National Basketball Association

Denver Nuggets: A Balanced Attack Overpowers Davis' 50 and the Pelicans

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Denver Nuggets used a balanced attack to take down Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans in the first game of the 2016-2017 season.

What a game! The Nuggets held on to beat the Pelicans by a final score of 107-102 for their first victory of the season. Jusuf Nurkic led the way with 23 points and 9 rebounds in just 26 minutes followed by Will Barton who added 22 points and 5 rebounds. On the other side of the ball, Anthony Davis played an incredible game, finishing with 50 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocks and 7 steals.

The Nuggets’ big front court struggled to stay with Davis throughout the game who presented mismatches all over the floor. Although Jokic and Nurkic played great, their may be some defensive issues when the two are on the floor together, as neither of them are quick enough to guard some of the more athletic power forwards in the league.

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This was put on display tonight as Davis repeatedly got buckets from multiple sports on the floor. In addition, Denver struggled to take care of the ball and finished with 24 turnovers. Turnovers were an issue for the Nuggets last year which is going to have to be something they need to vastly improve on if they wish to make the playoffs this season.

Despite some struggles, the Nuggets played a great game and started the new season in the right direction. They absolutely destroyed the Pelicans on the boards, out rebounding them by a total of 58-34. Jusuf Nurkic was absolutely terrific and scored effortlessly in the post. The Nuggets proved to be a much deeper team than New Orleans, having seven players score 9+ points, compared to New Orleans’ three players to do so.

In all, the Nuggets domination on the boards allowed them to survive Davis’ monster performance and a late comeback bid by the Pelicans. Nurkic looked like a completely different player than he did last season. Denver also benefitted from solid performances from Barton, Gallinari, and Chandler. It was a great start to the season and a good learning experience for what is a very young Nuggets team.

They look to build on this solid performance in their home opener against Portland on Saturday night.