There’s some good vibes brewing for the Denver Nuggets lately. They are coming off back to back wins against what appear to be playoff bound teams and neither victory was a nail biter. Jamal Murray returned to the lineup in Denver’s last contest and a complete effort by their rotation allowed Nikola Jokic to not be super human for once this season. With two in a row under their belt, the Nuggets look to make it three straight victories while at the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are another quality team with two star players in De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Thus far they are a .500 on the season but Sacramento always feels dangerous even if they are still missing that one piece to make them a true perennial playoff team.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (13-10) at Sacramento Kings (13-13)
When: 8:00 PM MST
Where: Somehow a “non-profit” banking institution has enough money to pay millions of dollars for naming rights…arena. Sacramento, CA.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy…unless it’s the romanticized 17th century type. Altitude TV where available, Altitude+, NBA League Pass for those not in the Nuggets market, Altitude Radio 92.5FM. Spend under $100 to fly to Sacramento and deal a kidney on the black market to buy a ticket to the game.
Rival blog: The Kings Herald.
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Kings | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | De’Aaron Fox | Kings |
| SG | Christian Braun | Malik Monk | Even |
| SF | Michael Porter Jr. | DeMar DeRozan | Even |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | Keegan Murray | Nuggets |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Domantas Sabonis | Nuggets |
| Bench | Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji | Keon Ellis, Alex Len, Colby Jones, Doug McDermott | Even |
Injury report: Jamal Murray – probable (hamstring), Christian Braun – questionable (back), Dario Saric – out (ankle), Vlatko Cancar – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II, – out (achilles), Trey Alexander – out (G-League), PJ Hall – out (G-League), Spencer Jones – out (G-League); Kevin Huerter – doubtful (shoulder), Trey Lyles – out (calf), Devin Carter – out (shoulder).
The three things
The thing to watch for: secondary scoring
It was a refreshing change of pace last game with the Nuggets not needing Jokic to score a go-zillion points just to get a win. Nikola took just nine shots and Denver still won by twenty-two points. Michael Porter Jr. has had some nice games recently and Murray looked strong in his return. Denver needs consistency out of both of those guys if they want to hoist the Larry O’Brien this Summer. Jamal getting right is probably the biggest improvement that can feasibly happen to the Nuggets right now and hopefully his early struggles are just a matter of health. He mentioned after the last game that he’s dealing with some plantar fasciitis and he’s also still carrying an injury designation for his hamstring, albeit a probable one. If he’s healthy and Mike continues to be a twenty point a night, three-level scorer then Denver is as dangerous as anyone in the league.
The thing to remember: Sacramento is hot too
The Nuggets aren’t the only ones looking to get on a lengthy win streak. The Kings are in fact one game ahead of Denver, riding a three game run of their own. Now, it hasn’t exactly been a murderer’s row of opponents for Sacramento, but they put up two blow-out victories before surviving a late scare from the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday. Fox and Sabonis are a great combo and with DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk in supporting roles there’s plenty of scoring for the Kings, even if sharp shooter Kevin Huerter is unlikely to play. Like the Nuggets, it’s the defensive end where they hurt themselves. If the Nuggets D up and play like they did on Friday then they’ll have a good shot at getting the road victory.
The thing to bet: Jokic points
Sabonis has played Jokic well the past couple of meetings but Joker also has some monster games against him in the not too distant past as well. I don’t anticipate back to back single digit shooting attempt nights from Jokic and so while the line for his scoring is not out at time of writing, I am pretty confident I’ll be taking the over regardless.
