Nikola Jokic logs triple double as Nuggets rebound with dominating win over Pelicans

Before Friday night’s game, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he doesn’t believe in “statement games” during the regular season. Fair enough. But the Nuggets’ 125 103 domination of the Pelicans at Ball Arena spoke volumes. The Nuggets, coming off a lackluster effort in a 124 111 loss at Utah on Wednesday night, played with energy, creativity and unselfishness to halt New Orleans’ seven game road winning streak.

The play of the game — and perhaps the pass of the season — came from Nikola Jokic. Who else? With 33.6 seconds left in the second quarter, Jokic tossed a blind, over the head pass to Aaron Gordon who was streaking to the basket. Gordon slammed a jam home for a 66 48 lead. Jokic, once again a leading candidate for the NBA’s MVP, painted a pretty linescore: 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.

He has now posted a triple double in each of his last five games against the Pelicans. Friday marked the 117th triple double of his career, the fourth most in NBA history. He’s 21 triple doubles behind Magic Johnson for third on the league’s all time leaderboard. In the first two games against the Pelicans this season, Jokic averaged 30 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists.

Michael Porter Jr. shot 8 of 12 from the floor to finish with 20 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. He put an exclamation point on his night with a rebound, put back slam with 5 minutes left in the game that brought the crowd to its feet. Disappointed in his team’s recent defensive play, Malone preached to his team about the need to play more aggressive perimeter defense.

It turns out he was preaching to the choir, at least in the opening quarter when Denver took a 37 25 lead, limiting the Pelicans to 3 for 10 shooting from beyond the arc. The Nuggets, meanwhile, sizzled, sinking five of their seven 3s, two of them from Peyton Watson off the bench. New Orleans shoots a lot of 3 pointers and that strategy has carried the Pelicans in recent games.

They entered Friday’s game with the best shooting percentage from beyond the arc (42.7%) in the league since the In Season Tournament ended in early December. Friday night, they ended up shooting 13 of 33 (39.4%). Pelicans’ forward Zion Williamson, playing with a bruised right quadriceps, was a force in the paint and finished with a game high 30 points on 13 of 22 shooting.

Denver, winners of 10 of its last 13 games, was hoping for a mid January jumpstart because the road ahead is steep. Nine of their last 10 games in the month are against opponents currently in the playoff picture, and six of them are on the road. Excluding a Wizards game in the upcoming road trip, Denver’s opponents during the January test had a combined win percentage of .661 entering Friday night’s slate of games.

“It’s gonna show a lot about who we are,” Malone said. “Because these are the dog days.”.