The misery continued Wednesday night but it was not unexpected.
The Denver Nuggets handed the New Orleans Pelicans their seventh straight loss at Smoothie King Center, 125-118.
Zion Williamson returned for the first time since Nov. 2. Shooting under 50 percent from the field in his six games played, Williamson did so again, going just 6 of 13. He finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Pelicans were good with Williamson on the floor, at +14 when he played.
While Williamson had an ordinary night, rookie Derik Queen did not.
Queen was simply outstanding, finishing with a career high 30 points with nine rebounds on 12 of 18 shooting from the field.
New Orleans started well, taking a 30-26 lead after one quarter.
Denver rallied to take a 62-58 lead by halftime.
Then came the dreaded third quarter.
A huge negative issue throughout Willie Green’s tenure continued as the Nuggets outscored New Orleans 36-26 to distance themselves with a 98-84 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
The Pelicans would not threaten the rest of the way.
The good news was the Pelicans played hard to the finish, going on a 10-0 run to pull within nine points in the final three minutes.
Nikola Jokic fouled out with 2:44 to play with 28 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds and New Orleans cut the deficit to 118-111. Jokic did commit nine turnover.
Former Pelican Jonas Valanciunas bit the hand that once fed him, nailing a pair of key mid-range jumpers to help stave off New Orleans.
Queen dunked to cut the Denver lead to 120-114 with 47 seconds left. Jamal Murray sank a pair of free throws to salt the game away.
New Orleans competed hard, fighting until the end.
It was not enough.
What killed New Orleans was awful shooting from 3-point range as the Pelicans were just 7 of 34 (21%).
Denver shot 55 percent from the field (46 of 83) as New Orleans continued to struggle on the defensive end. The Denver bench outscored New Orleans reserves 33-26 while Denver had 35 assists to 26 for the Pelicans.
Trey Murphy scored 23 points while Jeremiah Fears added 16 points.
New Orleans (2-13) returns to action Friday night at Dallas. The Pelicans won 101-99 at Dallas Nov. 5 for one of their two wins on the season.
