Summary: Denver Nuggets come up big, then survive horrific fourth quarter to beat Sacramento Kings

On By Littum

Tonight’s game at the Ball Arena featured a pair of red-hot teams in the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings. For three quarters, the Nuggets looked absolutely dominant, building a huge lead behind a massive Nikola Jokic triple double. Despite being back-to-back, the Kings responded with a flurry of threes in the fourth quarter and nearly completed the improbable comeback before finally running out of gas. Denver gets their fourth straight win, 132-123.

The Kings predictably shot a little flat to open the game, giving Denver an early lead, but the Kings quickly made up the difference. There wasn’t much defense early on and the game quickly became a court encounter with each team scoring at will. Jokic led the way for Denver with help from Christian Braun. As the Nuggets bench started to check in, they got on a little run and pulled ahead with a couple of baskets. They maintained that lead for a while before they started to step on the gas with the quarter wound down. After Jokic hit Peyton Watson for a fastbreak slam, Doug Christie took a timeout with the Nuggets up ten. Denver’s offense stalled a bit to close the first, but still led 40-31 after one.

Denver’s defense was solid to start the second quarter, but they weren’t able to build their lead much because they struggled to make shots. Watson, in particular, cooked on defense and had more shots. The bench did their job, Jokic checked back in with just under seven minutes to play in the half and Denver led by fifteen. The Kings were able to stop bleeding points a bit after that, but Denver still held a double-digit lead. Denver continued to be relentless, while Sacramento was already starting to look tired. A highlight dunk by Braun with two minutes left in the half put the Nuggets up twenty-two. Michael Porter Jr. had a good close at the half and Denver went to the locker room up 74-52.

The Kings opened the second half with a 7-0 run and soon after got a quick timeout from Michael Malone, who looked frustrated with his team’s effort. It didn’t produce immediate results with Denver looking horribly sloppy and Keegan Murray hitting threes. Jokic went back to work in the post and that re-established order, but the Kings were still red hot on offense. Denver held about a fifteen point lead halfway through the quarter. Jokic secured another triple double before the end of the third quarter and the points kept flowing. Things cooled off a bit and the Nuggets defense found their footing a little bit. Aaron Gordon knocked down a three with a minute left in the quarter to put Denver back up by twenty one. The Nuggets followed up with a couple more threes to close out the quarter, and Jokic finished it off with a 3/4 layup at the buzzer that found the bottom of the bucket. After three, Denver led 110-85.

The bench unit was cold off the floor to start the second and that allowed the Kings to cut into their lead. With the clock down to fourteen, Malone had to take a timeout. Jokic was back after the break with Denver still looking for their first point. Braun had a dunk at the 7:20 mark, and it was Denver’s first field goal of the quarter. Both teams began to put their regulars back with the game much closer than it should be. Denver continued to struggle to make shots and the Kings had the lead down to ten with five minutes left. The Kings kept chipping away and a Malik Monk dunk had it down to seven. Jokic got a couple of big buckets when no one else could make a shot as Denver begged for the clock to run out of the game. Sacramento missed just enough shots that they had to play the foul play, and Denver hit their clutch free throws to escape with a win. Denver wins 132-123.