The Denver Nuggets didn’t look like they had it early, giving up 42 points to the Sacramento Kings in the first quarter, but fought all the way back to defeat the Kings 116-110 in Ball Arena. Nikola Jokic was defended by 2 and 3 Kings all night but still finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists. Denver lost the Nikola Jokic minutes by 7 and still won the game by 6, thanks to a mix of bench players and starters. Jamal Murray had 24 points and 8 assists, Westbrook had a team-high 25 points, but it was Zeke Nnaji playing backup center who had 10 points and some critical defensive plays to help swing momentum with Jokic off the floor in both stints. DeMar DeRozan had a game-high 35 including 4 made 3s, and Jonas Valanciunas combined with Zack LaVine for another 39 points, but Sacramento only scored 17 in the final frame as Denver ripped away the victory late.
Russell Westbrook missed his first shot and the Kings had a couple of putback from Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan, but Christian Braun made a corner 3 for Denver and Nikola Jokic answered a Keegan Murray drive with a tip-in off his own mishandled rebound. Ellis and Jamal Murray traded free throws, then Ellis and Jokic swapped paint buckets. When the Kings made a pair of threes for the 16-8 lead though, Malone had to take a timeout. Russ and Jamal made a pair of free throws of their own after a Jonas traditional 3-point play. Ellis and Michael Porter Jr. exchanged earned buckets, Jonas made a 10 foot push shot and Zeke Nnaji had a Jokic-assisted dunk. Denver missed a few threes, Porter had a nice finish in the lane then make a pump fake at the three and drove the hoop again. A Jalen Pickett turnaround cut it to 27-25 Sacramento in the waning minutes. Jake LaRavia made a pair of threes, Jokic had a breakaway dunk, but the Kings kept attacking and winning at the end of the period and wound up leading 42-29.
Watson had an incredible drive from half-court under pressure for a basket to start Denver’s scoring in the second quarter, followed by a Nnaji block and then a Russ-assisted finish. Nnaji at the 5 had another block and some great energy, he and Murray both got to the line to cut the lead to a couple of buckets. Sacramento attacked back in both the half-court and transition and Christian Braun had some poor turnovers. DeRozan’s bucket put Sac back up by 11, Braun missed a three, but Russ drove through the zone for a finish to force a timeout. Nikola Jokic returned but Westbrook had some poor offensive possessions that resulted in no points and an 11-2 run for the Kings made it a 53-39 lead. MPJ got free throws, Jalen Pickett hit a corner 3, and Braun made a 3 as well after a challenge on a foul committed against Jokic reversed that call. Jamal Murray got called for his third foul of the half but it was reversed also after a challenge, MPJ missed a 3 but Keegan Murray made a deep fadeaway. Jokic got free throws for the first time in the game and made both, Jamal missed a three, DeRozan hit a two like he always does, and Braun canned a 3, his third of the night. The Nuggets couldn’t make up ground on the Kings though until Jamal got fouled in the final second and made three free throws, cutting the deficit to 65-55 at the half despite a missed 3 from Pickett.
Jonas Valanciunas scored a wide open bucket to start the third quarter, but MPJ answered with a corner 3. DeRozan answered with a three of his own, then Russ and DeRozan also traded threes and a fastbreak Kings dunk forced an early rage timeout from coach Michael Malone. Braun finished a left-handed layup, Jokic missed a 3 but made a paint finish over Jonas, then Porter had a block to force a turnover. Westbrook used Jokic and some screens to get a driving finish and cut it to single digits, then MPJ’s dunk was blocked but Braun was there to get free throws. MPJ missed a long 3, DeRozan kept up his hot scoring, and MPJ put back a missed Russ 3. LaVine had a too-easy paint finish, Murray answered with a banked layup, and Jonas exchanged buckets with Jokic. MPJ airballed a 3, DeRozan somehow made another one, and Jokic missed a deep attempt to leave it at 84-75 Sacramento. Sacramento kept swarming Jokic but he did get a paint finish after getting hit in the face. Jamal hit an incredibly tough buzzer-beater to cut it to 5, but DeRozan scored back. Keegan Murray finished, Jokic responded, and then Russ made a corner 3 to get it to 88-84. DeRozan hit another 3 to answer though, and then a foul call was reversed on challenge that would have gotten LaRavia to the line. DeRozan got a rebound and finish, a whistle was called on Jokic on the offensive end, and Denver finished down 93-84 after 3.
Russ finished a Jamal Murray assist at the rim as Denver tried to claw back into the game in the fourth. Russ then scored in transition and finished a 3 point play, and had another finish on the next Denver possession. Zeke Nnaji missed a shot but put back his own rebound and a Zeke Nnaji three capped a 12-2 run and put Denver up 96-95. Jokic came back in and turned the ball over, DeRozan made another bucket, and Braun had a great finish at the rim. Sacramento kept making tough shots and another foul call went against Joker, while Peyton Watson missed an oop finish and a corner three. Russ had a finish due to goaltending, Jamal kept defending hard, and Jokic could not buy a whistle with multiple Kings bear-wrestling him at every opportunity. Jamal Murray got fouled again on a three-point attempt and made all 3 to put Denver up 104-102 with four minutes to go. Jokic got free throws, then a CB steal and feed to Jokic for a transition finish put Denver up 5. Russ missed a corner 3 but Jamal Murray buried a deep shot off a Jokic assist. LaVine answered with his own 3, then Westbrook made that corner 3. LaVine hit a fadeaway 3 over Braun, Russ and LaVine both missed two-pointers, and Jokic got to the line again to make one of 2. Denver turned the screws on defense in the final minutes, clamping the Kings while Murray hit a couple of free throws to ice the game and Denver won 116-110.
Did Malone find a bench lineup that works?
Zeke Nnaji was playing the 5 against a small-ball Kings bench and it looked great. He was active, made shots, had blocks and great defensive plays. Denver was positive in both bench stints, but it was the couple of minutes Zeke played against true center Jonas Valanciunas that made it truly impressive. Normally in his past bench minutes, Nnaji has been overwhelmed by actual centers who can move him and both shoot and rebound over him. Not tonight. Russ and Jamal played well with that unit, and Watson and Nnaji found some great complementary defense out there both with and without Christian Braun. Denver showed the potential for some switchable defense instead of just allowing a layup line, and that alone for the bench is incredibly helpful.
Nuggets need to solve this defensive focus on Jokic
Denver got blitzed early in the game because they were once again caught off-guard by a team willing to front and double-team Jokic at every opportunity and the Nuggets had no answer. They were crushed on the boards in the first half 26-17, including giving up 8 offensive rebounds in those 2 quarters. They were mangled 40-24 in points in the paint over that stretch, and limited to just 4 fastbreak points. Denver wound up winning both the rebounding battle (by 1) and the points in the paint (by 4) but they can’t be spotting teams these kinds of leads. They cannot refuse to either screen for Jokic or for someone else to get open but instead throw the ball to the block and let him get triple-teamed over and over. Denver made some strides in the second half in that regard but not consistently. Too often Denver’s other 4 players were standing around while Jokic got beat up. Especially when the whistle is not coming they need to make themselves available. Aaron Gordon in the dunker spot was greatly missed tonight, but that can’t be the only adjustment Denver makes. They’re going to see this approach until they prove they have a solution, and tonight the solution was to make headway in the non-Jokic minutes. That can’t be the gameplan going forward.
Michael Malone’s message to the team at halftime tonight on the Kings defense:
“I said, Fellas, get used to this. We’re going to see this for the next 20 games. Teams are not guarding anybody not named Number 15, Nikola Jokic.”
— Ryan Blackburn (@NBABlackburn) March 6, 2025
