After a disappointing blowout loss to the Celtics on Monday, the New Orleans Pelicans' hunt for their first win of the season continues tonight against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets have started this season off on a solid note with a 2-1 record and the association's second-best offensive rating.
Even though the focus of every team's game plan when taking on Denver is to limit Nikola Jokic, with the personnel New Orleans has, their defensive focus shouldn’t be to stop the three-time MVP. Instead, head coach Willie Green should have the team focus on stopping both Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, who are posting career bests through their first three games.
Murray is averaging 30.3 points per game and has been automatic from beyond the arc, shooting 42.9 percent from three to start the 2025-26 campaign. The same goes for Gordon, who exploded for a 50-point night in which he hit 10 triples against the Golden State Warriors last Thursday and is averaging a career-best 25.3 points per game. Thankfully for the Pelicans, they have the perfect counter in Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III for Denver's high-scoring duo.
Business as usual for Jones and Murphy III
We know the resume Jones has built as a defender during his five seasons in the NBA. Jones is by far a top-five defender in the association when healthy, as he possesses the perfect combination of size, length, and talent on the defensive end. Tasking Jones with being Murray’s primary defender shouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary. If there’s any player I trust to end this heater Murray's been on, it’s #2.
When it comes to finding someone to limit Gordon tonight, the right choice is Murphy III. Murphy III isn’t quite the defensive player Jones is, but he is still a real two-way player and presents a challenge defensively for opposing teams' players. Having him guard Gordon also put the Pelicans in a better position to game-plan and guard Jokic.
Assuming Zion Williamson plays, not having to worry about him stopping Gordon will allow Z to help on Jokic whenever the team needs it. Ideal Williamson would be tasked with guarding Christian Braun, who is shooting 20 percent from three this season, meaning he can sag off if need be and give whoever's in at the five help in stopping Jokic.
Both Murray and Gordon are overachieving to start this season, and all it might take to bring them back to earth is a good defensive showing from Jones and Murphy III. No matter what, Jokic is going to get going offensively, whether that’s as a passer, scorer, or both at the same time. So, for Willie Green tonight, the message he must relay to this group is to control what you can, and the main thing this group can control is their patience and intensity when defending Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.