Two teams looking for their first win of the season will meet Saturday night when the New Orleans Pelicans take on the Denver Nuggets in the Mile High. The Pelicans will be playing in the second half of back-to-back after falling short against the Jazz Friday night 120-119. In both of New Orleans’ losses this season, the Pelicans have had a shot in the final seconds to either win or tie the game, but unfortunately both attempts came up short. They have a large task in front of them tonight with the Denver Nuggets. Denver lost their first game of the season against the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-84. The Nuggets led this game until late in the 3rd quarter. The Nuggets could not get their offense started against the Thunder’s elite defense, finishing the game shooting 38% and 27% from three.
It was a slow start for Denver offensively, but Saturday’s game has ‘bounce back’ written all over it. The Nuggets finished the 2025-2026 season with the best offense in the NBA, posting a franchise-record and historic 122.6 offensive rating. That number ranks them second all-time, only behind the 2023-2024 Boston Celtics. They ranked 1st in numerous key categories such as points per game, half-court offensive rating, team 3-point percentage, corner 3-point percentage, and uncontested 3-point percentage. The moral of the story, the Nuggets offense could make shots from anywhere on the court. Fast forward to this season, Denver has a lot of roster pieces that returned from last year, including some new pieces they are hoping will help them reload. DeMar DeRozan is hoping to be a big contributor for Denver off the bench and strengthen this team's depth. They now get the Pelicans, who have struggled in recent years getting off to a fast start, playing in the second half of a back-to-back. Blowouts have not been uncommon in the NBA this year, with already 50% of games finishing with a final score difference of 10 or more points. I believe this game has all the makings of a comfortable Nuggets win.
Pelicans vs Nuggets prediction: Nuggets -11.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable to Nuggets -12.
