So, the Denver Nuggets failed their last test pretty badly.

Entering a road game against the Portland Trail Blazers on a three-game winning streak, the effort and execution level wasn’t high enough on the defensive end of the floor. As a result, the Blazers jumped out to a big lead, and though the Nuggets recovered, they got burned at the end of the game.

Now, they’re playing a 5-24 team…that they’ve already lost to once, though that was without Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon.

Let’s delve into the New Orleans Pelicans matchup:

Denver Nuggets @ New Orleans Pelicans

Projected Starting Lineups

Denver: Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic

New Orleans: Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, Yves Missi

Key Bench Players

Denver: Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Hunter Tyson, DeAndre Jordan

New Orleans: Jordan Hawkins, Brandon Boston Jr., Javonte Green, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Notable Injuries

Denver: Christian Braun – PROBABLE, Dario Saric – DOUBTFUL, Vlatko Cancar – OUT, DaRon Holmes II – OUT

New Orleans: Zion Williamson – OUT, Brandon Ingram – OUT, Jose Alvarado – QUESTIONABLE, Daniel Theis – QUESTIONABLE

Key for the Nuggets – Defensive Recovery

There’s no kind way to say this: the Nuggets defense has been mostly horrible in the last two weeks. They’re somehow still 18th in defensive rating in December because of an impressive showing against the Los Angeles Clippers, but the process hasn’t been very good. The team appears disconnected on the end, bookended by subpar effort for much of the first three quarters.

Against a Pelicans squad without each of their leading scorers, can the Nuggets stick with what will be a perimeter attack around Dejounte Murray and CJ McCollum? Nikola Jokic will be under pressure for cover ground in the pick and roll in this matchup, especially with sharpshooters like Jordan Hawkins and Trey Murphy available.

Important Matchup – Jamal Murray vs Dejounte Murray

It’s Murray Mania.

Quietly, Jamal Murray has started to turn around his shotmaking a bit. He’s only shooting 45.8% on two-pointers in the month of December…but he’s all the way up to 44.8% from three-point range and 88.9% from the free throw line in the same span. 20.2 points and 6.5 assists in 36.9 minutes per game sounds a bit better, and it hasn’t come on additional shot attempts. He’s just shooting better.

Early crisis is averted with Murray. He’s back to “Solid but not an All-Star” level of late. That’s good enough to stem the tide a bit. It would be nice to see him have the occasional scoring explosion, but if the consistency is there, the Nuggets can figure that out.

Today, Jamal goes against Dejounte, who’s struggling with his shot even more than Jamal was. Dejounte is still a dangerous guard, and the Nuggets will need to stick with him with Williamson and Ingram out. Herb Jones will also spend some time guarding Jamal. He’s the best perimeter defender in the world. Let’s see if Jamal can stick with it and finding ways to score anyway.

Number of the Day – 7

That’s the number of games separating the two-seed Memphis Grizzlies (20-9) and the 12-seed Sacramento Kings (13-16).

Denver’s currently sitting at 14-11 in the six-seed. They would face the three-seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers have climbed into the five-seed temporarily at 16-12. That in it of itself should be a great example of how convoluted the conference currently is. There’s time for the Nuggets to lock in and make a serious push…if they want to.

Nugget who should have a good game: Nikola Jokic

I mean, look at this guy play volleyball. He’s locked in.

I’m expecting 30-15-15 today. There’s no doubt that Jokic heard the noise after last game.