NEW ORLEANS — Desperation pushed the tempo to be faster and made the pressure more palpable.
New Orleans was playing for its playoff life. The Nuggets were out to put a dent in those plans.
The result was one of the most entertaining, nail-biting, riveting games the Nuggets have been a part of all season.
The Pelicans thought they had the guy who mattered most — all-star forward Anthony Davis. And he was nearly enough. But the Nuggets fought through his near quadruple-double to pull out a heart-stopping 118-111 victory in double overtime Sunday at the Smoothie King Center.
“They fought,” Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt said of his players. “They had an incredible will to win. These guys, they are reaching inside themselves and they are pulling things out of themselves that they didn’t even know they had.”
Oklahoma City Thunder fans were thanking the Nuggets.
The Pelicans began Sunday tied with Oklahoma City for the eighth spot in the Western Conference, and they own the tiebreaker. But they ended the day one game behind after the Nuggets made all of the necessary plays to win.
New Orleans will be happy not to see the Nuggets again this season. It has been a bad matchup for the Pelicans, with the Nuggets winning three of four contests.
“Today, I know they were fighting for a playoff spot,” Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried said. “I want to show them, ‘Hey, it’s not going to be easy.’ “
Danilo Gallinari’s 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the second overtime put the Nuggets up 114-109. A Tyreke Evans layup brought the Pelicans to within three at 114-111. And the teams stayed that way for the next minute. The Nuggets fought off New Orleans late to get the victory. They are 6-2 under Hunt, whose coaching résumé grows stronger with each win against a team in the upper echelon of either conference.
Davis lit up the stats sheet with 36 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and nine blocked shots.
“I wanted to call timeout to see if there were three of him out there,” Hunt said. “He’d be up top then I was trying to get him in the corner. Next thing I know he was on the baseline. He’s an incredible player.”
The Nuggets were led by Will Barton’s career-high 25 points and nine rebounds. Faried had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. And Ty Lawson had 19 points and nine assists.
“I think it says a lot about the character of this team, and the coaching staff,” Barton said. “We were missing some key guys, and to beat those guys pretty much at full strength, and they’re making a playoff push on their home court? It says a lot that everybody came to play, from top to bottom.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or
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6 p.m. Monday, ALT; 950 AM
Spotlight on Jeff Green: When Memphis acquired Green, a versatile wing, from Boston back in January, almost all observers hailed it as a shrewd move. They were right. He has helped give the Grizzlies some much-needed scoring punch. In his last five games, he has been solid, with averages of 14.6 points and 5.2 rebounds.
