No.4 Denver Nuggets faced off with No.11 New Orleans Pelicans at Ball arena on Wednesday.
New Orleans Pelicans looked for the win to make it into the play-in tournament while Denver Nuggets wanted another win under their belt.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic came up with a clutch block against Zion Williamson shot to seal a 114-112 win over the Pelican.
The Nuggets started strong against the Pelicans, taking a 10-point lead early in the game and Jokic finishing off well leading to a win.
Nuggets early lead over the Pelicans
At the start of the game, Denver made a 12-2 run as Gordan dunked it down on Jokic’s pass.
Jokic dropped a layup in the next possession. Ingram was the only one to score for the Pelican cutting the lead within 2 points.
But soon Nuggets answered with 8 points taking a 10-point lead within 2 minutes into the game.
Pelicans trailed the Nuggets throughout the rest of the quarter and finished behind 10-points into the second quarter.
Active defense and impressive performances from Nikola, MPJ and Facu led us to a third-straight W!#MileHighBasketball https://t.co/GXIv4Oa5yE
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 29, 2021
New Orleans was 10 of 21 from the field in the quarter.
While Denver went 13 of 22 from the field. In the second quarter, the Pelicans started with Zion dropping a 2-point shot.
But Javale started a 6-0 run to answer back Zion’s shot.
And soon extended the lead to 14-point with 10:23 remaining in the quarter.
Ingram to Steven Adams started a 7-0 run for the Pelicans to cut the lead within 5-point with 5:45 left to play in the quarter.
The Nuggets again took a 10-point lead after Michael Porter Jr. intercepted Ingram pass and lays it in on the other end.
Going into the second half the Nuggets were up 9 points.
Nuggets continuous dominance over the Pelicans
In the third quarter, Nuggets continued their dominance over the Pelican despite the Pelicans cutting the lead below five points from time to time.
The Nuggets were up 12 points with 55.1 seconds left for the third quarter.
Naji Marshall alley-oop to Jaxon Hayes again cut the lead to nine-point at 78-87 ending the third quarter.
Zion Williamson almost tied the game in the fourth
The pelicans went crazy in the fourth quarter scoring 34 points in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets only dropping 27 points.
They cut the nine-point lead within two-point at the start of the quarter.
Soon the Nuggets took 13 point lead with 5:27 and again with 3:16 left in the quarter
But the Pelicans again cut the lead to 3-point with 25.3 seconds left in the game.
Ingram hit a three-pointer to make within 112-114 with 9.9 seconds left.
The Pelicans made a 13-4 run in the final minute and trailed by only two points.
Zion Williamson almost made it to the basket at 4.2 seconds left to tie the game however Nikola Jokic made a clutch block to end the game to take the win for the Nuggets.
Nikola Jokic comes up with CLUTCH SWAT to seal it for the @nuggets! pic.twitter.com/BRsYepkeMk
— NBA (@NBA) April 29, 2021
Even though the block gave the Nuggets a win but it created a controversy if Jokic committed a foul while blocking the shot.
Giving a probability for the pelicans to go to the free-throw line to tie the game.
But the call wasn’t made and the game ended with the Pelicans losing.
Zion seemed cool with the no-foul call.
“I have to earn my respect,” Zion said. “I’m only in year two.”
He also added, “I have to get a couple more years under my belt, and hopefully, things change with that.”
Zion Williamson when asked about getting more calls:
"I've got to earn my respect. I'm only in Year 2. I've got to get a couple more years under my belt and hopefully things change with that."
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) April 29, 2021
Williamson also said mistakes before the sequence at the end cost the Pelicans the game.
“I just didn’t play a very normal, characteristic game for myself,” Williamson said. “I was forcing the issue a lot.
Similarly, he said, “I was kind of out of character tonight.”
He said,” I just have to learn from this game and be better.”
Finally praised Denver’s game. “I think it was just small, detailed things,” Williamson said.
“Tonight, Denver was really locked in on those small details, and they capitalized on all of them. That’s why we had so many turnovers.”
Nikola Jokic’s clutch block to seal the game
Nikola Jokic played well throughout the game but his play at the end of the game shined the most both in a good and bad way.
The block he made at the end against Zion created a controversy as he wasn’t called for a foul at the end.
The block looked clean from the initial replays however other angles of the play revealed it was clear foul under the rim.
Despite the controversy, he secured the win for the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets almost blew the win over the Pelicans at the end of the game. But Jokic’s huge block in the final seconds of the match saves the day for them.
Denver Nuggets were in full control over the Pelicans for three quarters but at the end of the fourth quarter, they blew their 10-point lead and were two-point ahead.
Jokic came up with a huge block at the rim and that stopped Pelicans’ Zion from scoring.
Then Nuggets’ PJ Dozier scooped up the ball after the block and then drew a foul with less than one second left on the clock.
While he missed both of his free throws, the Pelicans didn’t have enough time to get a good look. The Nuggets snuck out with the two-point win.
Scoreboard for the game.
Brandon Ingram led for the Pelicans scoring 27 points with 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Similarly, Zion Williamson scored 21 points while Eric Bledsoe scored 17 points with 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
Meanwhile scored a huge triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists.
On the other hand, Nikola Jokic dropped a huge 32 points along with 8 assists and 7 rebounds to get the win.
Nikola Jokic (28 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST) spins for the reverse flush in #PhantomCam! pic.twitter.com/46TmVp8cMK
— NBA (@NBA) April 29, 2021
Following Jokic, Michael Porter Jr nailed 28 points with 8 rebounds.
Facundo Campazzo contributed 19 points and 10 assists double-double for the win.
Aaron Gordan contributed 10 points with 5 assists.
Next, the Pelicans face Oklahoma City Thunder tomorrow, while Denver Nuggets will play against Toronto Raptors.
