A 1-2 start to the season has everyone around the Nuggets doubting whether or not this team has lost its championship pedigree. Although he’s putting up 22.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game, Nikola Jokic hasn’t been his usual self efficiency wise. The thinness of the Nuggets bench is no secret, out of the top 20 bench scoring teams they rely on their reserve unit the least (85.1 mins per game). The likes of Gordon, Murray and Jokic have to carry an extra burden offensively on a nightly basis, you have to wonder if that’s a recipe for success if you’re an aging team like Denver. DeMar DeRozan has been a net positive so far, in his new role. I anticipate him having more nights of 15+ shots, just like he had in the loss to Golden State.
The Pelicans are one of four teams remaining without a win through the first week of the new season. One of the three defeats suffered so far was against Denver on Saturday, in a game in which the Pels led by as many as 23 points only to fall in OT. All the issues of this team begin and end on the defensive end – they have the 26th ranked defensive rating and also allow the 2nd most points at 128 per game. Execution in the clutch has also been problematic, the three losses so far have been by a combined 10 points, while two of them were decided by just one possession. Against Denver the Pelicans turned the ball over 18 times, there is a lot of work to be done for head coach Jamahl Mosley.
It takes time to fix bad habits; I do not anticipate New Orleans to all of a sudden look like a proper team on the defensive end. Out of the last 7 meetings we’ve seen at least 238 points in 6 of them, just this past Saturday the final score was 141-135 in OT. Expect New Orleans to push the tempo, they rank 3rd in pace averaging 109.6 possessions per game. I’m taking the over here.
Nuggets vs Pelicans Predictions: Over 240.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
