NEW ORLEANS -- It was not exactly five on one, but it was about as close to that as a playground game of keep-away.

Despite a monster 50-point performance by New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, the Denver Nuggets suffocated Davis' teammates to secure a 107-102 victory in the season opener Wednesday night at the Smoothie King Center.

"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?" Denver coach Mike Malone said. "Anthony Davis give him credit got 50 points. The Denver Nuggets got the win, and that's the most important thing."

Davis' 50-point performance was only the third such performance in a season opener since the 1963-64 season. The other two belonged to a guy named Michael Jordan.

"It's tough," Davis said. "We had some chances, but we gave them too many easy looks at the beginning of the game. It would have been more satisfying if we had won, but the way I played, I'm going to have to bring, probably not 50 every night, but get somewhere along those lines every game to give ourselves a chance to win. That's the bottom line. I just got to keep finding guys and trust those guys that they're going to make shots."

The imbalance in the Pelicans offense -- one that is missing guards Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans -- was striking. The four other New Orleans starters combined for 29 points and eight rebounds. Davis aside, the Pelicans went 21 of 58 from the floor (36.2 percent). New Orleans missed 16 of 19 3-point attempts.

Davis, meanwhile, had 16 rebounds, seven steals, four blocks and five assists to go with his eighth career 40-plus outing.

The Nuggets' tall lineup of Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Jokic, along with reserve forward Kenneth Faried, crushed the Pelicans on the boards, 58-34, and Denver used its dominance near the basket to hold a 14-3 edge in second-chance points.

Nurkic led Denver with 23 points and guard Will Barton added 22. Barton also pulled down a key offensive rebound on a missed 3-point attempt by Danilo Gallinari to give Denver a 100-94 lead down the stretch.

Faried, coming off the bench, steadied the Nuggets in the fourth quarter when the Pelicans cut an eight-point deficit to two. Faried made all three field goal attempts -- a short hook, a driving layup and a rebound follow -- and grabbed three rebounds and two steals. He also took a pair of charges from Dante Cunningham and Lance Stephenson.

"Kenneth Faried off the bench was a difference maker," Malone said. "I give him a lot of credit because he's a guy who started his whole career, not feeling sorry for himself, and going out there and finishing the game and helping us get a win. We don't win the game without Kenneth Faried."

Davis scored his 50 points on 17-of-34 shooting from the field and 16 of 17 free throws. He finished nine short of his career high of 59.

"I thought AD played great, did a lot of good things for us," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "If they're going to commit three guys to AD, then we've got to have guys step up and make shots. Obviously, we've got to try to make enough plays to get over the hump."

Faried said he simply loves doing his job, whether that means starting or coming off the bench.

"Just another day at the office, you know," Faried said. "We were just able to get the win, and that's all that matters. It's more exciting to get the win than to worry about my stats."

Davis said he knows he will be required to carry the load until Holiday and Evans get back to provide some offensive firepower.

"I'm ready to go, so how many minutes do you need me, that's how many I'm going to play," he said. I'm going to get a good massage tomorrow."

NOTES: Opening night saw an intriguing comparison between two highly regarded rookie prospects -- Pelicans G Buddy Hield (sixth overall pick out of Oklahoma) and Nuggets G Jamal Murray (seventh pick out of Kentucky). Hield went 2 of 8 and missed all three 3-pointers. Murray was 0 for 2. "I think it was personal preference," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said of the club's decision to take Hield over Murray. "Jamal, I think, is going to be a really good player, and he was right there on our radar as well. We think both of those guys are going to be great shooters in the league." ... Nuggets coach Mike Malone said Murray would have been Denver's pick even if Hield had been available. "It wasn't close," Malone said. "I say that with no disrespect to Buddy Hield, because he's a helluva player. Jamal Murray was identified by our front office early as guy they had very early on." ... The Pelicans wore T-shirts with a "BDJ 31" logo in memory of Bryce Dejean-Jones, who was fatally shot last May.