The Denver Nuggets have been known to grow lax after several days rest.
So far this season, the Nuggets had a 3-2 record when playing after 2+ days of rest, but they’d also allowed 120+ points in three of those games. If there’s an opportunity for a letdown, the Nuggets occasionally take their foot off the gas.
That didn’t happen tonight though. Led by Nikola Jokic’s focus and ability to apply pressure to the paint, the Nuggets dominated the Sacramento Kings 136-105 in blowout fashion.
Jokic was tremendous in three quarters (didn’t play the fourth) scoring 36 points on an impressive 14-of-16 from the field. His primary matchup was rookie center Maxime Raynaud, which was only exacerbated after backup center Drew Eubanks suffered a thumb injury. With Domantas Sabonis already sidelined, Jokic went to work all over the floor. Added to his 36 points were 12 rebounds, eight assists, and just one turnover.
This is often when Jokic shines the brightest. A young player like Raynaud will often have his head spinning trying to contain someone as savvy as Jokic. His off-ball movement, running in transition, pass fakes, and other nuances often catch younger players by surprise. Tonight was no exception.
Jamal Murray also did a nice job setting the table for Jokic with nine assists. Murray shot inefficiently from the field (4-of-13) but some nice defensive plays and just one turnover made up the difference.
Not to be outdone by Jokic, Jonas Valanciunas also had a field day against his old team. In many of the same ways Jokic dominated, Valanciunas also added a degree of bully ball to the party against the undersized, skinny Raynaud. Valanciunas had 15 points on 7-of-7 from the field to go with six rebounds and two assists. That means Denver’s centers shot 21-of-23 from the field tonight. Not bad.
Denver’s bench unit had a solid night overall. Bruce Brown made plays. Tim Hardaway Jr. continued to apply pressure to the Kings and even had a nice dunk over DeMar DeRozan. It all happened with Cam Johnson staggering. He’s swapped places with Jamal Murray in the rotation, which has allowed Murray and Jokic to share the floor more and for Denver’s other guys to get their own time with ball in hand.
“It allows Cam, Tim, and Jonas to feel like offensively it’s their unit,” David Adelman shared at practice on Wednesday. “They don’t have to complement someone. They can just play their game.”
Hardaway Jr. got to 11 points, which marks his eighth straight game scoring in double figures. Brown racked up seven assists. Johnson got up to 16 points as made some nice plays on defense. Jalen Pickett even came off the bench and had a couple productive stints.
The Kings were of course suffering from the injury bug without Sabonis or Zach LaVine tonight; however, they could’ve put up more of a fight than they actually did. The Nuggets broke them early on though, winning the first quarter by 15 and never looking back after that. The Nuggets won every quarter, showing an improved level of focus after an extensive amount of time off.
This was Denver’s 11th road win in a row, a franchise record that they’ve added to on this road trip. It takes a high level of focus to perform as well as the Nuggets have on the road, and they’ve done all Nuggets fans could ever ask for in these environments.
Now, the challenge is simple: win at home. The Nuggets next play a four-game home stand beginning Monday night against the Houston Rockets. They will have plenty of time to prepare for it though, and the longer between games, the closer Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun get to returning to the floor.
