The Nuggets return to Denver to square off with a lethal rival—The Letdown Game. After a signature road win against a huge and dangerous Rockets squad, Joker and Co. welcome the hapless Kings, losers of eight straight and missing their all-pro stiff, Domantas Sabonis. The Nuggets will also be missing two key players, as Christian Braun continues to rehab his ankle and Aaron Gordon looks to be down for some time with a nagging hamstring. The 8:00 PM Saturday night tip-off isn’t exactly a boon for a fatigued team’s energy level, either.
But if the Nuggets can find the reserves to keep up with a maniacal Westbrook and contain DeRozan’s old-man game, they can finish off a long week 3-1 and start looking ahead to another big Texas showdown against Wemby and the Spurs next Friday.
The Basics
Who: Sacramento Kings (3-13) at Denver Nuggets (12-3)
When: 8:00 PM MST
Where: Is it still “The Can” since “Ball” makes aluminum cans?
How to watch/listen: Altitude / + / 92.5 FM.
Rival Blog: A Royal Pain
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Rockets | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Russell Westbrook | Nuggets |
| SG | Cam Johnson | Zach Lavine | Kings |
| SF | Tim Hardaway Jr. | DeMar DeRozan | Kings |
| PF | Peyton Watson | Keegan Murray | TBD |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Drew Eubanks | Close, but Nuggets |
| Bench | Bruce Brown, Jonas Valanciunas, Spencer Jones, Jalen Pickett | Malik Monk, Precious Achiuwu, Dennis Schroder, Keon Ellis | Nuggets |
Injury report: Nuggets | Aaron Gordon – Doubtful (hamstring); Christian Braun – out (ankle); Julian Strawther – out (back);
Kings | Domantas Sabonis – Out (knee)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Will the Nuggets let the Kings hang around?
The Kings don’t possess the same kind of offensive firepower that the Bulls used to fuel several explosive runs during Monday night’s upset, but the Nuggets have shown they are still capable of playing so bad defensively that they can let anyone hang around (see also the Pelicans game three days ago). Zach LaVine (21.9 PPG) and DeMar DeRozan are certainly capable of filling it up in a wide open game, and the Kings have some punch from Monk, Westbrook, and Ellis off the bench.
The first half should tell the tale. If Murray, Watson, and Johnson can set the defensive tone on the perimeter and in transition, and if Jokic relentlessly bullies the undersized, undermanned, undergunned Sacramento bigs, the game could be decided by halftime, allowing the Nuggets to get some valuable game time for Spencer Jones and Jalen Pickett. But if the Nuggets let LaVine get off and show no want-to on screens, 50/50 plays, and transition, this could easily devolve into the kind of fourth quarter game the Nuggets struggled to avoid much of last season.
The thing to remember: Revenge runs hot in Russell Westbrook
We know—and some of us now love–Russ. Which means we know that Russ runs best when Russ runs hot. And there’s some indication he still holds a bit of a grudge against the Nuggets for not bringing him back this year. “The truth is, they didn’t want me back,” he said prior to the first Nuggets-Kings in early November. Russ went on to put up 26 and was a constant sparkplug for the Kings throughout their 122-108 loss, a game that was closer than the score indicated.
Russ will without a doubt bring the same level of tenacity tonight, which could actually backfire if it motivates what could be an otherwise lethargic Nuggets team to match his intensity. Look for the Nuggets to pay special attention to Russ, maybe even playing PWat on him more than he normally would to frustrate him into some hurried shooting and costly turnovers, which he’s been good for throughout his controversial career.
The thing to bet: Jokic getting another triple double
Jokic should eat in this matchup. Even when the Kings have Sabonis, Nikola has averaged 28 PPG the last four years, and he’s off to his most efficient shooting season of his career, in addition to leading the league in rebounds and assists. A triple double by the third quarter seems like virtually a lock (DISCLAIMER: Nothing in sports, or life, is a lock).
