The Denver Nuggets were in New Orleans tonight, and thanks to a season-high of 32 points from Danilo Gallinari, will leave with a win over the Pelicans. Anthony Davis only played 6 minutes in the entire game, a short stint in the first quarter, before going to the locker room with a shoulder injury. The Nuggets were unable to take advantage right away, though, and the first half was close throughout. The Nuggets couldn’t seem to pull away as everytime they attempted, the Pelicans answered. Gallinari, Kenneth Faried and Gary Harris were doing most of the damage in that half, with Ryan Anderson carrying the Pelicans by hitting multiple jump shots in the second quarter. The first half came to a close with the Pelicans leadng, 53-51.

The second half included a different starting lineup for both teams, since the Pelicans started Alexis Ajinca in replacement of the injured Davis, while the Nuggets went even smaller by starting Will Barton over J.J. Hickson. The story of the third quarter was the fact that Gallinari absolutely caught fire. He was doing it all tonight, hitting three-pointers, posting up inside, and driving to the basket. He ended the game with 32 points off 12/19 from the field, including 5/8 from the three-point line, while also notching 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

While the third quarter belonged to Gallinari, the fourth quarter belonged to Jameer Nelson, as he was the key in helping the Nuggets extend the lead to double digits. He hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter alone, and the Pelicans were unable to close the gap after he caught fire, despite 24 points in the game from Anderson off the bench. Overall, many Nuggets had good games tonight, but tonight’s MVP was Gallo. It’s clear after this game that he can be the player the Nuggets need him to be, which is crucial if the Nuggets want to win more games than anyone expected them to prior to the season.

The full recap will be up shortly, but as always, check out these vines in the meantime.

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Box score via espn.com