Jamal Murray collected 35 points and nine assists and Peyton Watson added 31 points and seven rebounds, lifting the visiting Denver Nuggets to a 122-116 victory over the reeling New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.
Murray made five 3-pointers in his return from a two-game absence caused by an ankle injury as well as an illness.
Watson, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, sank 11 of 16 shots from the floor to send Denver to a fourth win in its last five games.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 18 points off the bench for the short-handed Nuggets, who completed a three-game season sweep of New Orleans despite being dominated on the interior. Denver was outrebounded by a 52-32 margin and outscored 56-38 in the paint.
New Orleans’ Trey Murphy III scored 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor. Saddiq Bey had 17 points and Jordan Poole added 16 off the bench for the Pelicans, who have lost 11 of their past 12 games.
Murphy’s driving layup forged a 114-114 tie with 1:02 remaining in the fourth quarter before Watson sank a turnaround jumper on the ensuing possession to regain the lead for the Nuggets.
Murphy and Zion Williamson failed to convert from in close before Denver’s Aaron Gordon dunked with 10.8 seconds remaining to essentially seal the win.
Williamson converted a three-point play to stake New Orleans to a 100-94 lead early in the fourth quarter before Denver responded by scoring the next seven points. Jalen Pickett sank a 3-pointer and added a layup during that sequence.
Early in the second quarter, Hardaway made three consecutive free throws to increase the Nuggets’ lead to 35-31 before the Pelicans answered with a 19-6 run. Watson countered by scoring 13 of his team’s next 17 points to pull Denver within 62-58 with 40 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The Pelicans were up 65-60 at the break.
