![Denver Nuggets NBA Jamal Murray](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2024/02/AP24060097798203-scaled.jpg)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray drives past Sacramento Kings guard Davion Mitchell during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zarbowski)
DENVER — 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 defeated the short-handed Sacramento Kings. It was a huge breakthrough, defeating them 117-96. in the NBA on Wednesday night.
Denver avoided a four-game losing streak against Sacramento this season, and Jokic recorded his 19th triple-double of the season. Murray made 13 of 15 shots, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, helping the Nuggets win their fourth straight game since the All-Star break. They had lost three straight, including a home loss to the Kings on February 14th.
„I'm sure there's a lot of people jumping off bridges around Denver,“ Denver coach Michael Malone said. „And everyone just has to take a sedative and relax. Take a deep breath. This is a good team, and if we're healthy, we're a really good team. That was the key. This. The group proved they can beat anyone on any night.”
read: Jokic hits triple-double for third consecutive year, Nuggets beat Warriors
Jamal Murray wasn't to be missed tonight, dropping 32 points on 13-15 from the field for the Nuggets W 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZKSSzSOdiI
— NBA (@NBA) February 29, 2024
Denver trailed 47-32 early in the second quarter, but outscored the Kings 68-22 in the next 18 minutes, 21 seconds to take a 32-point lead. Jokic fed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a corner 3, completing her 124th career triple-double. Pointer made it 100-68 with 1 minute 14 seconds left in the third quarter.
Sacramento guard De'Aaron Fox was sidelined about an hour before tipoff with a left knee contusion. He did pregame warm-ups before being ruled out.
Domantas Sabonis, the NBA triple-double leader with 21 points, was held to 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists, while the Kings' Keegan Murray scored 21 points.
read: NBA: Jokic achieves 17th triple-double of the season in Nuggets win
Keegan Murray scored 11 points in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer at the end of the period that gave Sacramento a 35-28 lead, but he was held back by the Nuggets' swarming defense. In the second and third quarters, he only made 2 out of 5 shots and scored 6 points in a situation where the game was already out of reach.
Alex Len of the Kings added 18 points off the bench.
„They started getting deflections and we started making bad basketball decisions,“ 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 finished with 17 points. Caldwell-Pope, who missed the final two games against the Kings, scored 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter, and Michael Porter Jr. finished with 14 points.
The Nuggets remain two games behind Minnesota for the top seed in the Western Conference.
„We came in after the All-Star break and we all had the same mentality, the same goal in mind, which is to get back to No. 1 and win back-to-back titles,“ Caldwell-Pope said.
Next NBA schedule
Kings: Friday night at Minnesota.
Nuggets: Host Miami on Thursday night.