A REAL RUNAWAY
Denver routs Pelicans 146-114
The Nuggets’ starting backcourt returned to full strength Friday night, with Gary Harris suiting up against the New Orleans Pelicans after a two-game absence with a shoulder injury.
Harris and Jamal Murray put together a blistering shooting performance, combining to score 53 points in a 146-114 blowout win at the Pepsi Center.
Denver notched its season high for points and improved to 7-2 at home, including four victories in a row. The Nuggets have won eight of their last 11 games overall.
Murray finished with 31 points on 13of-18 shooting, narrowly missing his career high of 32 points set less than a week ago in a win over the Orlando Magic. Harris scored 22 points on 9-of11 shooting (including 4-of-6 from 3point range) and added five assists.
After letting the Pelicans reduce a 27point first-quarter deficit to single digits, the Nuggets put the contest away by outscoring New Orleans 42-24 in the third quarter.
Murray scored nine of his points — including a 3-pointer from the left wing — during a 13-5 Denver run to start the quarter. When Paul Millsap sank a leftcorner 3 about midway through the third, Denver’s lead had ballooned back up to 20 points at 85-65. That advantage grew to 34 points in the final minutes.
The Nuggets followed their worst offensive performance of the season in a loss at Portland with one of their best quarters to start Friday’s game. Denver connected on nine of its first 10 fieldgoal attempts, shot 68.2 percent overall (including 5-of-9 from 3-point range) and scored 37 points to take an 18-point lead. Murray and Harris combined for 21 points in the quarter on 9-of-10 shooting.
But the Pelicans answered by outscoring Denver 37-27 in the second quarter to trim the lead to 64-56 at halftime. New Orleans star big man Anthony Davis scored 13 of his 17 in the period, while the Nuggets’ offense got clunky as soon as coach Michael Malone turned to his bench. Davis, however, exited the game with a concussion after accidentally butting heads with Nikola Jokic early in the third quarter.
DeMarcus Cousins, the other part of New Orleans’ dominant frontcourt, finished with 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting, to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Denver countered inside with 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists from Millsap and double-doubles from both Jokic (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Wilson Chandler (15 points, 11 rebounds).
The Nuggets are still waiting for their ideal rotation to click back into place, as reserve forward Juancho Hernangomez continues to work his way back from mononucleosis. He played the final four minutes, when the result was well in hand.
But Denver’s starting backcourt returned to full strength Friday night — and put together a blistering shooting performance in another Nuggets home blowout.