Kings’ huge comeback comes up short this time as Nuggets star posts monster triple-double
The Kings have already pulled off some big comebacks under interim coach Doug Christie.
They almost did it again under difficult circumstances Thursday while opening a six-game road trip against the Denver Nuggets, but three-time MVP Nikola Jokic was too much to overcome.
Jokic put up monster numbers while recording his league-leading 20th triple-double of the season, leading the Nuggets to a 132-123 victory over the Kings at Ball Arena in Denver.
After trailing by 25 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Kings cut the deficit to five on a 3-pointer by Doug McDermott with 48 seconds remaining, but Jokic made four free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
“The fight that our guys continued to show, the way they continued to fight all the way to the end, that’s what I expect out of them, and I believe that’s what they’re expecting out of themselves,” Christie said.
DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points to lead the Kings (23-21), who had won 10 of their first 12 games under Christie.
Domantas Sabonis had a huge game with 23 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists — posting his league-leading 40th double-double of the season — but somehow he was outdone by Jokic.
Jokic put up 35 points, 22 rebounds and 17 assists for the Nuggets (28-16), who have won four in a row. Jokic made the play of the game when he made a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer to end the third quarter.
“That was crazy,” Kings guard Malik Monk said. “Ridiculous, that’s all that is. He impressed me. He does something impressive probably every night, so he’s the MVP for a reason.”
Jokic went 12 of 19 from the field, 2 of 3 from 3-point range and nine of 10 at the free-throw line.
“He’s a special player, very poised,” Christie said. “It goes along with what he does, and Domas had incredible numbers. He almost had a triple-double, so that’s a crazy battle right there, and tonight they got the better end of the battle. We will lick our wounds and will be ready to fight when we see them again, but hats off to Jokic. He’s a special, special talent.”
De’Aaron Fox had 17 points, five rebounds and six assists, but he went 7 of 24 from the field and 3 of 10 from 3-point range. Fox, who has played all season with ligament damage in his left pinky finger, was seen favoring his right thumb after taking a couple of blows from Jokic.
“Just got hit,” Fox said. “Jokic hit it twice, but it is what it is. One was the first or second quarter. The other was in the fourth quarter.”
When asked if he thought the thumb injury would be something that lingers, Fox said: “I’m not sure.”
The Kings found themselves in the Mile High City facing the Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back 24 hours after rallying to beat the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday in Sacramento. Fox (36), Monk (38), DeRozan (39), Keegan Murray (34) and Sabonis (39) logged heavy minutes as the Kings overcame an 18-point deficit against the Warriors, improving to 7-0 at home since Christie took the helm.
The Kings have already come back to win after trailing by 15 points or more three times since Christie took over, but this time it was not to be.
Monk said playing at elevation in a back-to-back scenario was challenging for the Kings, saying it feels “like you can’t breathe, like you’ve got asthma.”
“The altitude got to us a little bit,” Monk said. “Well, me for sure. It took me a little second to catch my second wind, but I got it in the second half. I bet everybody feels like that, too, but that’s the NBA, so we’ve got to do something better to prepare ourselves for the altitude, but it’s kind of hard.”
The Kings started the game with a turnover and two missed field-goal attempts, but they made eight of their next 10 shots to take a 19-17 lead. Unfortunately, they couldn’t stop the Nuggets from scoring and repeatedly sent them to the free-throw line.
The Nuggets went up by as many as 11 and led 40-31 at the end of the first quarter. They shot 62.5% from the field, made 4 of 8 from 3-point range and went to the foul line 11 times, making six.
Jokic sat out the first 5:20 in the second quarter, but the Kings couldn’t capitalize after going cold on offense. They missed nine of their first 11 shots in the second period, allowing the Nuggets to open up a 17-point lead.
The Kings went 7 of 26 (.269) from the field and 1 of 7 (.143) from 3-point range in the second period. They trailed 74-52 at the halftime break.
The Kings showed signs of life when they started the second half with a 7-0 run. They outscored the Nuggets 17-7 over the first 4:05 to cut the deficit to 12, but Denver outscored Sacramento 19-8 over the last 4:05 to push the lead to 25 on Jokic’s buzzer-beater.
McDermott came off the bench to score 15 points in the fourth quarter. He made 5 of 6 from 3-point range as the Kings stormed back to cut the deficit to five in the final minute, but this time their comeback came up short.
“I was ready when my number was called,” McDermott said. “I know what my job is, so I just continue to do that and try to provide a spark at all times. ... We kind of got stops and ran, and I feel like we just utilized some early screens to get open and it kind of opened up the floor for a lot of guys, too.”
Sabonis was disappointed with the loss, but he was happy with his team’s show of resilience.
“It could always have been better, but we fought to the end,” Sabonis said. “That’s what (Christie) wanted from us, to fight. There were obviously a lot of mistakes and things we could have done better, but we fought. We tried our best and tried to come out with a win.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 10:49 PM.
