0-2 against the New Orleans Pelicans, 0-2 in the new black “city” uniform and just 3-4 on nationally-televised games on TNT and ESPN.
Even with a 21-9 record, the Nuggets have given national critics more than enough ammo to doubt this teams championship aspirations. The Nuggets have been playing well lately, but if you’re not in the city of Denver you might not have noticed based on their nationally-televised performances. There’s something about the New Orleans Pelicans and holidays in particular, that the Nuggets should avoid in the future. The Pelicans defeated the Nuggets on Halloween 122-107 and now on Christmas 112-100, both on TNT, both without Zion Williamson. The Pelicans are now 9-23.
The NBA awarded Denver with 14 prime-time games including two holiday games and the Nuggets have failed to take advantage so far. These are the games where Denver can change some of the negative narrative involving the Nuggets throughout the media.
Before the highly anticipated Christmas day home game against New Orleans, the Nuggets were off to their best start in franchise history. At 21-8, riding a 7-game win streak, circumstances were looking bright for the Nuggets despite negative criticism from national media pundits.
How the Grinch stole christmas
All the positive momentum paused Christmas night, as the Nuggets let the Pelicans earn a double-digit victory on their home floor. The loss at Pepsi Center was Denver’s fourth of the season and it’s only December 27th. The Nuggets lost seven games all of last season at home, so to have four at this point in the season is alarming.
It’s key for the Nuggets to keep the mystique of Pepsi Center being a tough place for opponents to win…. and breathe.
The Pelicans played harder than the Nuggets.
New Orleans out-rebounded Denver 52-40. Even Jrue Holiday was able to out-muscle Nikola Jokic for a pivotal offensive rebound in the 4th quarter.
Brandon Ingram was deadly from the field, scoring 31-points in 35-minutes including 7 of 9 from 3-point territory. Jamal Murray struggled for Denver shooting just 2 of 10 for 8-points in 28-minutes. Jrue Holliday deserves most of the credit for Murray’s stuggles. Holiday was a pest on defense stealing the ball six times and a threat on offense scoring 20-points with 8 assists. Derrick Favors also deserves praise for his defensive work on Nikola Jokic who wasn’t efficient, scoring 23-points on 20-shot attempts.
Reversal of Trends
Prior to the Pelicans defeat and the seven-game win streak, the defense was elite, ranking 2nd behind the Milwaukee Bucks.
During the win streak, the course shifted and the offense started cooking, ranking #1 over the last seven games, meanwhile the defense dropped to 13th in defensive rating. On Christmas night, the defense failed the Nuggets and the offense couldn’t produce enough points to win the game.
So far this season, the Nuggets were able to rely on their defense to carry them to wins when their shots weren’t falling. Wednesday night was the best of both worlds for New Orleans, as the Nuggets went stretches of sloppy basketball on offense and un-disciplined defense which led to open looks at the basket.
The defense failed against the Pelicans largely due to the change of pace. The Pelicans are the fastest paced team in the NBA, while the Nuggets are dead last playing at the slowest pace.
Denver let New Orleans control the tempo by running every opportunity they had. Whether the Nuggets made a shot or missed, the Pelicans were grabbing the ball and flying up-court for open transition 3-point attempts and easy looks at the rim. Head Coach Alvin Gentry of the Pelicans, called the altitude advantage in Denver “overrated” which is the very thing that intimidates most opponents playing in Denver.
The Nuggets have struggled to adjust to teams that play at a high-tempo, even though Denver has athletes that theoretically could thrive better in that style of play. The silver-lining is this is more of a regular season problem. These losses hurt in the western conference rat race but the Nuggets are more concerned about the playoffs preparing for “playoff style basketball”.
Michael Malone is playing chess, not checkers
The pace slows down in the playoffs, which is what Michael Malone is preparing the team for. Defense and half-court offense is the formula that could win the Nuggets a championship if they’re able to reach their ceiling as a group.
The Nuggets are still in great shape, sitting at #2 in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The Nuggets have struggled on the big-stage which doesn’t help their popularity or hype-machine. I still believe it’s vital the Nuggets struggle now, so they can peak at the right time before the playoffs. Michael Malone is still playing as many as ten players on any given night. Malone is still experimenting with the lineups, seeing who fits where, who plays better with who and ultimately who’s going to to become apart of the playoff rotation.
Denver still has favorable opponents on their schedule, starting with Minnesota Saturday afternoon.
I just hope the Nuggets show a bit more fight on the national stage, so people outside of Denver could get a glimpse of what we see on a nightly bases.
#FreeGame 