The New Orleans Pelicans seek their first win of the season on Wednesday when they welcome the Denver Nuggets for a second meeting in four days.
New Orleans’ winless start through three games includes a 141-135 overtime loss at Denver on Saturday. Jamal Murray’s 42 points and Nikola Jokic’s 35-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double powered the Nuggets in their only victory three games into the campaign.
Denver heads to New Orleans off a 134-114 blowout loss to Golden State on Monday. Jokic finished with a season-high 11 assists to complement his 19 points, while new Nuggets addition DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points off the bench as he continues his ascent up the NBA’s all-time leading scorers list.
DeRozan’s 26,757 points rank 16th, putting him 190 shy of surpassing Hakeem Olajuwon and 420 away from overtaking Russell Westbrook.
However, Denver shooting just 10-of-29 from 3-point range while surrendering a 22-of-44 barrage to the Warriors made the difference. The Nuggets have shot 34.5% or worse from beyond the arc in each of their first three games, including 15-of-47 (31.9%) against New Orleans.
“We’re 1-2. There’s 79 games to go,” Denver coach David Adelman said. “You’re always frustrated when you lose a game, but this is a process.”
Part of the process for the Nuggets, Adelman said, is finding the right combinations to play together across rotations.
Murray and the three-time Most Valuable Player Jokic are each averaging 22.3 points per game and DeRozan, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun are all adding double figures per game. However, the Nuggets have yet to have an additional contributor step up through the early going, in part due to injury.
Cameron Johnson sustained a sprained ankle in the season-opening loss to Oklahoma City, sidelining him for the last two games. Julian Strawther is dealing with a left knee injury that will keep him out for at least four more weeks.
New Orleans, meanwhile, seeks to get over the hump after playing each of its first three opponents to within six points or fewer. The Pelicans’ loss at Denver is their most lopsided of the young season, with setbacks of three points against Indiana and one point against Utah last week.
“Clean up the late-game execution,” New Orleans guard Saddiq Bey said of the team’s emphasis in practice on Monday. “Down the stretch, we need to figure out how to close out games.”
The Pelicans are in their first season under the direction of coach Jamahl Mosley, who previously helmed the Orlando Magic from 2021-22 through last season, leading them to the NBA playoffs in each of the previous three years.
“We’re going to be in that position a lot this year,” Mosley said of New Orleans’ close finishes to start the campaign. “The more that we can do that, the better.”
New Orleans finished 11th place in the Western Conference a season ago at 26-56. Key contributors from that year’s Pelicans roster again make up the leading corps this season, including breakout scorer Trey Murphy III.
Murphy averaged 21.5 points per game to lead New Orleans a season ago. Zion Williamson, who scored 21 points per game in 2025-26, is pacing the Pelicans early into 2026-27 with 20.7.
–Field Level Media
