DENVER — The Denver Nuggets were rushing toward a blowout win against the New Orleans Pelicans until the road team tightened the score to six at halftime. That’s when the home team fired up for a 29-2 run to start the third quarter to blow the birds back to the gulf behind a strong effort from three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, winning 122-88.
Jokic made history on Wednesday by tying the NBA mark with four-straight triple-doubles to tip off a season. His 189th of his career, including postseason, ties Oscar Robertson for second-most triple-doubles (playoffs and regular season combined) in NBA history — trailing just Russell Westbrook’s mark of 215.
Jokic got off to a fast start against former Nuggets champion DeAndre Jordan, who had just signed with the Pels last week. The Serbian tallied 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in the first quarter as the Nuggets built their lead. He brought the hammer again in the third quarter, to finish with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and two stocks. Building his team’s lead up to 36, Jokic didn’t need to play the fourth quarter.
“I just thought the guys were disappointed themselves,” head coach David Adelman said. “But they had a professional approach to the third quarter. So it was good to see it was good to see us do it on both ends in that third quarter. Just a professional reaction to a really bad four minutes in the second quarter.”
The third quarter really flipped the game. The Nuggets had lost the second quarter 22-19, and Denver’s run had more points in the first half of the third quarter — eventually winning that period 39-11. It was led by strong defense and 16 fastbreak points. Eventually, Jamal Murray capped it with three straight triples. The Nuggets wound up holding the Pelicans under 90 points, that’s the first time the team has achieved that mark since March of 2024.
“Professional activity. You’re going to have nights where you play great defense as a team and they score under 115, 120 points. The league is too good,” Adelman said. “But if your approach is correct, there’s going to be nights where it really shows out, like this one.”
“We had so many good possessions where guys switched off when they drove the ball in the basket, communication, taking the next man. I thought Jokic was great. Aaron Gordon did such a great job on Zion (Williamson.) There are only a few human beings walking around who can deal with them… Nikola and Jonas were really good back there in coverage, so of we can do that consistently, it helps us win games.”
Zion was held to just 11 points.
Eventually, the Nuggets went up by more than 40 points, a mark they’ve only achieved 18 times since the start of the 1996-97 season.
“I just liked our attitude the whole night,” coach shared. “And if we continue that with wins and losses, and they’re going to happen, we’ll get better every day. And that’s the whole point.”
Nuggets Notes
Christian Bruan provided strong finishing and some good two-man game moments with Jokic all night long.
Peyton Watson was highly active, recording three blocks.
The bench did a great job with three-point shooting, nailing six.
Julian Strawther got his first real rotation minutes of the year. He was part of the Nuggets’ strong bench stretch to extend the lead late in the second quarter.
The Nuggets were plus-17 on the glass at the end of the third quarter when the starters checked out.
Part of the Nuggets’ rebounding success came from Jonas Valanciunas, who snagged six rebounds and scored 10 points. It’s his second time in four games into double figures, something Denver’s backup center managed to do just five times last year.
Cameron Johnson had a slow first half, then nailed some shots in the third quarter. He was on the injury report pregame with a shoulder injury he picked up in the Twin Cities on Monday.
Murray was seen dealing with a left calf issue at times in the game. He played through it, but it’s worth a watch.
It was Jokic’s 13th triple-double against the Pels. The all-time record for triple-doubles against one team is Robertson, who had 28 against the Bullets.
What’s next for the Nuggets
The Nuggets begin their NBA Cup journey with a bout in Portland on Friday night. NBA hoops is back in Denver on Monday, after the team gets the weekend off — when the struggling Kings, who feature Westbrook, come to town.
