The Denver Nuggets (5 - 7) defeated the New Orleans Pelicans (6 - 5) 117 - 97 on Friday. Denver started off the season jittery as a June bug, losing six of their first seven games, but over their last five games, they've stolen four wins. It's hard to get a read on where the team is headed, but the narrative right now has at least a glimmer of hope for their prospects going forward. Kenneth Faried paced the Nuggets, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes. Denver will go on the road to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. New Orleans has had a tough schedule to start the season, so the fact they're still able to breathe above the .500 mark is impressive. They had six players finish in double - digits, but the team shot just 40 percent from the field, making it hard to secure the win. The Pelicans have one more game left on their current four - game road trip. They'll travel to Utah to take on the Jazz on Saturday.
["TeamStat(G,'Nuggets') has 7 Percentage of field goals ,has 117 Losses ,has 5 Total points ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Pelicans') has 40 Percentage of field goals ,has 5 Losses ,has 97 Total points ,has 6 Wins ."]