Grading the best player
Zion Williamson was unstoppable for the New Orleans Pelicans, posting a career-high 39 points along with 10 rebounds and five assists.
The signs of utter dominance were there from the start. Williamson scored 15 points in the first quarter alone. Much like two games ago, the Nuggets had no response for the Pels’ all-star. He punished Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokic, JaMychal Green, and everyone Denver threw at him alike.
Williamson’s tour de force was also on display down the stretch. Even with the game in its dying minutes, Williamson got to the rack at will. It didn’t matter that Denver was singularly focused on him, as Williamson scored 10 points in the last period.
Still, some won’t be happy with how the end of the game played out. Williamson didn’t take a shot in the last two minutes. He set up Brandon Ingram for a wide open three—more on that later—but the offense stopped running through him.
It’s a shame that Williamson’s best night of his career so far ended in a loss.
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Nuggets: Grades for the guards
Eric Bledsoe enjoyed his best night in a while against the Nuggets with 16 points, nine assists, and two steals.
This was Bledsoe’s highest-scoring night since the end of February. The former Bucks guard is here to stay, at least until the end of the season, and it seems like he went into the contest against Denver with some renewed motivation. Time will tell if that’s true.
Bledsoe was more emphatic than he has been throughout the course of the season. He constantly applied pressure at the rim—to mixed results, admittedly—and played with aggression instead of apprehension. Bledsoe also competed on the defensive end of the floor. At the very least, he didn’t look completely apathetic.
The Pelicans need more nights like this from Bledsoe.
Kira Lewis Jr. had the best performance of his young NBA career against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Pels’ last game, but simply had an alright night versus the Nuggets.
The good news is that Lewis finished with three assists to zero turnovers and also pitched in offensively with six points. Like always, he sped up the pace for the Pels.
However, Lewis missed all three of his attempted triples. The Alabama draftee is not a threat from beyond the arc yet, which threatens to limit his game in the long term. However, that’s not something to worry about for now.
Even when Facundo Campazzo tried to take advantage of this by going underneath a ball screen and daring Lewis to shoot, the Pels’ rookie did a good job stepping into a closer mid-range shot and swishing it.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker will rue missing a pivotal three in the last two minutes of this close game, but he should be proud of the rest of his performance.
The former Virginia Tech combo guard continues to grow for New Orleans, which is a great sign given his up-and-down play at the start of the season. Alexander-Walker had 14 points and once again fired away a high volume of three-pointers. He finished 4-of-10 from the perimeter.
However, I was most impressed by Alexander-Walker on defense. His two blocks and two steals correctly indicate his level of activity on this end of the floor. Alexander-Walker was everywhere at times, picking up deflections, making second efforts, and just generally competing.
He’s been great in Lonzo Ball’s absence.
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Nuggets: Grades for the wings
Brandon Ingram really struggled against the Denver Nuggets.
Ingram went off for 36 points against the Lakers in the New Orleans Pelicans’ previous game; however, he had a down night. These types of games happen over the course of an NBA season and it’s nothing to worry about, but Ingram’s team-low -29 mirrored his impact on the floor.
The Pels’ wing really struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. Once his shots weren’t going in, he started second-guessing himself and failed to play within the flow of the offense. He was 5-of-17 from the field, even though he made a trifecta of three-pointers.
On top of that, Ingram’s irregular play in the clutch continued. He missed a good look at the rim on a drive and then didn’t convert on a completely open spot-up corner three.
Solid as always.
As we know, Josh Hart will be a restricted free agent this summer. He isn’t one of the flashiest names on the market, but I expect him to command a significant market. Any team with playoff or championship aspirations would love to have a player as dependable as Hart. He embodies the definition of a role player and glue guy.
Hart scored ten points and gathered eight rebounds. He also played well on defense, switching up and down positions on a whim. You could spot Hart on Michael Porter Jr. or Jamal Murray, for instance, within the same quarter.
Going forward, let’s see if Wes Iwundu is added to the Pels’ wing rotation.
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Nuggets: Grades for the centers
After doing alright in their first encounter, Steven Adams had a tough time against Nikola Jokic.
Adams might have actually been better on offense than defense, which is a rarity for him but doesn’t say much in this game. On some occasions, Adams was able to gather the ball and go through Jokic, but any good from that was undone on the other end of the floor.
Adams played a team-high 41 minutes, a sign that he is the center Stan Van Gundy trusts most against the Nuggets’ MVP candidate. He competed when Jokic met him in the paint but found it difficult to step out of his comfort zone.
In particular, Adams struggled to deal with the Nuggets’ constant screens, which did not go well given Denver’s propensity to run those types of actions. He also wasn’t the imposing force he tends to be on the boards.
Stan Van Gundy didn’t trust Jaxson Hayes against the Nuggets, only playing the Texas big around seven minutes.
That’s not enough to give him a proper grade. Hayes had one impressive reverse dunk on a lob pass from Kira Lewis, but it was unfortunately waived off. I was interested in seeing how Hayes would have dealt with switching onto the likes of Jamal Murray, but it’s evident that Van Gundy doesn’t want to see that right now.
Hayes has had an impressive March, but let’s see if his spot in the rotation remains a fixture after the arrival of James Johnson. Johnson is evidently less athletic and dynamic than Hayes, but Van Gundy might be enchanted by his toughness and veteranship.
Up next, the Pels’ back-to-back continues, coincidentally enough, against the Dallas Mavericks. JJ Redick will not be available, as he continues to recover from the heel injury that kept him out of action for New Orleans.