The Long ReadComeback
Nuggets climb out of 23-point hole, beat Pelicans in overtime
New Orleans led 53-30 in the second quarter, then went 6:05 without a field goal in the fourth as Jamal Murray scored 42 for Denver.
Seven minutes remained in the second quarter when the New Orleans Pelicans reached 53-30.
It was their largest lead of the night, 23 points, and the Denver Nuggets would need the rest of regulation and an overtime to run it down. They did, and won 141-135.
NOP ahead above the line · DEN ahead below
It had started as a trade of punches. Jamal Murray scored seven straight Nuggets points in the opening minutes, and Denver led 8-4 when the Pelicans began an 8-0 run at 9:29. Jeremiah Fears and Dejounte Murray split those points. Jamal Murray's last basket of his stretch made it 12-10 with 7:42 left in the first.
The real break came late in the quarter. From 27-24 with 1:32 left, New Orleans scored 14 unanswered points, a run that reached 41-24 with 11:41 left in the second. Saddiq Bey had seven of them. The Pelicans led 38-24 after one quarter, and the 53-30 margin followed.
Derik Queen, off the bench, was in the middle of it. His made field goals came five in a row, a string that ran from 0:55.7 left in the first quarter to 11:22 left in the fourth.
Denver pulled within 73-57 by halftime. Murray scored 13 in the third quarter, but New Orleans put up 35 of its own in the period and led 108-89 going into the fourth. Queen scored six straight Pelicans points across the break, and it was 112-96 with 10:10 to play.
Then the Pelicans went quiet.
From 7:24 left in the fourth, they went 6:05 without a field goal. Denver ran off nine unanswered points from 118-102 at 7:03 to 118-111 at 4:56, with Murray, Christian Braun, DeMar DeRozan and Trevon Brazile all scoring in it.
New Orleans still led 126-119 with 1:09 left. It did not score again in regulation. Murray had five points in Denver's next push, Aaron Gordon added two, and the fourth quarter ended 126-126. Nikola Jokić made two free throws with 4:23 left in overtime to finish a 9-0 run at 126-128.
The Pelicans tied it at 128 on two free throws at 2:56. Jokić answered with a turnaround jumper at 2:36, and Denver was ahead for good. Brazile hit a 3-pointer at 1:25 for 129-133.
New Orleans went 4:09 of overtime without a field goal before Queen's driving layup and free throw at 0:50.7 pulled it within 132-134. Murray missed a step-back 3 at 0:32, and Jokić put the miss back in at 0:28.8. The teams traded free throws from there until Brazile's putback with 0:09.5 left made it 135-141. The Pelicans missed a 3-pointer and a two after that.
Murray finished with 42 points on 12-of-25 shooting. He made eight 3-pointers, and none of his points came in overtime. Jokić scored 35, eight of them in the extra period. Brazile scored eight in the fourth and seven more in overtime.
- First half
- 73-57NOP-DEN
- Second half
- 62-84NOP-DEN
- Largest lead
- 23Pelicans
- Lead changes
- 23 ties
New Orleans had once led by 23. Denver's largest lead of the night was six, and it came with 0:09.5 left in overtime.