The Denver Nuggets treated their final game against the Sacramento Kings this year as a statement game, winning 136-105 as they seized control of in the opening minutes and never let up. Nikola Jokic had 36 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists in 3 quarters, while Jamal Murray had 11 points and 9 assists. Peyton Watson and Cam Johnson combined for 37 points, and Denver’s bench had 50 points as the Nuggets could do no wrong. Russell Westbrook had 17 points for the Kings, who had 3 others with 15, but that’s just not enough to keep pace with Denver’s top-ranked offense. The Nuggets grabbed loose boards and forced enough three-point misses to take the double-digit first quarter lead and never looked back. Owners of an 11-game road winning streak, Denver now heads home to try to kill their Ball Arena woes but the road formula remains a massive success.
Game Flow
Both teams started with sloppy play after the tip, missing several shots each and Keegan Murray missing two free throws for the Kings. Keegan turned the ball over to Denver, but then got it back and scored the first bucket finally. Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook exchanged layups, and Peyton Watson buried a 3 for Denver. DeMar DeRozan answered with a 3 of his own, then hit a layup after another Jokic paint finish. Jamal Murray hit a banked jumper, Watson and Westbrook exchanged buckets to make it 11-11 early. Maxime Reynaud hit a hook shot for the Kings, and Watson was fouled attempting a dunk. Jamal made a 3 after Westbrook missed a couple, then Murray assisted a Jokic paint finish to put Denver up 5. Russ hit a Kings layup after a Jokic turnover, but Nikola then assisted on a Tim Hardaway Jr. 3 and Joker hit a fallaway jumper for a 10-2 run. Malik Monk hit a clean bucket but Jokic buried a 3 and Jamal drove the hoop full court for a traditional 3-point play. Jokic got one of his own, but the Kings hit a pair of buckets. Hardaway missed a three but Pickett made one as he came in early off the bench and a Jokic steal led to Cam Johnson free throws. Monk hit a Kings three and a pair of free throws but a quick Cam bucket and Jokic free throws gave Denver a 41-26 lead after one.
Jonas Valanciunas hit a nice hook shot to start the second and Westbrook missed another 3. Big Val buried a dead-on three pointer, Westbrook answered with free throws and THJ dunked hard in the paint against a zone. The Kings made a run with DeRozan free throws, a Raynaud finish and a Keegan Murray three that forced a Denver timeout. Keegan hit another shit but Cam finally stopped the run with a three-pointer, answered by one from Westbrook. Bruce Brown finished a Pickett-assisted layup, and Watson had a great dunk. Big Val hit a baseline fallaway, Keegan Murray hit a hook shot, and Watson got fouled in the act of shooting a 3. The starters came back in and Denver answered a Westbrook layup with a Jokic finish and a push shot from Watson to make it 65-46 Denver. Both teams had some misses, but Westbrook got back to the line for a pair. Murray and Cam Johnson each hit buckets for Denver, DeRozan hit a long 2, and Jokic’s free throws followed by Hardaway’s rebound and finish put Denver up 22. DeRozan finished at the rim, Jokic buried a 3, and Denver led 77-54 at the half.
Jokic opened the third quarter with a gentle baseline dunk, Spencer Jones got a richochet for a finish and Murray went behind-the-back to Jokic put Denver up 29 in a hurry. Sacramento was blanked as Jokic finished through contact twice at the rim with no whistle to make it a 10-0 run before Keon Ellis finally made a pullup to end the run, and Devin Carter got a Kings bucket. Cam Johnson had a nice dunk off a Jokic feed, Watson got a good feed as well but got fouled and missed both free throws. Keegan Murray made a couple of transition Kings buckets and Watson traded threes with Ellis as Denver kept a large lead. Cam and Watson both finished in the paint, but on defense Denver’s guards stopped fighting for rebounds and Sacramento got several second chance buckets. Watson and Jokic pushed Denver over 100 points, then Nikola kept scoring over the smaller Sacramento defenders with a couple more layups and push shots to make it 104-75. Hardaway had a nice layup sandwiched by Kings buckets, and Jalen Pickett buried a 3 as the quarter wound down. The Nuggets went cold to end the quarter but still finished up 109-81.
Cam Johnson and Big Val hit jumpers while Malik Monk made a nice running 3 for the Kings to begin the fourth quarter. Cam Johnson got to the line, while Reynaud and Valanciunas traded buckets. Jonas and Raynaud again traded buckets, and Big Val got to the line but missed both free throws. Jonas was a monster on the boards though and both Hardaway and Hunter Tyson made buckets as Denver had Sacramento in a chokehold with 6 minutes to go. Garbage time didn’t change anything but it was good for the bench to get out there. Hunter Tyson hit a couple of threes, Valanciunas had some tough rebounds and a great finger-roll finish. In the end, the Nuggets took care of business and finished off the Kings 136-105.
Final Thoughts
-Denver played a complete game. The 6-win Kings should not have challenged them in this one, especially with Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis out, but Denver didn’t let them hang around. The Nuggets put up 41 points in the first for a 15-point lead and never looked back. These teams were obviously tired of seeing one another, but Sacramento had nothing left in the bag for Denver, and the Nuggets were done playing. This is how Denver should treat the teams that are not built to play with them, instead of letting them hang around. I love seeing a nice, professional win by a team with title hopes. The starters got some rest, the deep bench got some playing time, and the Nuggets go back to Denver happy with their 11-game road win streak still going.
