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It’s a Christmas Miracle!: Nuggets get the respect they deserve with Christmas Day showdown vs Pelicans

By Michael Walton

DENVER, CO - MARCH 31: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets shoots a free-throw against the Washington Wizards on March 31, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - MARCH 31: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets shoots a free-throw against the Washington Wizards on March 31, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Denver Nuggets have won 40 or more games in three straight seasons, which culminated in last year’s 54-win season that gave the Nuggets the 2-seed in the Western Conference. We have to give the league some credit, as the Nuggets have been given the respect they deserve after last season’s run.

The Denver Nuggets will play the New Orleans Pelicans at the Pepsi Center on Christmas Day, in a game that will showcase MVP-candidate Nikola Jokic and likely Rookie of the Year frontrunner Zion Williamson, who appears to be a box-office star already.

This Christmas Day game is great for Denver, as it will be a great way for the national audience—that don’t get to see many Denver Nuggets games—to be exposed to the wondrous ways of Nikola Jokic.

It also an awesome move for the league because it will be a marquee matchup to both strengthen the Rookie of the Year case for Williamson and the Most Valuable Player argument for Jokic.

On a broader scale, there are many great possibilities within this matchup.

Michael Porter Jr. will hopefully be a steady part of the rotation by then, and his initial Christmas Day game will be a big moment even if he is limited in his playing time. Denver could have 25-30 wins at this point in the season and with how tight the Western Conference playoff race will be, this game could actually have some long-term seeding importance as well.

The last time the Denver Nuggets played on Christmas Day was in 2012 when the Andre Igoudala-Ty Lawson–Danilo Gallinari-led Nuggs lost to the “Lob City” Clippers. In that game, the Nuggets couldn’t mount a comeback and had no answer for Matt Barnes and Jamal Crawford, who combined for 42 points [Editor’s note: What a time to be alive…].

Overall, the Nuggets are 1-4 on Christmas Day games. Their matchup with the young-Pelicans will give them a great chance to improve their 20 percent win percentage in Christmas Day matchups.

Next. Denver Nuggets: 3 players that need a big year in 2019. dark

In the 2018-19 season, Jokic averaged 20.9 points, 10.1 rebounds ad 7.9 assists per game while playing 33.8 minutes per game. The world has already started to familiarize themselves with the big man who can pile up triple-doubles in his sleep but a dominating performance against Zon’s Pels would give him that signature moment that needs to exist within every successful MVP campaign.

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