Nuggets at Pelicans
Two weeks ago a meeting with the Denver Nuggets would have been an easy test on the road to a potential postseason spot. Instead, the New Orleans Pelicans will host a dangerous Nuggets squad on Sunday that is finally beginning to come together under interim coach Melvin Hunt. Denver improved to 5-2 under Hunt with a win over NBA-best Golden State on Friday and has opened up the offense to make better use of the team’s length and speed.
The Pelicans have plenty of length of their own, especially along the front line with Anthony Davis, Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca, and are tied for eighth place in the Western Conference. New Orleans has won three straight and nine of its last 11 but has been off since posting a 111-91 win at Brooklyn on Tuesday. One of those last nine wins came at Denver 99-92 on March 1 and turned out to be the last game the Nuggets played under former head coach Brian Shaw before Hunt took over.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (25-41): Denver failed to reach 100 points and averaged 87.8 while dropping its final six games under Shaw but has hit the century mark in each of the seven games under Hunt. The Nuggets caught a break when the Warriors sat their two All-Stars and five rotation players on Friday but still can count wins over the top two teams in the league this week after taking out Atlanta on Wednesday. The player seeing the biggest improvement under Hunt is forward Kenneth Faried, who put up 24 points and 17 rebounds on Friday for his fifth double-double in seven games.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (36-29): New Orleans is hoping the five-day break between games will give guard Tyreke Evans enough time to overcome an ankle injury that kept him out of the win over the Nets. Evans, who went through practice on Saturday but is still considered day-to-day, has been one of the keys to the Pelicans’ recent strong play while taking over point guard duties from Jrue Holiday (stress reaction). Evans put up 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the March 1 meeting with Denver and is averaging 18.3 points in six games this month.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets took the first two meetings this season, including a 93-85 triumph at the Pelicans on Jan. 28.
2. Denver F Darrell Arthur (calf) and G Ty Lawson (Illness) are both questionable.
3. New Orleans G Eric Gordon is 13-of-24 from 3-point range over the last four games.