DENVER (AP)— Jamal Murray scored 32 points, Nikola Jokic had 14 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists in just three quarters for his fourth straight triple-double, and the Denver Nuggets rallied to defeat the short-handed Sacramento Kings 117-96 on Wednesday night.
Jokic recorded his 19th triple-double of the season, helping Denver avoid losing all four games against Sacramento this season. Murray made 13 of 15 shots, including five of his six 3-pointers, to lead the Nuggets to their fourth consecutive victory since the All-Star break. They had dropped three straight, including a home loss to the Kings on February 14.
“I’m sure there are plenty of people around Denver jumping off bridges,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “And everyone just needs to take a chill pill and relax. Draw a deep breath. This is a good team, and when we are healthy, we are an even better team. That has been the key. This group has demonstrated that they can beat anyone on any given night.
Denver trailed 47-32 early in the second quarter, but outscored the Kings 68-22 over the next 18:21 to lead by 32. Jokic finished his 124th triple-double by feeding Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a corner 3-pointer with 1:14 left in the third quarter, making the score 100-68.
De’Aaron Fox, a Sacramento guard, was scratched from the lineup about an hour before tipoff due to a left knee contusion. He completed pregame warmups before being ruled out.
Domantas Sabonis, the NBA triple-double leader with 21, was limited to 13 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, while Keegan Murray scored 21 points for the Kings.
Keegan Murray scored 11 points in the first quarter, including a three-pointer at the end to give Sacramento a 35-28 lead, but was shut down by the Nuggets’ swarming defense. He made only two of five shots in the second and third quarters, scoring six points with the game already out of reach.
Alex Len scored 18 points off the bench for the Kings.
“They started getting deflections, and we started making bad decisions with the basketball,” Sacramento coach Mike Brown said. “As soon as that happened you could see how hard they pushed and ran in transition.”
Several of Jokic’s assists led to dunks by Aaron Gordon, who scored 17 points. Caldwell-Pope, who had missed the previous two games against the Kings, scored 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter, while Michael Porter Jr. finished with 14.
The Nuggets are still two games behind Minnesota for the top seed in the Western Conference.
“We came in after the All-Star break, everybody had the same mentality, the same goals in mind, and that’s to get back to the No. 1 spot and try to go back-to-back,” he said.
UP NEXT
The Kings play Minnesota on Friday night.
Nuggets will host Miami on Thursday night.
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