by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Denver Nuggets spoiled George Karl’s return to the “Mile High City” by beating his Sacramento Kings 122-111 on Sunday. Karl had hoped for a different outcome as he returned to the city where he coached for eight years.

Karl was without his “Big 3”. DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Darren Collison have all been shut down for the remainder of the season due to injury. When you are without that much talent, your chances of winning – especially on the road – are greatly diminished.

The Nuggets Kenneth Faried was a “one man wrecking crew” in the first quarter as he scored 19-points while hitting on eight of nine shots from the field to give Denver a 37-28 lead after one period.

The Kings jumped back into the game thanks to a 22-7 run in the second quarter that helped them cut the Nuggets’s lead to just one-point as the teams went to halftime. Omri Casspi and Ray McCallum led the charge for Sacramento scoring nine points each in the second.

The Nuggets used strong scoring performances by Danilo Gallinari (10), Kenneth Faried (9) and Randy Foye (7) to open up a 10- point, 94-84 lead over the Kings after three quarters of play.

Denver kept up a high tempo scoring drive in the fourth quarter as Wilson Chandler and Randy Foye scored seven points apiece. Reserves JJ Hickson (7), Will Barton (6) and Joffrey Lauvergne (6) were very productive as the Nuggets scored 28 points in the final quarter of play.

With Cousins, Gay and Collison unavailable to play, the remainder of the Kings roster has a golden opportunity to show Greorge Karl that they deserve be with the Kings in 2015-16. There has been much speculation that there will be wholesale changes to the Sacramento line up during the off-season.

One player who is proving his worth in the George Karl “dribble drive offense” is Omri Casspi. Casspi scored 22 points on Sunday to go with seven rebounds and seven assists against the Nuggets. Casspi is making a very strong case that he should be a member of the Kings next season by the way he has adjusted to Karl’s style of play.

Ben McLemore has also come alive under Karl. McLemore scored 20-points versus Denver and added seven assists on his day. McLemore needs to add some additional consistency to his game, but he is flourishing in Karl’s more open system.

Ray McCallum continues to grow as a point guard. Much like what happened last season when he had to start for the injured Isaiah Thomas, McCallum has stepped up to the task as he has been asked to take over the starter’s role for Darren Collison. McCallum scored 14 points and added three assists Sunday against Denver.

The odd-man out right now seems to be Nik Stauskas. The rookie shooting guard has seen increased playing time under Karl, but he has struggled to find consistency especially from 3-point range. Kings Assistant Coach Vance Walberg summarizes the Sacramento offensive scheme as “score in the key or shoot the 3”. Stauskas has shown he can score in the key. He has not shown that he can score with the 3-point shot with regularity.

The Kings have signed David Stockton to a second 10-day contract. Stockton has spent most the year in Reno with Kings D-League affiliate. Stockton is probably auditioning for a spot on the Kings Summer League roster. He scored two points and had one assist in seven minutes of playing time on Sunday.

The Kings flew back to Sacramento after the game on Sunday. They will play their final home game of the season on Monday night when they host the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Kings will finish their season on Wednesday night versus the Lakers in Los Angeles.