AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

By Robert Steward

SACRAMENTO–

On most nights in the NBA, if a team shoots about 50% from the floor for most of the night and finishes at 49% for the game, there’s a strong chance that you will win. However, if the opposing team shoots in the high 50 percentile for the night and finishes at 55% from the floor, you’re probably not going to win the game. Such was the case tonight at Sleep Train Arena, where the Sacramento Kings hosted the Denver Nuggets. The Kings were hoping to build on their strong victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night and win their second in a row, something they had not done since Nov 20-25, when they won three in a row. A new winning streak will have to wait for another game as the Nuggets, behind a big third quarter, defeated the Kings, 118-108, in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score would indicate, certainly after the third quarter.

DeMarcus Cousins, fresh off a 23-point and 15 rebound game in Wednesday night’s victory, got off to a quick start, scoring 8 of the Kings’ first 10 points of the game. Not to be outdone, the Nuggets’ Arron Afflalo scored 9 of his team’s first 13 points. Both teams favored an up and down tempo, pushing it up the court at a fast pace and getting out in transition. Denver hit 11 of its first 15 shots from the floor and finished at 62% for the quarter on 13 of 21 shooting. Sacramento wasn’t far behind, lighting it up at a 55% clip, shooting 12 of 22 from the floor. Denver led, 30-27, after the first quarter.

In the second period, both teams got a bit sloppy in the early going. The Nuggets struggled from the free throw line, hitting only 2 of its first 8 free throws. The Kings had already committed 7 turnovers when Nik Stauskas came off the bench and hit a three-point shot for his 8th point of the game, the game was tied at 34-34 with 8:39 left in the half. Both teams see-sawed back and forth throughout the rest of the quarter. But when Darren Collison hit a 10 foot floater and Ben McLemore hit a running 3-pointer as the horn sounded, the Kings found themselves with their biggest lead of the game, 60-54, at halftime, outscoring Denver, 33-24 in the quarter. Rudy Gay had the hot hand for the Kings in the first half, hitting 7 of 9 from the floor to lead the Kings with 16 points. Cousins had 13, to go with 8 rebounds, and Collison chipped in with 10 points along with 7 assists. Afflalo led Denver with 13 and J.J. Hickson came off the bench to score 12 on 6 of 9 from the floor. At the break, Sacramento was shooting to the tune of 58% from the floor, while Denver, having cooled off slightly, was not far behind at 55%.

In the third quarter, the Nuggets jumped on the Kings and quickly ran off the first 8 points of the quarter to re-take the lead at 62-60, forcing the Kings to call a timeout with 10:18 left to go in the quarter. Per Denver’s Head Coach, Brian Shaw, the Nuggets “really ramped it up defensively in the third quarter. Got after it, got active, and played with a lot of energy.” Ty Lawson heated up in the quarter, scoring 14 points, including all three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 7:00 left. Denver went on a 9-0 run and opened up their biggest lead to that point, 76-64, before Collison drained a trey to break the drought with 5:24 left in the quarter. The Nuggets, however, continued to push the tempo, while the Kings “settled for jumpshots and didn’t make them,” according to Kings Head Coach Tyrone Corbin. “They were running and made some shots, but then they got on us a little bit in the paint. We couldn’t stop their run.” Denver crashed the boards and got plenty of second chance points. Jusuf Nurkic, Denver’s “Bosnian Beast” at 7’0″ and 280 pounds, was hard to stop in the low post and even popped a 20-foot jumper from the outside. He added 8 points in the quarter. The Nuggets eventually increased their lead to 19 before the Kings scored the last 4 points to trail 90-75 after three quarters. Denver continued its torrid shooting from the outside, hitting 13 of 22 in the quarter, while Sacramento cooled off considerably, only hitting 7 of 22 from the floor. The Kings also failed to get to the free throw line at all in the 3rd, while the Nuggets found their way there, hitting 10 of 11 from the charity stripe.

The fourth quarter was much of the same, with Denver continuing to dictate the tempo of the game and Sacramento not responding. The Nuggets eventually extended their lead to 20 points at 107-87 when Kenneth Faried converted a 3-point play with 6:02 left in the game. They attained their biggest lead of the night when they scored their last points with 2:31 left in the game, to go up, 118-97. The Kings scored the last 11 points of the game to close out the scoring but it was of little consolation. Sacramento shot 49% for the game. Cousins is still not fully 100% while recovering from a nasty bout of viral meningitis that caused him to miss 10 games earlier in the season. Still, he managed to log 39 minutes of playing time, finishing with 32 points and 13 rebounds, along with a season-high 4 blocked shots. Gay finished with 22, while Collison had 15. Stauskas had 13 off the bench. Denver had a balanced scoring attack, with 6 players in double figures, led by Afflalo and Lawson, who both finished with 22. Hickson and Nurkic both had 16 apiece, while Kenneth Faried ended up with 12 points and led the Nuggets with 13 rebounds. Darrell Arthur finished with 10 points for Denver.

The Kings will look to get back in the win column when they play host to Cleveland on Sunday at 6pm. For the season Denver improved to 17-20, while Sacramento now stands at 15-21.