New Orleans Led by 23. Murray and Jokic Made That Lead Mean Absolutely Nothing.

New Orleans led Denver by 23 and was still ahead by nineteen entering the fourth quarter. The Pelicans had already scored 108, their offense was humming, and a road win appeared close enough to begin thinking about the flight home. Instead the Nuggets forced overtime at 126–126 and won 141–135. Jamal Murray scored 42, Nikola Jokić recorded a 35-point triple-double, and Denver made one of the most astonishing comebacks of the young season. Calling it a collapse alone doesn't give the Nuggets enough credit for what they had to execute.

New Orleans built a lead that should have been enough

The Pelicans were up 38–24 after the first quarter and 73–57 at halftime. They had been making clean shots and generating interior offense, including stretches where Denver seemed unable to slow the attack at all. Even as the Nuggets made progress in the third, New Orleans still went into the fourth with a 108–89 lead. That's a nineteen-point advantage with twelve minutes to protect. The loss didn't happen because the Pelicans never played well. They played exceptionally for much of the night and then couldn't handle the new pressure.

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A 37–18 fourth quarter changed everything

Denver's fourth quarter was a different game. The Nuggets outscored New Orleans 37–18, using Murray's perimeter shooting, Jokić's decision-making and a run of improved defensive possessions to erase the deficit. The Pelicans had made outside shots and bullied the paint early; late in regulation, their offense stopped creating the same quality of chances. A nineteen-point lead isn't a guarantee, but a team that has scored 108 in three quarters should be able to generate enough stable possessions to protect it.

Murray finished with 42 points, six assists and eight made threes, and didn't commit a turnover. That last statistic deserves to sit next to the scoring number. Denver needed to get the right shot again and again, not simply hope a difficult attempt fell. Murray created that pressure without donating possessions to the Pelicans. Jokić added 35 points, fifteen rebounds and ten assists, reaching his 199th regular-season triple-double. He scored eight in overtime. The pairing gave Denver two reliable solutions to a defense trying to recover from the final quarter.

The rookie made a real overtime contribution

Overtime wasn't a case of Denver finally catching up and having nothing left. The Nuggets won the extra period 15–9. Rookie Trevon Brazile contributed seven of his seventeen points in overtime, including a corner three with 1:25 left that extended Denver's advantage to four. That was a major supporting play in a contest dominated by the Murray and Jokić headlines. Coach David Adelman said afterward that Denver's veterans trusted Brazile enough to keep him on the court when the game was on the line.

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New Orleans got 26 from Trey Murphy III, 22 from Dejounte Murray and seventeen apiece from Zion Williamson and Derik Queen. Those are legitimate offensive numbers. The problem was the timing. The Pelicans committed eighteen turnovers to Denver's eleven and could not produce dependable looks when the pressure rose. It is not enough to say 'they went cold.' A good film session should identify how their spacing changed, which players became reluctant to attack and why they stopped forcing Denver to defend the full clock.

The biggest compliment you can give a guy that's a rookie in our league is that the veterans on his team trust him.David Adelman · Denver Nuggets head coach, on Trevon Brazile

6IX TAKE — credit the comeback and criticize the collapse

6IX TAKE — I refuse to reduce this game to a lazy 'New Orleans choked' headline, even though the Pelicans absolutely have to answer for scoring eighteen in the fourth after producing 108 in the first three quarters. Denver still had to make the shots, win the defensive possessions and stay patient enough to close the gap. Murray's forty-two with zero turnovers is an absurdly clean high-volume performance. Jokić adding thirty-five, fifteen and ten is what makes this team dangerous even when it digs its own hole. And I loved that rookie Trevon Brazile made the kind of overtime shot that a contender needs from a supporting player. But the Nuggets' comeback doesn't absolve their early defense. A team with championship ambitions shouldn't require a twenty-three-point escape plan every other night. For New Orleans, there are two separate problems: finishing a game under pressure and preventing an opponent from finding the same good action on repeat. The Pelicans lost the finish; Denver earned it.

The real lesson from a historic finish

Denver moved to 1–1 with the win while New Orleans fell to 0–3. Those records matter less than the footage of the fourth and overtime. New Orleans needs offensive counters under pressure. Denver needs more urgency at the beginning of games. The highlights will celebrate the comeback; both coaches should spend just as much time on what made it necessary.