Michael Porter Jr. scores 36 as nuggets win over pelicans

On By Littum

Trey Murphy III may have won the 3-point shooting competition with Michael Porter Jr., but Nuggets won where it matters.

Porter scored a season high 36 points on Monday night, and Denver overcame Murphy’s 41-point heat check for a 125-113 win over New Orleans. The two Western Conference enemies are going to a new match Wednesday in Ball Arena.

In Nikola Jokic’s second matchup against Pelicans’ weak center rotation this season, he worked out 27 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists-Hans seventh consecutive triple-double against New Orleans.

Porter added seven rebounds, two assists and a block while shooting 7 of 12 from the 3-point line, surpassed only by Murphy’s burning 8-for-12 night. Porter was also a team-best plus-20 in its 39 minutes.

Not a bad answer to a 0-for-6 view from the circumference two nights earlier.

“When I started beating, I started taking some harder that went down tonight,” Porter said. “And I just think to try to just rest after the back-to-back, I generally felt good. Just try to take care of my body and I came in tonight and felt pretty refreshed after this road trip. “

With Houston’s loss on Monday, Nuggets (31-19) drew within 1.5 games from third place in the West.

Winners of three equal (if something convincing), they led with as many as 20 before the Pelicans ended the third quarter on a 10-0 race. Suddenly, Denver protected an advantage of 93-85 with Jokic taking a breath. But the fourth started with back-to-back 3s from Julian Strawther then Porter, thanks to Jamal Murray’s back-the-back assist. The play was a pick-and-pop from the left wing, with Porter slid out of his screen to the corner to see-up look.

CJ McCollum got hot to respond to Denver’s fast 6-0 race, but the Nuggets managed to hold their visitors’ comeback ambitions despite not having Aaron Gordon, Russell Westbrook or Peyton Watson in the lineup.

Gordon was a late scratch for injury management of his calf – “something that we are likely to deal with, probably for the rest of the season,” said coach Michael Malone. Westbrook missed his second consecutive match with a hamstring injury and created a place in the rotation of the third-string point Guard Jalen Pickett. And Watson is at the beginning of what Denver expects to be a four-week absence at least due to a sprained knee.