Nuggets win Third Straight; Beat Pelicans 117-97

Nov 21, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) drives to the net against New Orleans Pelicans forward Tyreke Evans (1) in the first quarter at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets came into last night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Pepsi Center riding a mini 2 game winning streak.  They left the floor after 48 efficient minutes of basketball with their 3rd in a row, an impressive 117-97 win over the surging Pelicans.

The win gets the Nuggets record to 5-7 after starting the season 1-6 and the Pelicans dropped to 6-5 with the loss.  The Nuggets were led by a slew of players in double figures including 19 points each from Arron Afflalo and Kenneth Faried, 18 from Wilson Chandler and 17 from Danilo Gallinari which is his season high in points thus far.  Ty Lawson had another good floor game scoring 11 points and dishing out 9 assists while only turning the ball over twice in the game.  The Pelicans were led by budding superstar, Anthoney Davis who tallied 18 points 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots, but Faried, Darrell Arthur and others did a really good job containing the forward who came into the game averaging 25 points and 11 rebounds.

The game didn’t start very well for the Nuggets as the Pelicans roared out to a 14-2 lead before all the fans had gotten to their seats.  After Coach Shaw called a timeout at the 8 minute mark of the first quarter, the Nuggets went on an 11-2 run to get back into the game.  The first 4 minutes of the contest saw the Nuggets playing defense like they had in their first 7 games and not how they have in winning 4 of their last 5.  Shaw berated the players on the bench in that timeout and it worked as they played excellent team defense for the rest of the night.  The Nuggets actually held a 31-26 lead after recovering in the first quarter and never trailed after that.  The Nuggets won on the scoreboard in all 4 quarters of the game and it was never really in doubt after the Nuggets took a 59-49 lead into halftime.

The Nuggets have tightened their rotation in the last week or so and that was evident last night as Shaw has taken to playing 10 guys each night.  The Nuggets had 8 players that tallied at least 20 minutes on the night and the combinations were working no matter who was on the floor.  Gallinari is playing mostly with the second team and he looks like he is getting his legs under him as he shot a respectable 5-7 from the field while going 4-4 from the line.  Gallinari admitted after the game that he is still shaking off some rust:

"”If you don’t play basketball for 19 months, trust me, it’s not easy to come back,” he said. ”You think it is but it is not.”"

Coach Shaw has been much happier with his team’s play over the last 5 games but knows there is work to be done:

"”We still have a long way to go,” Shaw said. ”It took longer than we would have liked but it’s nice to see it coming together.”"

The good news is the Nuggets are moving up the standings. The better news is that they now look like a team that is developing it’s identity and players know their roles when they take the floor. The Nuggets had over 20 assists for the 5th game in a row and continue to share the ball and get it to the open shooters. The Pelicans are an up and coming team with a bonafide superstar in Davis so this was a nice win for the Powder Blue Crew and can add to their burgeoning confidence they gained in their 2-1 road trip.

Next up for the Nuggs is a Sunday game against the Lakers at Staples Center.