Rookie Derik Queen produced his best game as a professional on Wednesday, leading the New Orleans Pelicans in a losing effort against the Denver Nuggets.

Queen finished with 30 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots in the 125-118 loss at the Smoothie King Center. He went 12-of-18 from the field, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range, in 30 minutes as the Pelicans dropped to 2-13.

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The 13th pick recorded 21 points in the second half to help the Pelicans maintain ground with the Nuggets (11-3). He is one of six rookies since 2000 to achieve his stat line in a game, joining the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren and Ben Simmons.

“I thought he was great,” Pelicans interim coach James Borrego said after the game. “That was a heck of a second half by him to keep us in it. His aggression from the top of the floor, playmaking. I thought he did a really good job defensively, too. You’re not going to stop (Nikola) Jokić, but his ability to make plays on the ball, block a shot, (is) really impressive.”

Queen is averaging 11.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals on 49.6% shooting from the field in 15 appearances with the Pelicans. He is seventh in rookie scoring and one of four first-year players to score at least 30 points in a game this season.

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Borrego hinted after taking over for coach Willie Green that changes could come to the starting lineup and rotation, hinting that Queen could see a larger role. He has since started the past three games, as the Pelicans see value in his ability to impact games in various ways.

Queen has enabled the Pelicans to get off to better starts since joining the first five as the team looks to get him involved from the opening tip. He is delivering strong production in that role and believes those performances will continue as he plays more.

“Because of my (wrist) injury, I didn’t have a preseason, so it was a mental thing,” Queen said. “I’m a confident guy, but during the injury, it was a lot of head down (moments). Once I got the first game, we played Memphis and (I) played 15 minutes; it was pretty good. I kind of got a feel of the game. The next game, (I) played 35 (minutes). Just keep on building after every game and keep getting more comfortable.”

This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: Pelicans news: Derik Queen registers rare stat line in loss to Nuggets