Through 1 Quarter

The New Orleans Pelicans are giving their home crowd exactly what it was hoping to see. They have emerged as the frontrunner after one quarter and are ahead of the Denver Nuggets 35-26.

Power forward Zion Williamson has taken over for the Pelicans, currently boasting 17 points (49% of their total) in addition to three boards. Denver has enjoyed the tag-team combination of small forward Michael Porter Jr. and point guard Jamal Murray. The former has seven points and two assists along with two rebounds and one block, while the latter has seven points and two assists.

Who's Playing

Denver @ New Orleans

Current Records: Denver 26-18; New Orleans 19-24

What to Know

The New Orleans Pelicans and the Denver Nuggets are even-steven against one another since November of 2015 (9-9), but not for long. The Pelicans will take on Denver at 8 p.m. ET Friday at Smoothie King Center after having had a few days off. New Orleans is out to keep their three-game home win streak alive.

New Orleans strolled past the Los Angeles Lakers with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the contest 128-111. New Orleans relied on the efforts of small forward Brandon Ingram, who had 36 points, and power forward Zion Williamson, who had 27 points and five assists in addition to nine boards.

Meanwhile, Denver has to be aching after a bruising 135-111 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. It was supposed to be a close matchup, and the Nuggets were supposed to come out on top, but neither of those things ended up happening. Despite the defeat, they had strong showings from center Nikola Jokic, who posted a double-double on 20 points and ten rebounds along with five dimes, and point guard Jamal Murray, who had 20 points and seven assists. That makes it six consecutive games in which Jokic has had at least ten rebounds.

New Orleans' win lifted them to 19-24 while Denver's defeat dropped them down to 26-18. Allowing an average of 115.09 points per game, the Pelicans haven't exactly asserted themselves on the defensive end. We'll see if they can patch up the holes in their defense before their upcoming game.

How To Watch

  • When: Friday at 8 p.m. ET
  • Where: Smoothie King Center -- New Orleans, Louisiana
  • TV: Altitude Sports & Entertainmnt
  • Follow: CBS Sports App

Odds

The Nuggets are a slight 2.5-point favorite against the Pelicans, according to the latest NBA odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Nuggets as a 2-point favorite.

Over/Under: -111

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Series History

New Orleans and Denver both have nine wins in their last 18 games.

  • Mar 21, 2021 - New Orleans 113 vs. Denver 108
  • Jan 24, 2020 - Denver 113 vs. New Orleans 106
  • Dec 25, 2019 - New Orleans 112 vs. Denver 100
  • Oct 31, 2019 - New Orleans 122 vs. Denver 107
  • Mar 02, 2019 - New Orleans 120 vs. Denver 112
  • Jan 30, 2019 - Denver 105 vs. New Orleans 99
  • Nov 17, 2018 - New Orleans 125 vs. Denver 115
  • Oct 29, 2018 - Denver 116 vs. New Orleans 111
  • Dec 15, 2017 - Denver 117 vs. New Orleans 111
  • Dec 06, 2017 - New Orleans 123 vs. Denver 114
  • Nov 17, 2017 - Denver 146 vs. New Orleans 114
  • Apr 07, 2017 - Denver 122 vs. New Orleans 106
  • Apr 04, 2017 - Denver 134 vs. New Orleans 131
  • Mar 26, 2017 - New Orleans 115 vs. Denver 90
  • Oct 26, 2016 - Denver 107 vs. New Orleans 102
  • Mar 31, 2016 - New Orleans 101 vs. Denver 95
  • Dec 20, 2015 - New Orleans 130 vs. Denver 125
  • Nov 17, 2015 - Denver 115 vs. New Orleans 98

Injury Report for New Orleans

  • James Johnson: Out (Not Injury Related)
  • Wes Iwundu: Out (Not Injury Related)
  • Lonzo Ball: Out (Hip)

Injury Report for Denver

  • Greg Whittington: Game-Time Decision (Knee)
  • JaVale McGee: Out (Not Injury Related)
  • Aaron Gordon: Out (Not Injury Related)
  • Gary Clark: Out (Not Injury Related)
  • Monte Morris: Out (Quadriceps)