A month of games ended, and the Pelicans' record was much better than expected, exciting both management and fans.

But besides that, there was another piece of good news.

Jokic had successfully lost weight, dropping from 133 kilograms last month to 120 kilograms!

He had reached the team's minimum weight requirement!

The team originally thought this process would take three to four months, but Jokic proved with his hard work that a month was enough to lose weight!

Even though most of what he lost was fat, only Jokic himself knew how much sweat and effort he had put in.

Although his weight loss plan still had to continue, because for him, around 113 kilograms was the most suitable weight.

But now, he had clearly become more agile on the court, especially on the defensive end, where his body could keep up with his brain, and he was no longer so easily beaten.

After playing the Spurs, the Pelicans didn't arrange for Jokic to play in order to protect him, and Evans replaced him in the rotation.

This made Jokic feel pent up for long enough that he went all out in training, even gaining the upper hand in matchups against Whiteside for a period of time.

His talent was truly extraordinary.

Williams was also very satisfied to see this and put him on the active roster for the next game against the Nuggets.

When Jokic heard the news, a fierce look flashed in his eyes, like a beast that had been trapped in a cage and was finally released!

On the last day of November, the Pelicans flew to Denver, where they would face the Nuggets.

Denver was a well-known high-altitude home court in the league, with an average altitude of 1,655 meters, the highest in the league.

Living in such a place might not feel like much.

But if you were to engage in intense exercise there, it wouldn't take long before you ran out of energy and were drenched in sweat.

Taking advantage of this geographical advantage, the Nuggets' home win rate was almost always at the top of the league every season, which was also the origin of the "devil's home court."

Take the Nuggets' most glorious 2012-2013 season as an example, when they achieved the best record in team history with 57 wins and 25 losses.

Their away record was 19 wins and 22 losses, but their home record was 38 wins and 3 losses!

The difference was unbelievable, but the statistics didn't lie.

No matter what period the team was in, it wasn't easy to take a victory away from there.

Especially now in winter, the altitude sickness would be even more obvious.

The Pelicans were going to fight a tough battle.

And they definitely wanted to win this game.

Not only were the Warriors hot on their heels, but they had also lost both away games they played here last season, and they needed to prove themselves.

After arriving in Denver, Williams arranged acclimatization training.

It could be seen from the training that the players were consuming far more energy than usual.

Most of the Nuggets players were in Denver most of the time, and their bodies were used to it, but for visiting teams like the Pelicans, this was what they needed to overcome.

"Damn Denver, I hate this place!"

After the training, Whiteside couldn't help but curse.

The teammates all laughed. Although the words were rough, the sentiment was true. Whiteside had voiced their feelings.

Tang Tian also smiled at this time, which was a reflection of the Pelicans' team atmosphere.

After the training, the players got on the bus one after another to return to the hotel.

Tang Tian then realized that Jokic hadn't gotten on the bus, and after asking Borrego, he learned that the guy had stayed in the training hall for extra practice again.

It seemed that Jokic hadn't played a game in half a month, and he was really a little suffocated.

The next night, which was also the first day of December, the game between the Pelicans and the Nuggets began at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

The attendance rate of the fans at the scene was about 70%.

Although the Nuggets were a devil's home court, the attendance rate at the arena had plummeted since Anthony left in the past two years, generally only about 50%.

The extra 20% tonight was also related to the fact that the opponent was the Pelicans.

Although many fans felt that the Pelicans' record as the top team in the West wouldn't last long, the Pelicans were now the real number one team in the league.

Many fans would buy tickets to watch a strong team like this play at home.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were announced.

The Pelicans' side was still the regular lineup, with Holiday and Tang Tian on the outside, Ariza and Davis on the front line, and Whiteside at center.

On the Nuggets' side, there were Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo on the outside, Wilson Chandler and "Manimal" Faried on the front line, and Mozgov at center.

George Karl led the Nuggets to the peak of their team history in the 2012-2013 season, but after Iguodala left, Karl also left his job.

His successor was Brian Shaw, who came from the Lakers and was Phil Jackson's former assistant coach.

Shaw continued Karl's tactics, and the Nuggets still played team basketball with an emphasis on offense.

The player with the highest average score on the team now was Afflalo, but he only averaged 14.3 points per game.

Besides him, Lawson averaged 13.9 points, Chandler averaged 13.2 points, Faried averaged 12 points, and Gallinari on the bench averaged 11 points.

This kind of scoring distribution seemed very even, but because they hadn't established a team core, their record was not good.

But even so, their home win rate this season far exceeded their away win rate. They were determined to make a run for the playoffs, and they would go all out in every home game.

As soon as the game started, Faried outjumped Davis, winning the Nuggets the opportunity to attack first.

Lawson immediately made a突分(tu fen) assist to Chandler, who hit a three-pointer.

The Nuggets were very adapted to playing at home, and they were also very confident.

Tang Tian's contested layup after a breakthrough also scored 2 points for the Pelicans.

The Nuggets were hot at the start, and the Pelicans were stronger, and the two teams were evenly matched at the start.

The turning point of the game came when the Pelicans' players' touch clearly started to falter seven minutes into the first quarter.

And the source of this problem was altitude sickness. They felt that the basketball in their hands was significantly heavier than usual.

Under the level of competition in the NBA, a little bit was a lot, and their offensive efficiency clearly declined.

Williams knew what was causing this, and his approach was to enter the rotation early.

At this time, the Nuggets' advantage of having a strong bench began to show.

Gallinari, Nurkic, Randy Foye and others who came off the bench were clearly outplaying the Pelicans.

At the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets took a double-digit lead over the Pelicans with a score of 32-22 thanks to their performance in the second half of the quarter.

The emergence of one thing was bound to be caused by many factors. This quarter made Tang Tian deeply feel why the Nuggets were able to achieve the best record in team history that the Anthony era couldn't achieve in the 2012-2013 season.

They really relied on this high-altitude home court, with everyone contributing, to beat your main players and then kill you with their substitutes.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Williams replaced Jokic.

Old players like Evans reacted more strongly to the altitude, and he was out of breath after a few minutes of high-intensity competition.

When Jokic heard Williams call his name, he just stood up very calmly.

But you could feel from his eyes that this guy was now a beast that had been released from its cage.