s coach Alvin Gentry said.UP NEXTNuggets: Host Portland on Saturday night.Pelicans: Host Golden State on Friday night.The Associated Press contributed to t

NEW ORLEANS -- Denver coach Mike Malone decided the?Nuggets?should not, in fact, do whatever it takes to stop Anthony Davis.Instead, the Nuggets stuck to their usual defensive principles against the?Pelicans,?and it paid off -- barely.Jusuf Nurkic scored 23 points, Will Barton added 22 and the Nuggets survived a dominant performance by Davis to defeat the Pelicans 107-102 in both teams regular-season opener on Wednesday night.When you play against a great player, you have a problem you need to answer: Are you going to shut him down and create problems elsewhere or are you going to let him get his and hope nobody else goes off? Malone said.Denver did the latter, and Davis wound up with 50 points, 16 rebounds, seven steals, five assists and four blocks. His prolific play helped New Orleans trim a deficit as large as 14 late in the second quarter down to two points in the waning minutes.We gave them too many easy looks in the beginning of the game, Davis said. We gave ourselves a chance. Weve just got to play like we played in the third and fourth quarter in the beginning of the game.Davis became the first player to post at least 45 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game since steals were recorded in 1973-74.He didnt get much help offensively. Davis shot 17-of-34; the rest of the Pelicans combined to shoot 21-of-58.Tim Frazier scored 15 for the Pelicans. ETwaun Moore added 10 points but missed a 3-point attempt that could have tied the contest with 24 seconds left.Danilo Gallinari scored 15 for Denver, Wilson Chandler added 12 points and Kenneth Faried finished with 14 rebounds -- six on the offensive end to help the Nuggets end with a 14-3 advantage in second-chance points.Denver built its largest lead when Barton hit a 3 and a layup to spark a 9-2 run that made 60-46 in the final minute of the second quarter.I was just trying to be aggressive, staying in attack mode, whether Im scoring for myself of making plays for others, Barton said.Denver still led by 10, at 87-77, when Farieds 5-foot hook shot opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, but New Orleans managed to keep its deficit within single digits most of the final period. Davis pulled the Pelicans as close as 100-98 when he cut into the lane for a layup with 2:32 to go.Davis didnt fault his teammates for the loss, saying their shot selection was decent but that they missed shots they often make. He was more inclined to criticize himself for a few missed shots from close range and his late turnover.Im going to have to -- probably not 50 every night -- but try to get somewhere along those lines every game to give ourselves a chance, Davis said.ROOKIE DEBUTSNuggets rookie guard Jamal Murray, taken seventh overall in the NBA draft -- one spot behind Pelicans rookie Buddy Hield -- played 13 minutes and was 0 of 2 shooting, finishing with a point on a free throw. Hield missed the first three shots of his NBA career before scoring his first points on a driving layup. He finished with four points on 2 of 8 shooting in nearly 17 minutes off the bench.OFF THE MARKBoth teams let fly frequently from 3-point range but often inaccurately. Denver missed 16 shots of 24 from deep. The Pelicans made only 3-of-19.TIP-INSNuggets: Between Gallinari, Nikola Jokic and the 7-foot Nurkic, Denver opened the game with three players 6-foot-10 or taller on the floor at a time, when a number of teams are favoring smaller lineups that feature the quicker, more versatile players on their rosters. Obviously, the trend is going away from what we do, but were not worried about what the trends are, Malone said. Were going to do what we think is best for us, but within our game, youll see a lot of different lineups.Pelicans: Before the game, the Pelicans wore black T-shirts during warm-ups to honor former teammate Bryce Dejean-Jones, who was fatally shot in May, when he forced his way into an apartment that he had mistaken for that of his girlfriend. The shirts had the letters BDJ on the chest, with Dejean-Jones No. 31 underneath. Its unfortunate what happened, the fact that hes not with us any longer, but he was part of our family, and we just wanted to do something to pay tribute to him, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.UP NEXTNuggets: Host Portland on Saturday night.Pelicans: Host Golden State on Friday night.The Associated Press contributed to this report.?Larry Johnson Chiefs Jersey . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Khalen Saunders Youth Jersey . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. http://www.prochiefsauthentic.com/Youth-Harrison-Butker-Elite-Jersey/ . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Travis Kelce Youth Jersey . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Christian Okoye Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011.PHILADELPHIA -- The St. Louis Cardinals were riding a five-game winning streak entering Saturdays game in Philadelphia.They were fresh off of a come-from-behind, ninth-inning comeback victory against the Phillies on Friday.It was another game in which they hit at least two home runs in a game, their ninth consecutive game of such stature. They became the first National League team and just the fifth team in MLB history to hit two or more home runs in nine straight games.Saturday night, that came to a close. Only Jeremy Hazelbaker went deep in a 4-2 loss for the Cardinals.Its hard to hit one a game for a consistent amount of time, St. Louis manager Matheny said. I thought today might be a day, especially when Hazelbaker hit one early. You could it the way guys were taking their at-bats there was an opportunity to maybe do it again.Hazelbakers home run gave St. Louis nine players with double-digit home runs on the year -- the most in baseball and tied for the most in a season in franchise history (2000).The Cardinals look to keep slugging the ball in Sundays rubber match at Citizens Bank Park against young righty Vince Velasquez (8-5, 4.14 ERA).Velasquez, 24, has given up three home runs in each of his last two starts. Velasquez was blitzed for five runs -- all in the fifth and sixth innings -- on seven hits in 5 2/3 iinnings while striking out 10 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.dddddddddddd.Velasquez is likely nearing an innings limit, but the Phillies said they dont have an exact number or date in mind just yet. Hes thrown 113 innings in 2016.In Vinces case, we do, we are targeting a specific number of starts, innings, pitches, trying to manage his workload, Philadelphia general manger Matt Klentak said Wednesday. He goes out (Tuesday) night, and I know with the three home runs the line wasnt as impressive as it mightve looked at times, but (damn) his stuff was good last night. He was lights out.St. Louis counters with right-hander Mike Leake (8-9, 4.78 ERA).The Cardinals, who have a 1 1/2-game lead for the second wild card spot in the National League, need Leake to start improving if they want to continue to make a playoff push.Leake, signed to a five-year, $80 million deal last offseason, has allowed at least three runs in five consecutive starts. He hasnt won in three August starts and his 1.28 WHIP is his worst since 2012. Leakes ERA hasnt been below 4.00 since May 31.He previously faced the Phillies on May 4 in St. Louis, taking a no-decision while giving up four runs in five innings. ' ' '