The Denver Nuggets continue to play great basketball on the offensive end despite outside shooting struggles across the board.

Tonight, the Nuggets won 130-124 over the Sacramento Kings, putting together an excellent offensive performance despite shooting 12-of-38 (31.6%) from three.

Led by Nikola Jokic, Denver generated an excellent offensive possession almost every single time down the floor tonight. Jokic had 34 points and 14 assists to go with seven rebounds, four steals, and two blocks in what was an impressive all-around performance from the best player in the world.

Jokic’s passing vision and ability to hit back cuts allowed the Nuggets to absolutely carve up the Kings at the rim. The Nuggets had 54 points in the paint to go with 22 points on “long twos” just outside of it. Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, and Aaron Gordon, as well as Jonas Valanciunas off the bench, all took advantage of the Kings’ shoddy interior defense as a result.

Gordon also started the game 3-of-3 from behind the arc, including an absurd stepback three over Russell Westbrook. The shotmaking he can put together at times is extremely impressive.

Murray and Cam Johnson combined to shoot 0-of-10 from three tonight though. They weren’t difficult shots either. The Nuggets probably could’ve scored 150 points vs the Kings tonight, but they settled for 130. That ended up being just enough, because Denver’s defense wasn’t exactly sterling on this night. They allowed 30 points in every quarter to the Kings, had had they allowed a more crooked total at any point, they might’ve lost this game.

Fortunately for Denver, it felt like they were in control for the entire game. Had the Kings scored more, Denver probably scores more too. They turned the ball over just seven times tonight. They were in command and (probably) would’ve made enough plays to stay ahead of Sacramento.

Russell Westbrook made his return to Ball Arena tonight as a member of the Kings. He had a strong performance too with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists, keeping the Kings close in this game while neither DeMar DeRozan nor Zach LaVine had great nights.

The Kings could’ve used a bit more three-point shooting themselves, going just 9-of-27 from the distance as a team. It’s hard to blame Westbrook there either. He shot 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Keon Ellis shot 5-of-8. The rest of the Kings combined to go 1-of-13 from the perimeter.

The Nuggets are getting a bit lucky with their three-point defense right now. Opponents have shot relatively poorly from the perimeter against the Nuggets to start the season, and that helps in games like this one. The Nuggets didn’t exactly defend well inside the arc tonight, but sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.

So, the Nuggets kick off their four-game home stand with a win. It wasn’t a great win, but they got the job done. Next up is the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, who have shot 40.7% on above-the-break threes so far this season. That’s a danger spot for Denver’s defense. We will see if they turn things around with their perimeter coverage a couple nights from now.

Right now though, Denver’s offense is close to being a raging fiery inferno of death. The shooting hasn’t been good enough, and the process of integrating Cam Johnson is still ongoing; once everything normalizes, it’s going to be amazing to watch.

Expect at least one, maybe two 140-point performances in the next three games.