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Pelicans, Nuggets clash on Friday
By: Staff Writer - StatFox
Published: 11/16/2017  at  8:15:00 PM
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NEW ORLEANS PELICANS

at DENVER NUGGETS

Tip-off: Friday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: NA, Total: NA

Nikola Jokic will take on Boogie and The Brow on Friday night.

The Denver Nuggets have been building to this point for a while now. With a roster full of young talent, Denver and its fans were hoping that this would be the season the team would make a leap into the back half of the Western Conference playoff picture. About a sixth of the way into the campaign, that's right where the Nuggets are sitting after going 5-2 in their last seven games. They suffered a defeat in their most recent contest, though, falling 99-82 on Monday to a Trail Blazers team that has become something of a rival after last season's Jusuf Nurkic trade. Denver gets three nights of rest going into Friday night, when they'll host the New Orleans Pelicans. After a lottery finish last year, C DeMarcus Cousins and PF Anthony Davis have each put up huge numbers to keep a shallow roster in the playoff race. New Orleans is coming off a 125-116 loss to the Raptors on Wednesday night.

Despite sharing the same frontcourt, Cousins and Davis have had zero trouble this year putting up stats that reflect their shared status as two of the league's best big men, bar none. Each has MVP-caliber stat lines: Cousins is fifth in the NBA in scoring (28.0 PPG) and second in rebounding (13.7 RPG), while Davis is sixth (25.6 PPG) and eighth (11.4 RPG), respectively. Davis is 13th in the NBA with a .563 shooting percentage, and only two players ranked ahead of him attempt more shots: LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. If you haven't watched Cousins in a while, you might be shocked learn that he attempts 7.6 three-pointers a game, the eighth most in the NBA, a staggering number for a man of his girth and post skills. In the loss to Toronto, Cousins put up 25 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals; Davis had 19 points, five rebounds and three steals. The third wheel of this ostensible Big Three is PG Jrue Holiday—he has a max contract, after all—and he scored 18 points in 36 minutes. He functioned more as a 2-guard in the starting lineup, though, as PG Rajon Rondo got his first start of the season, scoring four points and dishing out eight assists in only 14 minutes. If he can play at the level he did in last year's playoffs before getting injured, the Pelicans could become a whole lot more dangerous. His start moved SG E'Twaun Moore to the bench, making him and PG Jameer Nelson the most-used players off the pine for New Orleans.

After a breakout 2016-17 campaign, Denver C Nikola Jokic has continued to improve at the age of 22. He's one of the best passers in the league, a fact that is especially remarkable given his enormous stature. He showed his full potential against Brooklyn last week, dropping 41 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in only 31 minutes before fouling out. And against Orlando this past Saturday, he neared a triple-double with 12 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists. He had a bad outing against Portland, scoring six points on 2-of-9 shooting in 35 minutes, but with a plus/minus of 0 he was one of only two Nuggets to not finish in the negatives. His pairing with free agency signing PF Paul Millsap has been smooth, as both can pass and stretch the floor with shooting. His 15.7 PPG would be his lowest average since before he joined the Hawks in 2013, but he's certainly a meaningful part of the offense. He made a season-high five three-pointers against Portland. PG Jamal Murray matched him with a team-high 18 points. Murray is still progressing in his second year, but he certainly appears to have a brighter future than former top-ten pick PG Emmanuel Mudiay, who was a -29 against Portland. No other Nugget was worse than -15. Normally a sixth man, SG Will Barton got his second start of the season and scored 12 points. SG Gary Harris is likely to return for Friday night's game, which would send Barton back to the bench.


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