After stumbling in their season opener, the Denver Nuggets appeared headed for more trouble early against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night. Nikola Jokic once again proved he is built for adversity, but a vocal segment of the Ball Arena crowd lost patience early, raining boos down on the home team during a sluggish start.
Jokic pulled no punches postgame, making his frustration with the home crowd crystal clear. “I think those fans who booed us, they don’t need to come anymore,” Jokic told reporters. “Because if you guys follow us, you know that we never quit.”
While other sluggish contenders around the league—like Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Miami Heat—have responded to opening-week hiccups with public soul-searching, Jokic took a far more defiant stance. Rather than absorbing the criticism, the three-time MVP made it clear that fair-weather support has no place in Denver’s locker room culture.
On the court, Jokic and Jamal Murray powered the historic turnaround. Murray exploded for a game-high 42 points, while Jokic orchestrated the offense with a vintage 35-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double to fuel the second-half resurgence.
Why were the Nuggets booed on their home floor?
While the final score sparked a celebration, the first 24 minutes were an unmitigated disaster for Denver in its home opener. The Nuggets sleepwalked through the early stages, falling behind by as many as 26 points and entering halftime trailing 73-57. But just as the crowd began to sour, Denver flashed the championship resilience that has defined this core, systematically dismantling the deficit after the break.
Murray and Jokic ultimately capped off the miraculous 141-135 comeback victory, flipping the energy in the arena from restless frustration to bedlam by the time the final buzzer sounded.
Shaking off their opening-night loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Nuggets showed that even when the rotation looks out of sync early, their superstar tandem remains capable of overcoming any deficit as the grueling 82-game campaign gets underway.
Key takeaways
- Nikola Jokic told fans who booed the Denver Nuggets to not come anymore.
- Jamal Murray scored 42 points while Nikola Jokic tallied a 35-point triple-double.
- The Denver Nuggets overcame a 26-point deficit to win 141-135 against New Orleans.
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