NEW ORLEANS — The upper deck of Smoothie King Center was almost as sparse as the Nuggets’ and Pelicans’ active rosters ... a group-stage loss in the second annual in-season tournament. Their next NBA Cup game is next Tuesday in Memphis.

Nikola Jokic’s best attribute is not just that he can do almost everything on the court, but it’s also his ability to be available. The latter may be in question in the Denver Nugget’s first NBA Cup game against the New Orleans Pelicans,

Nuggets lead assistant David Adelman took over for Malone and said the most difficult challenge of stepping in was that “Nikola is not here.”

The Denver Nuggets were without star center Nikola Jokic and coach Mike Malone for their NBA Cup opener Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans

Nikola Jokic looks to stay hot as we continue our NBA odds series with a Nuggets-Pelicans prediction and pick.