NEW ORLEANS — Evidence of life was detected in the NBA’s most uninhabitable building for a few minutes on Wednesday, as the Pelicans soared to an early 13-point lead over some lethargic tourists from Denver.
More signs were detected a couple of hours later, when the home team sliced a 19-point deficit to six after Nikola Jokic fouled out. Sonar may have even located multiple sources of noise from the cavernous upper deck.
But the Nuggets escaped Smoothie King Center in the end with a 125-118 win, buoyed by a mostly successful night of defense and Peyton Watson’s career-high 32 points.
“Some of the glaring things that we saw in the Portland game, we saw that late in this game,” coach David Adelman said after the Nuggets narrowly survived another team’s press. “So we have to keep watching tape. When we get a chance to practice, go through those things, the situational basketball. … We just have to finish games better. That’s the bottom line.”
In his second game starting for Christian Braun, Watson finished with a 13-for-19 double-double, spraying down corner 3s and establishing confidence to attack the rim throughout the game. Jokic added 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists on another night when two starters were missing.
And Denver (11-3) finished the game with a frontcourt of Zeke Nnaji and Jonas Valanciunas after Jokic’s disqualification. Valanciunas knocked down a pair of clutch 15-footers to fend off a late comeback from the Pelicans (2-13).
From the start, this was a game layered with more intrigue than the records indicated. Zion Williamson, the Pelicans’ explosive but aloof star forward, was cleared to play after missing the last eight games. Denver’s Aaron Gordon was a last-minute scratch from the lineup for hamstring injury management, which sidelined him for one other game earlier this season.
These developments were related. Gordon has been described by Adelman as one of “only a few human beings walking around that can deal with Zion Williamson.” Adelman mirrored their minutes when the Pelicans visited Denver three weeks ago, determined to force Williamson to play against that matchup.
“(Gordon) got over here. Didn’t feel great about it. And then we went into the day knowing — we always go into our meetings knowing — if so-and-so doesn’t play, what are we gonna do? What’s the adjustment?” Adelman said. “So that’s something that as a coaching staff we do every day anyway.”
Without Gordon, Nnaji was enlisted as the starting power forward. He had been out of the rotation entirely to start the season.
The idea had a sound precedent. Gordon was out when the Nuggets hosted New Orleans in February, and former coach Michael Malone also started Nnaji for the occasion. Williamson scored an inefficient 14 points on 13 shots that day, as Trey Murphy III had to shoulder more of the Pelicans’ offensive burden. As a team, they went 4 for 11 on shots defended by Nnaji.
“He’s had success in the past, at least physically, guarding Zion,” Adelman said. “He hasn’t stopped him. No one really does 1-on-1. So he’s had experience doing it, and I trusted that. I’ve been here. I’ve seen him do it. I remember the past. So we trust Zeke to do it. On nights like this, it was the right matchup. … It’s not gonna be the most popular player that’s gonna start. It’s gonna be who makes sense to win the game.
“We have Cam (Johnson) and Jamal and Nikola out there. You get a great night from Peyton offensively. That particular player was very important because it had to be somebody that made sense with Zion.”
This time, even with two rim protectors on the floor in Nnaji and Watson, the Pelicans scored 18 points in the paint (and 23 total) in the first eight minutes. It didn’t help that Jokic committed four turnovers before he made a shot, surrendering easy transition opportunities to a struggling team that has played faster since firing coach Willie Green last week.
Out of an early Adelman timeout, the Nuggets gave up two consecutive fast breaks that ended with New Orleans missing the initial layup only to score on a second chance.
“They had a coaching change,” Adelman said pregame. “New energy. … So this is a totally different challenge.”
Jokic finally kick-started the Nuggets with five straight points after they fell behind 23-10. He was on his way to a triple-double by the end of the third quarter — those are the norm when he faces New Orleans — but the upstart Pels showed him multiple defenders and made him work all night. On offense, he finished with nine turnovers. On defense, rookie Derik Queen wasn’t afraid to attack him off the dribble.
Drafted 13th overall after a controversial trade in June, Queen is the latest new-gen prospect whose play style is clearly in Jokic’s lineage. He was responsible for Colorado State’s heartbreaking NCAA Tournament loss at the buzzer last March. Now, a franchise desperate for future answers wants to develop him into a hub of half-court offense. He paced the Pels on Wednesday with 30 points, nine boards and four assists.
The Nuggets will face another Jokic disciple on Friday, when they visit Houston for an NBA Cup showdown. Turkish big man Alperen Sengun has helped establish the Rockets as the highest-rated offense in the league early this season. All five teams in Denver’s NBA Cup group are 1-1 with two games left to play, making this a critical swing game.
As for Williamson’s production against the short-handed Nuggets? Nnaji and company settled in for a performance that would make Gordon proud.
New Orleans won Williamson’s minutes, but he was — exactly like February — held to 14 points on 13 shots.
“Coach said Zion was probable, and if he plays, I’m gonna start, and if he doesn’t, he’ll go with someone else — but stay ready,” Nnaji told The Post. “So he gave me the heads-up, and I was able to prepare. … It’s just a mentality of matching his physicality. He’s a physical driver. He wants to get downhill to that left hand. It’s knowing what he likes to do, what he’s trying to get to and being ready for the challenge. Try to show your hands. Stay clean. Alter his shots.”
“As the game went on, we did a much better job shrinking behind the initial defender,” Adelman said. “The guy is such a load inside when he gets in the paint. … Only four free throws means we were walling up physically without fouling. And look, the NBA is hard. Winning, it’s a premium. To find a way to do it, with the team defense behind (Nnaji) and Zeke stepping in after not playing hardly at all this year, it was really cool to see, just the maturity of Zeke to know it’s my night to play. He was ready to go.”