Denver Nuggets (1-1) beat New Orleans Pelicans (0-3) 141-135 at home on Saturday, October 24, but only after regulation ended level and an extra period settled it.
How it got to overtime
Regulation ended tied at 126. The Nuggets won the extra period 15-9.
What decided it
The Nuggets gave the ball away on 9.7% of their possessions while the Pelicans did so 15.5% of the time and the Nuggets cashed in 30.3 free throws for every 100 shots, the Pelicans only 24.2. Protecting the ball is an easy edge to overlook, but each turnover costs a shot.
The game played at about 115 possessions per team. The Nuggets scored 123 points per 100 possessions and the Pelicans scored 117.7, a difference of 5.3.
The Pelicans' reserves also made a difference, outscoring the opposing bench 39-25.
Who stepped up
Jamal Murray (DEN) posted the best line of the night by Game Score (33.7): 42 pts, 3 reb, 6 ast on 12-25 shooting. The team was +14 in the minutes Jamal played.
For the Pelicans, Trey Murphy III was the best of the rest at 20.1: 26 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast on 10-17 shooting.
Nikola Jokic (35 pts, 15 reb, 10 ast) recorded a double-double.
Game Score is a single number that weighs points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, shooting efficiency, fouls and turnovers. It is not an official stat, just a quick way to rank lines.
What it means
The result fit the pre-game Win Meter, which gave the Nuggets about a 83% chance.
Across the last 7 meetings in our records, Denver Nuggets lead 6-1.
The Nuggets are now 1-1, and the Pelicans are 0-3. The Nuggets last five before this game: L-L-W-L-L.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.