Denver brings a 6-4 record and a 12th-ranked power index into Saturday’s matchup with a Pelicans team allowing 125.6 points per game.
Saturday’s game gives Denver a chance to press its early-season edge: the Nuggets are 6-4 and 12th in the power index, while New Orleans is 4-9 and 25th. The Pelicans have scored 116.5 points per game, but they are allowing 125.6, a defensive weakness Nikola Jokic’s 89 assists in 10 games could expose. New Orleans needs Zion Williamson, who has 261 points in 12 games, to attack and keep pace with Denver’s offense. With Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy III listed out for New Orleans, Jokic’s playmaking against the Pelicans’ defense looms as the matchup that could decide it.