Jokic's 199th triple-double and Murray's 42 lift Nuggets past Pelicans in overtime after 23-point comeback

Ball Arena had already started to feel like a long night for Denver when the scoreboard told the bluntest version of the story. Midway through the second quarter on Saturday, New Orleans led 53-30, the Pelicans were shooting their way through almost every Denver coverage, and the Nuggets looked a step slow to loose balls and a step late to shooters. What followed was not a single surge so much as a slow, stubborn refusal to go away, capped by the two players Denver leans on most and finished by a rookie who had waited all night for his moment.

The final score, 141-135 in overtime, only hints at how far Denver had to travel. The Nuggets trailed 38-24 after the first quarter and 73-57 at halftime, and they were still down 19 points heading into the fourth. New Orleans, which shot 65.9 percent in the first half, built its lead with pace and spacing, turning Denver misses into early offence. For long stretches, the Pelicans looked like the fresher, sharper team. They simply could not hold the lead when the game narrowed to possessions that demanded a stop, a rebound and a made shot in that order.

Nikola Jokic supplied the through-line. He finished with 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, his 199th career regular-season triple-double, and he scored eight of his points in overtime. That leaves him 10 behind Russell Westbrook, who retired with 209, for the most regular-season triple-doubles in NBA history. The number matters, but the shape of this one mattered more: Jokic was not padding a comfortable win. He was the anchor while Denver clawed back, the scorer when the offence stalled, and the decision-maker when New Orleans tried to take the ball out of Jamal Murray's hands.

Murray delivered the kind of scoring night that changes how a defence plays the final minutes. He scored 42 points on 12-of-25 shooting, including 8 of 16 from three-point range, and added six assists. His range stretched New Orleans out of its comfort zone, and his willingness to attack late forced fouls and hurried closeouts. When Denver needed a basket to stay alive, it was usually Murray or Jokic creating it, and when it needed a stop, the whole group finally started to string them together.

The fourth quarter turned on a sequence that will be replayed all week in Denver. New Orleans still led 124-116 with 1:37 remaining, a margin that should have been enough. Instead, Jokic and Murray hit three-pointers, Aaron Gordon threw down a reverse dunk, and suddenly a comfortable lead was a two-point game. Murray then tied it at 126 after being fouled on a three-point attempt, making two of three free throws with 16.8 seconds left. New Orleans could not answer, and a game that had seemed decided went to overtime.

Overtime belonged first to Jokic, then to Trevon Brazile. Jokic's two free throws in the first minute gave Denver its first lead since the first quarter, and his turnaround jumper made it 130-128. After Saddiq Bey split a pair of free throws, Brazile drained the shot that defined the night: a corner three for a 133-129 lead with 1:25 left in overtime. Brazile, a rookie making his home debut, scored seven of his 17 points in overtime, after a fourth-quarter three and a putback dunk had already helped Denver stay within reach.

He was not alone among the supporting cast. Christian Braun scored 15 points in 40 minutes, doing much of the unglamorous work on the wing, while DeMar DeRozan added 12 points for Denver off the bench. Gordon finished with seven points, but his late dunk was about more than the two points it produced; it signalled that Denver, after chasing the game for three quarters, finally believed it was going to win it. That belief showed in the fourth quarter, which Denver won 37-18, and in overtime, which it won 15-9.

New Orleans will leave Denver with a loss that is hard to explain and harder to forget. Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans with 26 points, Dejounte Murray scored 22, and Zion Williamson and Derik Queen added 17 each. Bey scored 14 and Jeremiah Fears added 10, giving New Orleans six players in double figures. The Pelicans did not lose because they lacked scoring. They lost because their offence dried up precisely when Denver's stars found another gear.

The result moves Denver to 1-1 and drops New Orleans to 0-3 under first-year coach Jamahl Mosley. Denver has now shown it can win ugly, win short-handed and win from a deficit that would end most nights. New Orleans has shown it can build a big lead on the road against a good team and still walk away empty-handed. The schedule offers no sympathy: the Pelicans host Denver again on Wednesday night, and the Nuggets host Golden State on Monday. Denver did it short-handed, without Cam Johnson (ankle) and Alpha Diallo (sprained wrist); New Orleans was without Yves Missi (knee bruise).

For Jokic, the milestone will eventually be framed by history: ten more triple-doubles, if the pace holds, and he stands alone at the top of a list that once seemed untouchable. For one Saturday night in Denver, though, the number was almost beside the point. The Nuggets needed all of Jokic's 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists simply to survive, and they needed 42 from Murray and 17 from a rookie simply to reach overtime. That is what a 23-point comeback looks like up close: not a miracle, but a long climb.