Pelicans, Nuggets both flying high on eve of matchup

The New Orleans Pelicans host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night in the wake of perhaps the most improbable wins of their respective seasons.

The Pelicans played their first game after All-Star forward Anthony Davis' trade request Tuesday night and overcame his absence -- as well as that of four other key players -- to beat the Rockets 121-116 in Houston.

One night earlier, the Nuggets overcame a 25-point deficit in the third quarter and a 17-point hole in the fourth to beat the Grizzlies 95-92 in Memphis.

It was the largest deficit ever overcome by a Grizzlies opponent and the second-biggest fourth-quarter comeback in Denver history.

But New Orleans' performance might have been even more surprising as Julius Randle, Nikola Mirotic, Elfrid Payton and E'Twaun Moore joined Davis on the sideline.

That left guard Jrue Holiday as the only healthy starter and he responded with 19 points, eight assists, six rebounds and six blocked shots. Jahlil Okafor, starting in Davis' place, had 27 points and 12 rebounds as six Pelicans scored in double figures. Seldom-used rookie Kenrich Williams added eight points and 16 rebounds

"We're here to play basketball," Holiday told the Pelicans' official website after the win. "We're not really here for the media. Everybody here in this locker room got here because of their abilities to play."

New Orleans had lost three games in a row and five of six before being rocked over the weekend when Davis said he would not sign an extension with the team and that he wanted to be traded.

They won Tuesday despite missing five of their top six scorers and starting their 20th different lineup this season.

"We had a lineup out there that loves to play defense," Holiday said on the Pelicans' post-game radio show. "We like to run around and scramble. With the team the Rockets have, we have to scramble. We just played for each other."

That's what the Nuggets have been doing as their improbable comeback provided their third consecutive victory and eighth in their last 11 games. They are now 12-11 on the road, where five of their remaining eight games before the All-Star Break will occur.

"We just came together," Malik Beasley, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, told the Denver Post. "That was one of the best wins I've ever been a part of here. It was staying together and being humble and sticking together to the end. That's what my teammates are about."

The Nuggets trailed by 14 points after the first quarter, 19 at the half and 17 after three quarters. They turned up their defense in the fourth quarter, forcing eight consecutive misses by the Grizzlies during the surge.

"It's what we do," Beasley said. "We just stayed together, kept our heads up and kept playing hard. We're the best team in this league to me."

Will Barton made his second consecutive start at point guard as Denver's second-leading scorer, Jamal Murray, deals with a sprained ankle. Barton made a 3-pointer that gave the Denver its first lead of the game (91-89) with 43.9 seconds remaining before Nikola Jokic gave the Nuggets the lead for good on a layup with 28 seconds left.

"We had to bring it on defense," Beasley said. "We weren't knocking down shots. So, I think that messed up our mental on defense. We just picked it up and didn't worry about our offense and just played defense, got some stops and runs and just did our jobs."

The Nuggets and Pelicans have split their first two meetings, with the home team winning both. But they have not met in more than 10 weeks.

--Field Level Media