It was a late night special for the Denver Nuggets with opening tip against the Sacramento Kings not happening until 9:12 PM MST. It seemed to inject some energy into the teams who opened the game at a lightning pace and traded buckets throughout. The Nuggets once again got a huge game from star Nikola Jokic while keeping his counterpart, Domantas Sabonis, at bay by getting him into foul trouble. Jamal Murray also had a strong night and the Nuggets ultimately were able to put their opponent away late to move to 8-2 on the season. Final score: Denver 122, Sacramento 108.

Sabonis scored the first three buckets for the Kings while Jokic scored or assisted on the first three buckets for Denver. Sacramento went cold from outside while the Nuggets offense was still hot and Denver started to build a lead. They eventually cooled off but still kept the Kings at arms length and were up by four at the six minute mark. Murray was feeling it but the rest of the Nuggets offense started to get a little clumsy. Jokic settled them down while the pace remained fast and Denver stayed up a half dozen. They closed the quarter poorly though. The Kings were hitting threes and that flipped the game in Sacramento’s favor. The first quarter ended with the Nuggets trailing 34-31.

Denver’s bench group looked a bit sluggish to open the second quarter but they kept pace with the Kings in the early going. Jonas Valanciunas and Murray played off each other to keep Denver’s offense afloat with Tim Hardaway Jr. kicking in the occasional three. Eventually Aaron Gordon knocked down a three that got the Nuggets the lead back briefly right before the six minute mark but they were in an all out dog fight in Sacramento. Jokic checked back into the game after a nice long rest which forced Doug Christie to give Sabonis a rest and leave Drew Eubanks to battle with Nikola. The game was tied heading into the final minutes of the half and Jokic was asserting himself. Denver’s close to the second quarter was much better than the first, they went to the locker room up 60-56.

Both teams were firing away from three but no one was making them outside of Gordon to start the second half. Jokic got some points in the paint but Denver was falling too much in love with the three ball and couldn’t get any separation. Sabonis got into foul trouble with the Nuggets were struggling on offense and they couldn’t take advantage at first. Eventually though Jokic did win some one on one matchups with Eubanks. He kept bringing the beef down low and finally the Nuggets started building their lead. They got it up to nine after a Malik Monk technical foul with just over two minutes left in the quarter. Once again Denver couldn’t close strong. They settled for too many jumpers while Russell Westbrook had his moment and pulled the Kings back within three points. After three quarters, the score was 85-82.

Murray led Denver’s offense to start the fourth an sparked a 9-0 run with Jokic resting on the bench. Jamal had ten points of his own in the first four minutes and it looked like the Nuggets might finally pull away. They started doing just that, getting out in transition and getting easy buckets to push the lead up to fifteen. Bruce Brown started getting it going and for a moment you thought the game was headed to garbage time. The Kings had another push in them though, and once they got the lead back to thirteen David Adelman took a timeout. Jokic came back in and immediately got a bucket but that was the only one Denver got during a 10-2 Kings run. After another timeout, Jokic got an and-one that put the Nuggets back up double digits and was also Sabonis’ sixth foul. Sacramento wasn’t going to go quietly though, they pushed back again in the last two minutes for one last gasp. They got within seven before Jokic hit a three and then set Brown up for another. That proved to be the nail in the coffin. Denver outlasts Sacramento and wins 122-108.

Final Thoughts

Denver probably played with their food a bit

Maybe it was the late tip, maybe it’s just what happens when the Nuggets play in Sacramento, I’m not quite sure, but tonight the Nuggets struggled to put the Kings away even though that outcome felt inevitable throughout the game. Up until the last minutes Denver was in danger of letting this game get away despite limiting Sabonis to twenty-six minutes, Zach Lavine to twelve points and not allowing a single player on Sacramento to score twenty. Jokic ended up having to come back in the game to finish it off which led to an awesome monster stat line (35 pts, 15 rebs, 7 asts), but there was an opportunity to get him a sub 30 minute night on the front end of a back to back and the Nuggets couldn’t hold off the Kings long enough in the fourth to do it.

The Kings bench is nice

Nov 11, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Nique Clifford (5) grabs a rebound during the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Not sure what will happen with Sacramento’s starters long term but I wouldn’t count on that group being in Northern California long. Rumors are already swirling that the Kings are open for business when it comes to trading major pieces of their roster and with the results being what they’ve been with this veteran starting unit you can see why. Their second unit though has a lot to like. Keon Ellis and Nique Clifford are two young players who look like they have bright futures and putting them with a veteran trio like Westbrook, Monk and Eubanks makes a very complete unit. That group accounted for almost half of Sacramento’s points tonight and were able to outscore Denver’s bench 53-30.

The new guys did their thing

Don’t get it twisted though, Denver’s bench is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Once again that group was buoyed by the play of the three new bench additions: Brown, Valanciunas and Hardaway Jr. It took a bit for Brown to get going tonight but once he did he was everything Brucey B is meant to be. He ended the night with fourteen points, seven rebounds and two steals. Big Val meanwhile did his part to pile up fouls and frustration on the Sacramento bigs while scoring ten points and grabbing seven rebounds (TTB$). Hardaway had a quieter night (a rarity for him in this early season) but still made the most of his six points, helping some runs early in the game.