Nuggets at Pelicans
The Denver Nuggets have put a four-game losing streak behind them and look to make it back-to-back wins when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. Denver's 9-1 start was disintegrating quickly before the squad erupted with a 138-93 drubbing of the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
The Nuggets are beginning a stretch in which nine of 11 games are on the road so the rout over the Hawks came at the right time. "It was a great performance, and most importantly, it was a nice way to end a four-game losing streak and to close out a four-game homestand with a win," Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters. The Pelicans have won four of their past five games and star power forward Anthony Davis scored a season-high 43 points and collected 17 rebounds as New Orleans overcame an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit to record a 129-124 win over the New York Knicks on Friday. "I was talking to myself saying 'be dominant,'" Davis said during a postgame television interview. "This is a time when you be dominant and take over games and that is what I tried to do."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), FS New Orleans
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (10-5): Denver scored 35 or more points in each of the first three quarters while torching the Hawks and Malone loved the ball movement that saw his club accumulate a season-best 34 assists. "It started right from the get-go," Malone told reporters. "This has been coming ... to shoot the ball as well as we did throughout the game, our starters, the guys off the bench, it was great to see." Forward Juancho Hernangomez scored a career-best 25 points for his second 20-point outing of the season.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (8-7): New Orleans trailed 32-16 after one quarter against the Knicks but exploded for 113 points over the final three quarters, including 41 in the decisive fourth quarter. Guard Jrue Holiday (24 points, 10 assists) and forwards Julius Randle (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Nikola Mirotic (12 points, 10 rebounds) joined Davis in recording double-doubles. "I thought everybody had their moments," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "It was a good team win and a tough team win. ... I thought A.D. was sensational, obviously. But we did a good job of making decisions, finding open guys and completing the play."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. SG Gary Harris and PG Jamal Murray each scored 23 points as the Nuggets posted a 116-111 home win over the Pelicans on Oct. 29.
2. New Orleans PG Elfrid Payton (fractured left pinkie) is expected to be available after exiting Friday's game in his return from an ankle injury that sidelined him for the previous nine games.
3. Denver hired 11-time WNBA All-Star Sue Bird as a basketball operations associate.