Denver Nuggets vs New Orleans Pelicans Picks and Prediction for Saturday November 14 2026

The Pelicans are hosting the Nuggets on Saturday night at 7 PM ET at the Smothie King Center. This will be the third meeting already on this season between the teams and the Nuggets have already taken away both of those games as a win. Now, what will be interesting is if the Pelicans defense decides to show up in the game as they have been getting crushed lately or if the Nuggets lack of reliability will make the difference in the game here. Be sure you ready for all the NBA has to offer with our free NBA picks. 

Denver Has Enough Offense to Give New Orleans Trouble

Denver heads to this game sitting on an impressive 6-4 record overall, but when playing on the road the Nuggets are not that bad either with a 4-2 mark. The last game on the court before Friday was a 123-118 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. This win was a nice bounce back after losing on Monday night to the Houston Rockets by a score of 110-110. Even with that recent loss the Nuggets have went 3-1 in their last 5 games. 

The Denver team is coming in scoring at a clip of 114.5 points a game, but that is barely higher than what the defense is giving up with 113.3 points per game. When it comes to shooting the Denver squad is not horrible getting 48.3 shots from the floor to fall. Now, one aspect that the Nuggets have been able to do decent is passing the ball and not turning it over with 27.6 assists and only 13.3 turnovers a game. Needless to say that is one aspect that could definitely help Denver out in killing the clock later in the game and not turning the ball over. 

Jamal Murray is averaging 26.2 points and 5.9 assists, and he scored 30 against Memphis on 12-for-19 shooting. Nikola Jokic is putting up 23.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and nine assists per game. He finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists Wednesday. Cameron Johnson added 23 in that victory. Julian Strawther has not been playing lately while dealing with a knee injury.

New Orleans Can’t Keep Giving Up These Numbers

The Pelicans are playing just under the five hundred mark at home with a 3-4 mark, but that is good news as the Pelicans are 4-8 overall this season. The last 4 games have been horrible for the Pelicans has they have all been losses and in three of those games it is questionable if the Pelicans even showed up on the court. The stretched started on Sunday with a 139-123 loss to the Clippers, then Monday a horrible 138-87 loss to Golden State and finally on Wednesday the Pelicans were crushed by Brooklyn 145-111. 

Offensively the Pelicans have looked impressive at times being able to put in 116.9 points per game on 47% shooting from the field, but only 33.1% of the three point shots are falling. The bigger issue for the offense is the turnovers which is coming in at 16.5 per game and are definitely giving the opponents extra shots. Defensively the Pelicans have not shown up on the court giving up 124.3 points per game. 

Zion Williamson leads the Pelicans with 21.7 points per game and scored 29 against Brooklyn. Jeremiah Fears is averaging 15.2 points and a team-high 4.9 assists, while Saddiq Bey is contributing 15.4 points. The Pelicans have been dealing with injuries to Trey Murphy III, Bennedict Mathurin, Trendon Watford and Yves Missi. 

Denver Nuggets vs New Orleans Pelicans Picks and Prediction

Pick: Denver Nuggets Moneyline

I’m going with Denver here. Look at what New Orleans has been doing defensively and tell me why I should trust the Pelicans against Jokic and Murray. Brooklyn just scored 145 against them. Golden State scored 138. The Clippers scored 139. Denver doesn’t need to do anything fancy. Get the ball moving, make New Orleans defend for an entire possession and let Jokic find the mismatches. The Nuggets have already beaten this team twice, and they’ll have the rest advantage Saturday. Now, Denver has a habit of letting teams hang around, and Williamson could certainly make things interesting. I just don’t see New Orleans suddenly fixing its defense in one day. Give me the Nuggets.

Total Pick: Over 228 or Lower

I’d look at the over, provided the number stays reasonable. New Orleans is playing fast, turning the ball over and giving opponents far too many easy opportunities. Denver should score well above its usual average if the Pelicans defend the way they have recently. New Orleans can score enough to contribute, too. The Pelicans average nearly 117 points themselves, and Denver isn’t a shutdown defensive team. The one concern is the back-to-back. New Orleans could come out flat, and a Denver blowout might slow the fourth quarter down. But at 228 or lower, I’d rather have the over than hope this Pelicans defense suddenly starts getting stops.

Final Picks: Denver Nuggets Moneyline and Over 228 or Lower