National Basketball Association

Game Preview: New Orleans Pelicans vs Denver Nuggets

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

foxsports

The New Orleans Pelicans are looking to start their season Wednesday with a statement win against the young and exciting Denver Nuggets.

It’s time to rejoice, New Orleans Pelicans fans!

Game Day has arrived!

The Pelicans will be at home tonight to start their season, against a popular sleeper team in the Denver Nuggets.

New Orleans will look to start the 2016-2017 campaign stronger than their disappointing 1-11 start to last season.

The team has done a roster overhaul around superstar Anthony Davis. New players like E’Twaun Moore, Langston Galloway, Solomon Hill, Lance Stephenson and Terrence Jones lead the way for a more balanced Pelicans roster.

The predictions on the Pels’ season are mixed and cautious. Many believe this team needs a year to jell and work as a cohesive unit. Some also wonder if the lack of a second true star with Davis will catch up to the Pelicans in crunch time.

While New Orleans comes into the season with unsure expectations all around, NBA writers and analysts are high on the Denver Nuggets. Denver is an extremely young team with plenty of exciting young talents.

The foreign frontcourt of Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic has strong potential to become a force inside, along with energy beast Kenneth Faried. Small Forward Danilo Gallinari is coming off one of his best seasons to date statistically. It may be the season that keeps his NBA career in tact.

The guard positions continue the young excitement. Denver drafted two youngsters in Jamal Murray and Malik Beasley to add to Gary Harris and Will Barton. The point guard slot is still occupied by Emmanuel Mudiay, who looks to be improving with each and every game.

The matchup of Jamal Murray and Buddy Hield is particularly interesting, as the players went sixth and seventh in the most recent NBA Draft. There were questions as to who should have gone before the other talent wise. Both will likely look to prove they deserved their selection in the draft every time they play each other.

This is a matchup of two young teams, still looking to develop their players and surprise with a playoff appearance this campaign. Both have compelling builds around the roster and look to be competitive versus any team in the league. The games against each other should be closely matched, to say the least.

Mar 31, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Luke Babbitt (8) strips the ball from Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried (35) as forward Dante Cunningham (44) and center Omer Asik (3) defend during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Who, When, Where and How to Watch

When and Where: The game will be played at 7:00 PM CST in New Orleans.

How To Watch: The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports New Orleans and NBA League Pass.

Injuries:

New Orleans: Jrue Holiday (Personal Reasons), Quincy Pondexter (Left Knee) and Tyreke Evans (Right Knee) are all out.

Denver: Gary Harris (Groin) and Darrell Arthur (Knee) are both questionable. Emmanuel Mudiay (Ankle) is expected to play.

Probably Starting Lineups:

New Orleans: PG Tim Frazier, SG E’Twaun Moore, SF Solomon Hill, PF Anthony Davis, C Omer Asik

Denver: PG Emmanuel Mudiay, SG Will Barton, SF Danilo Galliari, PF Nikola Jokic, C Jusuf Nurkic

Other Players to Watch:

New Orleans: Buddy Hield, Terrence Jones, Langston Galloway and Lance Stephenson

Denver: Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Kenneth Faried and Jameer Nelson

What’s Next for the Pelicans?

The second game of the season debuts the Pelicans on National TV, as they play the Golden State Warriors at home Friday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, starting at 8:30 PM CST.

Mar 15, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) misses over Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried (35) at the end of the fourth quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Nuggets defeated the Pelicans 118-111 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Transition a Key for Pelicans Success

The Denver Nuggets are a particularly interesting matchup for the New Orleans Pelicans.

While the Pels won two of the three games against Denver last year, both teams look drastically different. New Orleans no longer has the pure explosive firepower to outscore the Nuggets.

Denver, on the other hand, is much better equipped depth wise to handle a team like New Orleans.

However, the key for success against the Nuggets will come down to one focus:

Transition Scoring.

Denver’s weakness could come down to the overall iffy shooting of the team. While Jokic and Nurkic shot well inside, the guards had a tendency to take poor shots from long range and force attempts late in the shot clock.

That will need to be the area New Orleans strikes early and often.

The Nuggets have an athletic team. However their bigs, like the Pelicans’ Omer Asik, can struggle to get back on the defensive end. The Pels will need their guards Tim Frazier and E’Twaun Moore to be quick and decisive on the break.

The Nuggets are a team ready to run with any competitor, because of how Denver’s high altitude gives them an advantage in that area already. Still, New Orleans needs to put the Nuggets on the defensive when they can. The Pels can still space the floor and force Denver to choose their poison, if they let New Orleans get off and running.

It’s not only the Pelicans’ transition that will be key in this series. Shutting down Denver’s transition scoring is just as important for New Orleans.

The Nuggets’ bench unit will look to attack, especially with Kenneth Faried on the floor. If New Orleans falls in love with the long range shot themselves, they could be open to letting Denver attack them with their defense down.

Mudiay and the plethora of athletic shooting guards the Nuggets possess are a scary battle in a track meet game. Still, Denver does lack the shooting from behind the arc the Pelicans possess. If New Orleans plays transition defense smart and forces the Nuggets to settle on long range jumpers, it could end up being the difference in each game.

Neither of these teams are completely refined in their half-court offenses. While they can score in that area, they play their best games on the run. With how much these teams will look to attack on the break, it is easy to see how that could very well be what decides who wins the season series.