SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Without two of their best 3-point shooters, the Nuggets were naturally going to have trouble keeping up with the Kings if they didn’t defend the perimeter well Friday night.
Sacramento made 17 of 34 shots beyond the arc, and the Nuggets lost a 135-106 laugher to the Kings at Golden 1 Center, missing an opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.
Six Kings scored at least a dozen points, while Denver (36-17) turned it over 20 times with just 26 assists.
Michael Porter Jr. (right knee tendinopathy) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (right hamstring tightness) were both ruled out in the last 90 minutes before opening tip as the Nuggets warmed up for their first back-to-back in more than a month and 10th this season. This was the first game Porter has missed in 2023-24, ending a streak of 72 consecutive games played dating back to last season. He scored 27 points Thursday in one of his best two-way outings of the season.
Porter and Caldwell-Pope are a combined 39% on more than one third of the team’s 3-point attempts. On top of that, Caldwell-Pope is arguably Denver’s best perimeter defender. Without him, the Nuggets needed burgeoning standout wing Peyton Watson to step up. It wasn’t Watson’s night. He committed all three of Denver’s first-quarter turnovers, including a disastrous inbound pass directly to Malik Monk with two seconds remaining after a Sacramento made three. Monk turned the interception into another 3-pointer at the buzzer, cutting Denver’s lead to 35-32 and squashing an impressive quarter.
Watson then got trapped in foul jail, picking up his third before he had played 12 minutes. The Nuggets were forced to fend without another wing asset, and they weren’t up to the challenge defensively. They trailed by 10 at halftime and by as many as 32 in the fourth quarter.
Nikola Jokic scored 23 points on 17 shots. He had three steals and just one of Denver’s turnovers. But Sacramento center Domantas Sabonis beat him to a triple-double, amassing 17 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.
Jokic landed hard in the last minute of the first quarter after completing a fast break with Julian Strawther, who was back from his own injury. The two-time MVP briefly disappeared from the bench and down the locker room tunnel, but he checked back into the game at his regularly scheduled time in the second.
Rotations got unusual due to the absent starters and subsequent disappointing performances. Watson and Justin Holiday started. Zeke Nnaji checked in as the four alongside Jokic during the third quarter after not playing at all in the first half.
Sacramento’s bench outscored Denver’s, 65-43. Monk, one of the best sixth men in the NBA, contributed 23 of those points on 9-of-13 shooting. He was a 26-point standout last time the Nuggets visited. Both matchups this season have come on the second day of a road back-to-back for Denver, while the hosts have had extra rest both times. The scheduling gods will return the favor next week, though: The Kings have to play Wednesday at Ball Arena on 24 hours’ rest while the Nuggets will have had Tuesday off.
