With Thursday’s trade deadline fast approaching, the Denver Nuggets will face the visiting New Orleans Pelicans for the second time in three nights when the teams collide on Wednesday.
The Nuggets opened the two-game set with New Orleans with a 125-113 victory on Monday night. Denver didn’t have Russell Westbrook (hamstring), Peyton Watson (knee) or Aaron Gordon (calf) in the lineup on Monday night, and only Gordon is likely to play Wednesday night.
Gordon is listed as questionable, while Westbrook will miss his third straight game. Watson is out for a minimum of four weeks.
The injuries have given other players a chance to get on the court.
Zeke Nnaji had 12 points in his first start in over two years in Monday’s win and played a season-high 31 minutes, and Jalen Pickett played 13 minutes.
“You never want to be without Russell Westbrook, Aaron Gordon or Peyton Watson. But it’s an opportunity for those (other) guys to play,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.
Nnaji and Pickett were solid, but the stars led the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic recorded the 12th triple-double of his career against New Orleans and his NBA-leading 23rd of the season. Jokic is averaging a triple-double (29.5 points, 12.9 rebounds, 10.3 assists) and ranks among the top three in the league in each of those categories.
Jamal Murray is second on Denver in scoring at 20.4 points per game, and Michael Porter Jr., who had 36 points in Monday’s win, is averaging 18.3 points on the season.
The Pelicans lost Dejounte Murray to a ruptured right Achilles on Friday night and Brandon Ingram has not played the past 26 games, but Zion Williamson was in action on Monday night. He scored 14 points but was overshadowed by Trey Murphy III, who matched his career high of 41 points, and CJ McCollum, who had 30.
Murphy has been scoring at a high rate over his past 10 games, averaging 26.4 points a night to bring his season average to 22.6, just behind Williamson’s 22.9 points per game and just ahead of McCollum’s average of 22.1.
Murphy’s numbers have gone up from year to year since he broke into the league in 2021-22, when he averaged 5.4 points across 62 games. He then went for 14.5 points per game the following season before tallying 14.8 in 2023-24.
“We have seen this from Trey, pretty much since he started playing. First year, he steps on the floor and hits big shots,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “Second year, he starts because we have guys out. Third and fourth year he just continues to grow and grow. That is what we want to see from our guys, we are just extremely proud of his effort.”
Murphy’s strong play has been necessary with the injuries the team has faced. Williamson has played in just 14 of New Orleans’ 50 games this season because of injury, Herb Jones has been out nearly a month with a right shoulder injury and Ingram’s ankle injury has kept him out since Dec. 7.
