**ESPN:** [recap](https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401584918) – [boxscore](https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584918) – [gamecast](https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401584918) | **NBA.com:** [boxscore](https://www.nba.com/game/0022300290) – [shotchart](https://www.nba.com/game/0022300290/game-charts)
||**Q1**|**Q2**|**Q3**|**Q4**|**Final**||
|:—|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|
**DEN**|**30**|**20**|**28**|**39**|**117**|[](/DEN)|
**SAC**|**25**|**39**|**24**|**35**|**123**|[](/SAC)|
**Team**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
[](/DEN)**DEN**|**49-99 (49.5)**|**6-25 (24.0)**|**13-20 (65.0)**|**8**|**46**|**35**|**10**|**9**|**7**|**14**|**117**|
[](/SAC)**SAC**|**48-99 (48.5)**|**16-34 (47.1)**|**11-15 (73.3)**|**9**|**47**|**33**|**11**|**7**|**5**|**14**|**123**|
**[](/DEN)DEN**|**Min**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|**+/-**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
M. Porter Jr.^^SF|32:34|6-12 (50.0)|1-5 (20.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|8|2|1|0|2|1|13|-6|
A. Gordon^^PF|32:40|8-13 (61.5)|1-3 (33.3)|0-0 (0.0)|4|7|3|1|0|1|1|17|-11|
N. Jokic^^C|38:10|13-23 (56.5)|1-4 (25.0)|9-12 (75.0)|2|13|14|0|2|1|3|36|+11|
K. Caldwell-Pope^^SG|38:00|4-12 (33.3)|0-3 (0.0)|1-2 (50.0)|0|5|3|4|4|0|1|9|+9|
R. Jackson^^PG|33:23|9-18 (50.0)|2-6 (33.3)|0-0 (0.0)|0|1|8|2|1|0|3|20|-14|
C. Braun|17:03|5-10 (50.0)|1-2 (50.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|3|2|1|1|1|1|11|0|
J. Strawther|12:23|1-3 (33.3)|0-2 (0.0)|1-2 (50.0)|0|1|2|0|0|0|0|3|-7|
P. Watson|14:03|1-1 (100.0)|0-0 (0.0)|2-2 (100.0)|0|1|1|0|1|2|2|4|+8|
D. Jordan|9:50|2-6 (33.3)|0-0 (0.0)|0-2 (0.0)|2|4|0|1|0|0|0|4|-17|
J. Holiday|11:54|0-1 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|3|0|0|0|0|2|0|-3|
**Totals**||**49-99 (49.5)**|**6-25 (24.0)**|**13-20 (65.0)**|**8**|**46**|**35**|**10**|**9**|**7**|**14**|**117**||
**DNP:** ***Collin Gillespie***, ***Braxton Key***, ***Zeke Nnaji***
**Inactive:** ***Vlatko Cancar***, ***Jay Huff***, ***Jamal Murray***, ***Jalen Pickett***, ***Hunter Tyson***
**[](/SAC)SAC**|**Min**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|**+/-**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
H. Barnes^^SF|33:07|5-9 (55.6)|1-2 (50.0)|0-0 (0.0)|2|3|0|0|0|0|1|11|+11|
K. Murray^^PF|23:26|3-10 (30.0)|2-5 (40.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|5|1|2|0|0|0|8|-16|
D. Sabonis^^C|36:06|7-18 (38.9)|1-3 (33.3)|2-3 (66.7)|2|15|7|2|1|0|5|17|-8|
K. Huerter^^SG|29:25|6-10 (60.0)|4-6 (66.7)|0-0 (0.0)|0|6|2|2|1|1|0|16|-4|
D. Fox^^PG|37:55|10-22 (45.5)|3-6 (50.0)|3-4 (75.0)|1|4|16|1|3|1|1|26|+22|
M. Monk|28:06|9-14 (64.3)|4-7 (57.1)|4-4 (100.0)|0|3|4|3|2|0|1|26|+12|
K. Ellis|8:06|0-1 (0.0)|0-1 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|0|2|0|0|0|1|0|-14|
T. Lyles|17:47|3-8 (37.5)|0-3 (0.0)|1-1 (100.0)|2|4|1|0|0|0|2|7|-1|
S. Vezenkov|14:08|1-3 (33.3)|1-1 (100.0)|1-3 (33.3)|1|3|0|1|0|0|0|4|+14|
J. McGee|11:54|4-4 (100.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|1|4|0|0|0|3|3|8|+14|
**Totals**||**48-99 (48.5)**|**16-34 (47.1)**|**11-15 (73.3)**|**9**|**47**|**33**|**11**|**7**|**5**|**14**|**123**||
**DNP:** ***Chris Duarte***, ***Kessler Edwards***, ***Colby Jones***, ***Jalen Slawson***
**Inactive:** ***Jordan Ford***, ***Alex Len***, ***Davion Mitchell***
||**PITP**|**2^^nd PTS**|**FB PTS**|**BIG LD**|**BEN PTS**|**TOT TOV**|**TOV PTS**||
|:—|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|
**DEN**|62|7|9|8|22|11|11|[](/DEN)|
**SAC**|60|9|19|17|45|11|20|[](/SAC)|
**Lead Changes: 2** | **Times Tied: 5** | **Gametime: 2:14** | **Attendance: 17829**
*Officials: Eric Dalen, Kevin Scott, Mousa Dagher*
by BigHoneyBot
35 Comments
Good hustle by the guys to get back into it and to try to win. Some really hasty and chaotic ball near the end but overall hopefully they rest up and dial in their FTs for the next games
Go Avs!
Somehow MPJ shot 50 percent from the field. I could have swore he only made 35% of his shots. It felt like he couldn’t make anything.
Just the number of missed dunks and layups I saw at the end of the 2nd quarter would’ve made up the difference in the score.
That was a pretty rough one to watch. Jokic put up a great stat line and shot relatively well, but this didn’t feel like his usual dominant performance and I think that’s because of the teams overall shooting struggles and the Kings getting shots up in the paint pretty easily.
The Kings did a good job of running shooters off the line, but even when we got wide open shots they didn’t go in…it was just one of those nights and we move on because we know that this was just a bad shooting performance from everyone from deep.
As a resident KCP stan…😬. He missed even more layups than usual, and without his shooting touch, he wasn’t really providing a lot on offense. Also, I know Fox and Monk are fast and can blow by most players, but KCP was out of position a couple of times and let them get by a little too easily. I know my 1st team all defense candidate will pick it back up and lock down everyone in his path again after this rough night 😤
Fun positive of tonight and last night is PWatt playing absolutely great defense. Such a different assignment tonight and he still did great on D. The big thing is his recovery was so quick by staying on his tiptoes to allow for a quick explosion to get back in front of the quick guards and his length made it to where they kept pulling back if he stayed on their side.
Hopefully we get the shooting and defense back in line a little in this next stretch of games. On to the next one and hope for some good improvement! Go Nuggets!
I just want to see our starting five healthy and playing consistently again. We are fucking unstoppable when healthy. The games in November were just so frustrating and today because we know, when healthy, we are the best fucking team in the NBA
Guys, we could have won this if we made our free throws. or a couple more open 3s
DAJ was amazing against the Clippers but I think this game is more indicative of the type of player he is at this stage of his career. Would’ve been nice if KCP hit some shots and MPJ did anything but oh well, it’s a back to back against a good team on the road.
I don’t understand NBA players. If 3 isn’t falling and other team leaves you open paint, why shoot for 3?
Still when the nuggets are fully healthy nobody is stopping this team in a 7 game series I am not moved with this loss
Hopefully Murray is good to go against the Clippers on Wednesday but giving him the extra day until Friday is also good.
Mike hitting that inconsequential heavily contested 3 at the end pissed me off lmao
Now you hit it, but couldn’t hit wide open ones throughout the game. It’s like they turned off the magnets once the game was over.
Should Braun Strawther Watson all really be treated as even in rotation? Don’t understand Julian getting very similar mins to Braun over last bit
He’s a shooter and his shot is ugly right now
Javale always finds his long dormant superpowers when he plays the Nuggets, almost like he holds a grudge for his time with the team and plays harder.
Also shout out to Peyton for another great hustle & defense game. Hopefully he can keep it up.
I don’t think Kings would be the worst matchup for us by any means but Fox and shooters is basically the scariest team comp for us to face when we need a stop.
Basically impossible to deny him on the perimeter with that speed and if he is playmaking at the level he was tonight its gonna be tough to fo anything but trade baskets (which is partially why I think they aren’t the worst matchup as we can give it right back to them on the offensive end).
When Malone wants to change something, he talks to the media first, and it goes on and on for several games. Literally, first he needs to announce to the entire galaxy that he is going to change someone. It doesn’t matter that the super fast young Sacramento team is terrible for old Jordan, he won’t react because he didn’t decide on any changes in his head before that. Instead of reacting instantly according to what is happening on the floor, he will push what he has planned. That’s the only thing that drives me crazy about him. If Watson, Holliday and Zeke had played this game more, we would have won. Peyton should have played the last 5 minutes because we needed a strong defense. Gordon was still tough, Porter was bad, we should have closed with Peyton and Holliday. Malone became a legend with the title, but he still has a lot to work on in order to lead Denver to another title.
Jokic last 3 games has 45 assists to only 3 turnovers.
He’s averaging 9.8 AST on the season with just 2.9 TO, this is his cleanest and best playmaking season so far, and without Jamal for over half the games + Denver Brickets from 3.
When Jamal comes back he gotta go for 20 assists sometime.
Absolutely a moral victory. No Murray, no three pointers, almost pulled out a road win against a good team. Mistakes were made but you can’t feel too bad.
I might get roasted for this, but I think Zeke would have made a big difference over Jordan. I noticed on b2bs Jordan loses a bit of energy. And zeke has won some dpog chains. I think he spaces the floor decent even if he doesn’t finish great unless it’s a dunk. And Strawther has a little too much leash for a rookie. yeah he helps us win some nights, but others he’s kind of off. I think Zeke gets a bad rap even when he plays decent. mostly cause he plays the 5 when he’s a 4. but against this team he would have been OK imo
https://preview.redd.it/k2c8tndfr04c1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=829410fa105d051ac05b854e358abc3d77739291
Nuggets Avs lose. Broncos gotta win tomorrow. Law of averages right?!?
I just wanna mention that the refs were good tonight. Appreciate every good ref game cause they are rare and we forget they happened lol
First moral victory of the year baby
I’m proud of our team for their effort when they probably didn’t get to their hotel until 2am PST and have been absolutely fucked by the schedule the past 2 weeks. Thank god they can finally rest until Wednesday – hope they get some pool time and massages and can see their families
Im a little worried Jamal has had too much time off he might be 350 lbs by the next time we play
mpj is so overpaid for what he is. imagine if we had a naz reid and a bogdan bogdanovic in his place for the same salary.
Sleep soundly tonight, those of you over in the US / Western hemisphere, knowing that this was the last 5 games in 7 nights set of the year for the Nuggs. Made it a battle against a playoff opponent on the road, down our second best player, having traveled from PHX as well. This loss is ultimately meaningless.
With the toughest part of the calendar behind us, and the team coming close to full strength, hopefully we can string up the wins to at least have HCA up to the 2nd round. At the rate things are going in the West, 50-52 wins should do it.
Someone tell kkpdp to STFU for me.
other players in mpj’s salary range – zion, ja, garland, ingram, murray, SGA, donovan mitchell, fox, bam, tatum…
all superstars or at the very least stars in their own right. somehow we ended up with the worst max rookie extension out of the lot. maybe ayton is worse but he is criticized to high heavens every yr.
naz reid as a back up C and a PF is making 16 million right now. just imagine him and maybe another back up pg or a forward in that range. kelly olynyk is making 11 million rn ffs lol.
which player making over 30+ million is objectively worse than mpj? curious to know if anybody can come up with anybody? ben simmons?
it’s almost as if we forget this guy is paid 40+ million..the dude is considered a role player in the team.
desmond bane is carrying a a team without 8 of their roster currently to a 5-14 record with 24/5/5.
can u see mpj carrying a jokic/gordon/murray/kcp/reggie/braun less team to even one win ever? the one time jokic, gordon and murray (and just those 3) all sat the guy had an amazing stat line of 8/10/3.
Back up big man might be something to look in to idk
Jokic gordon mpj Braun kcp
Omg what positon is Christian braun
Ryan Blackburn sometimes has such insufferable doomer energy man