The Denver Nuggets will begin the 2016-2017 NBA season with a visit to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana on Wednesday, Oct. 26 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 8:00 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru the NBA League Pass.
Preview
Denver will enter the new season looking to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in four years. Head coach Mike Malone is suiting up for his second season with the club and with main man Emmanuel Mudiay a year older, things look promising for the Nuggets this season.
Aside from Mudiay, Malone will also have two of the best young big men in the league today in Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic with the veteran Kenneth Faried now providing quality minutes off the bench.
Incoming third-year player Gary Harris, who had a breakthrough year last season averaging career-highs of 12.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, is an option at starting shooting guard. Sixth man Will Barton also had his career-best performance last season with 14.4 points, 5.8 boards, and 2.5 assists per night.
Harris and Barton are expected to continue their improvement this season, which is good news for Malone.
Of course, Danilo Gallinari will continue to be the team's veteran anchor and best all-around player. If Gallinari can stay healthy all season then the Nuggets may surprise a lot of analysts, as per Hoops Hype. Veteran floor general Jameer Nelson is also worth mentioning as the primary backup for Mudiay.
Meanwhile, The Pelicans are Anthony Davis' squad and can only go as far as the three-time All-Star can take them.
The team was plagued by injuries last season and their projected starting backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans is still unavailable at the moment. Head coach Alvin Gentry will just have to make the most of what he has right now with new additions Langston Galloway and E'Twaun Moore as replacements.
New Orleans also added the controversial Lance Stephenson, Solomon Hill, and rookie Buddy Hield in the summer and will be hoping they can fit well with Davis moving forward, via Sports Chat Place.
Prediction
With both teams equally having issues to settle before they can reach their full potential, it would be hard to predict who will win in this opening night contest. The Pelicans are at home, but the Nuggets enough young players to surprise any team. Denver prevails in a close match.