Three nights after completing an impressive season sweep of one Northern California opponent, the Nuggets were in danger of getting swept by another.
They at least wanted to get the last word, for now.
Denver turned a 15-point hole into a 10-point lead in the last eight minutes of the second quarter Wednesday night to finally overcome the Sacramento Kings in an eventual blowout, 117-96, at Ball Arena.
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Nikola Jokic accounted for 14 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists and three steals, earning a triple-double by the end of the third quarter for the fourth consecutive game. A red-hot Jamal Murray led all scorers with 32 points on 13-of-15 shooting, including 5 of 6 beyond the arc.
“I was just playing my game,” Murray said. “The whole team played great. Got out and ran. Had a bad first quarter as a squad, and picked it up.”
The instant and dramatic turnaround before halftime was reminiscent of what the Nuggets (40-19) pulled off Sunday in San Francisco. Trailing Golden State by 14, they went on a 14-0 run into the break that extended to 28-4 on the other side of halftime. This time, the deficit was 47-32 as Michael Malone finished subbing his starters (with one exception) back into the game. His second unit wasn’t entirely to blame for the uphill battle Denver faced. Backups and starters alike allowed too many wide-open looks early as the Kings started 7 of 10 from 3-point range. At the end of the first quarter, Malone went 10-deep into his bench, trying Justin Holiday with the second unit instead of Reggie Jackson.
Jackson returned to the floor with the starters filling in for a staggering Murray. He scored the first basket to get the snowball rolling downhill. Then Aaron Gordon took over, bullying his way to the basket. He scored or assisted on the next seven points as the Nuggets earned 12 unanswered to force a timeout that didn’t help. Gordon supplied most of his offense in the first half, when he had four dunks for a perfect-shooting 13 points. For the half, Denver won by 22 points in 15 minutes with him on the floor.
“There are people in this league who think of the ‘dunker’ (spot) as a dirty word,” Malone said. “‘Wow, why are you putting me in the dunker? I can shoot the three.’ It’s called the dunker because you get dunks. And Aaron Gordon probably embodies that better than anybody in the entire NBA.”
When Murray checked back in, he relished the momentum swing. His transition 3s helped stretch the long run to 28-4 — identical to Denver’s surge at Golden State. As the starting five opened up a 30-point lead in the third quarter, he flung up one of his most remarkable shots of the season, a no-look layup from underneath the rim with a defender landing on him after he faked his way to a continuation foul.
Murray played in the fourth quarter as Malone returned to his usual second unit with Jackson instead of Holiday.
Unlike the previous three matchups, the Kings were missing De’Aaron Fox, who went through shootaround and warmed up while questionable but was ultimately ruled out due to a left knee contusion. When Sacramento visited Ball Arena right before the All-Star break, Fox’s clutch performance was largely responsible for the Kings’ 16-point comeback to stretch their season series lead to 3-0.
“We knew coming back from All-Star break, we got our break; we were looking forward to the break probably a little too early,” Michael Porter Jr. said. “But we got that. So we know there’s no breaks now. It’s go time.”
With this fourth straight win since the break, the Nuggets narrowly passed the Phil Jackson test of legitimacy. The famed coach once posited that to be a championship contender, a team must win 40 games before it loses 20 in the regular season. Only three NBA champs in the last three decades have not done that. If the theory is to be taken seriously, Denver’s season was on the line Wednesday with 39 wins and 19 losses entering the Kings matchup.
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