Going up against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, the Pelicans’ rookie Derik Queen showed no fear, being aggressive and attacking early. He helped the Pelicans get off to a hot start and put together their best half in a long time against a championship contender. New Orleans came up short and fell to 2-13 for the season, but there were a lot of positive takeaways. The most notable of them was Queen seemingly outplaying Jokic on his way to 30 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks on 12/18 shooting from the field. The Pelicans were neutral in Queen’s 30 minutes of action, but lost the minutes without him by seven in their 125-118 loss.
This was Queen’s best game of the season, scoring a career-high in points, but also consistently not struggling to get good shots against the Nuggets. His impressive display caught the attention of Jokic after the game.
Nikola Jokic Was Impressed by Derik Queen in Their First Matchup
In his post-game remarks, Jokic said Queen was really good, attacking the paint, shooting the ball, and playing downhill to get himself open, per Altitude TV’s Vic Lombardi. Jokic added, “[Queen] is good. He has some moves; he is definitely crafty. He is unorthodox. Great touch and feel for the game. It’s good to see somebody different.”
When asked about whether he sees any similarities in playstyle, the three-time MVP responded that there is something there with how slow and crafty they both are.
It must be an amazing feeling for Queen to hear this from someone who has modeled his game after. Head coach James Borrego had challenged the rookie before the game, saying, “He has looked up to this guy for many years, and he’ll get a crack at him tonight. It’s awesome… This can’t be a go out there and be in awe of this guy… This ain’t 2k, you gotta go compete. You gotta go impose your will,” per Pelicans Film Room on X. Queen certainly did that the whole game. He forced Jokic to take him more and more seriously as the game went on, imposing his will with his aggressiveness.
Jokic was still able to carry his team to the win, but it wasn’t his best performance. He had nine turnovers and fouled out with a few minutes left in the game. He still had a 28-point triple-double with only 18 field goal attempts, but he wasn’t very comfortable defending or attacking Queen.
Queen certainly passed a big test going up against the best big man in the game. He will look to carry this momentum against the Mavericks on Friday to end the Pelicans’ seven-game losing streak.
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