Without Aaron Gordon, Nuggets escape New Orleans with win in Zion Williamson’s return

NEW ORLEANS Life was detected in the the greater part cavernous building in the NBA for a sparse minutes on Wednesday as the Pelicans flew to an early -point lead over their lethargic visitors Life was briefly detected again toward the end of the proceedings when the Pelicans sliced a -point deficit to six after Nikola Jokic fouled out There might have even been noise from the uninhabited upper deck But the Nuggets escaped Smoothie King Center in the end with a - win buoyed by a mostly solid night of defense and Peyton Watson s career-high points In his second meeting starting for Christian Braun Watson finished with a -for- double-double Jokic added points rebounds and assists on another night with two starters missing And Denver - finished the championship with a frontcourt of Zeke Nnaji and Jonas Valanciunas after Jokic s disqualification Valanciunas knocked down a pair of clutch -footers to fend off a late comeback from the Pelicans - From the start this was a meeting layered with more intrigue than the records indicated Zion Williamson the Pelicans explosive but aloof star forward was cleared to play after missing the last eight games Denver s Aaron Gordon was a last-minute scratch from the lineup for hamstring injury management which sidelined him for one other competition earlier this season These developments were related Gordon has been described by Nuggets coach David Adelman as one of only a sparse human beings walking around that can deal with Zion Williamson Adelman mirrored their minutes when the Pelicans visited Denver three weeks ago determined to force Williamson to play against that matchup Without Gordon Nnaji was enlisted as the starting power forward He had been out of the rotation entirely to start the season The idea had a sound precedent though Gordon was out when the Nuggets hosted New Orleans in February and former coach Michael Malone also started Nnaji for the occasion Williamson scored an inefficient points on shots that day as Trey Murphy III had to shoulder more of the Pelicans offensive burden As a crew they went for on shots defended by Nnaji This time even with two rim protectors on the floor in Nnaji and Watson the Pelicans scored points in the paint and total in the first eight minutes It didn t help that Jokic committed four turnovers before he made a shot surrendering easy transition opportunities to a struggling unit that has played faster since firing coach Willie Green last week Out of an early Adelman timeout the Nuggets gave up two consecutive fast breaks that ended with New Orleans missing the initial layup only to result on a second chance They had a coaching change Adelman announced pregame New power So this is a totally different challenge Jokic absolutely kick-started the Nuggets with five straight points after they fell behind - He was on his way to a triple-double by the end of the third quarter those are the norm when he faces New Orleans but the upstart Pels demonstrated him multiple defenders and made him work all night On offense he finished with nine turnovers On defense rookie Derik Queen wasn t afraid to attack him off the dribble Drafted th overall after a controversial arrangement in June Queen is the latest new-gen prospect whose play style is clearly in Jokic s lineage He was responsible for Colorado State s heartbreaking NCAA Tournament loss at the buzzer last March Now a franchise desperate for future answers wants to develop him into a hub of half-court offense He paced the Pels on Wednesday with points nine boards and four assists Related Articles Time Grind men s basketball league showcases high-level ballers while giving back to the next generation Keeler How did Nuggets Cam Johnson find his groove Thank this move Bulls snap Denver s -game win streak hand Nuggets first home loss of season Peyton Watson to start while Christian Braun is out with ankle injury for Nuggets Short on starters Nuggets take down Timberwolves again for th straight win The Nuggets will face another Jokic disciple on Friday when they visit Houston for an NBA Cup showdown Turkish big man Alperen Sengun has helped establish the Rockets as the highest-rated offense in the league early this season All five teams in Denver s NBA Cup group are - with two games left to play making this a critical swing contest As for Williamson against the short-handed Nuggets Nnaji and company settled in against him for a performance that would make Gordon proud New Orleans won his minutes but he was held to points on shots It s an everybody job Adelman noted It s one guy gets matched up with him but when he attacks the basket he s an historical paint-point sportsman Everybody has to key in on him And you can t let him go get second opportunities If you guarded him well once and he misses the shot he s so good at going back and getting it again Sometimes you have to wrap the guy up because he s so explosive But it s a squad challenge with that guy Very very unique talent