Look out, the Kings have won four in a row and seven of their last 10 games. Their wins aren’t the most impressive, but they won their last game without Domantas Sabonis, who’s out again today.
The Nuggets went 2-2 on their recent road trip against exclusively East playoff squads.
Let’s delve into the Sacramento Kings matchup:
Denver Nuggets vs Sacramento Kings
Projected Starting Lineups
Denver: Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
Sacramento: Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray, Jonas Valanicunas
Key Bench Players
Denver: Jalen Pickett, Russell Westbrook, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, DeAndre Jordan
Sacramento: Markelle Fultz, Keon Ellis, Jake LaRavia, Trey Lyles
Notable Injuries
Denver: Nikola Jokic – QUESTIONABLE, Aaron Gordon – QUESTIONABLE, Zeke Nnaji – QUESTIONABLE, Peyton Watson – QUESTIONABLE, Vlatko Cancar – QUESTIONABLE, Julian Strawther – OUT, DaRon Holmes II – OUT
Sacramento: Domantas Sabonis – OUT, Malik Monk – QUESTIONABLE
Key for the Nuggets – Adapting to Injuries
The Nuggets injury report is extensive for tonight. There will undoubtedly be some questionable players to play and similarly questionable players that sit. The most important ones are Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon, who of course change the way the Nuggets starters play. If Jokic is out, this game becomes a lot more difficult.
In addition, Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson are expected to swap places on the injury report. Strawther is now out for a month due to a knee sprain, while Watson is returning from a knee sprain of his own. Denver’s game plan and mechanisms are now different off the bench with no go-to scorer type. Instead, the Nuggets have a variety of role player defender types, which should help improve the defense. The offense remains a concern though, and Denver will have to figure out life without Strawther’s spacing for the next month.
Important Matchup – Zach LaVine vs Michael Porter Jr.
LaVine is averaging 22.5 points and 4.0 assists per game in his new home in Sacramento while maintaining 50/40/90 shooting splits. That’s a 63.1 True Shooting % which, for those at home, is really, really good. He’s not in an ideal situation without Fox there to help create some easier looks, but LaVine continues to show he’s an elite scorer that can create his own shot and space the floor.
Last time LaVine faced the Nuggets, he wasn’t the reason Denver lost to the Chicago Bulls; although, the Nuggets defense was so bad in part because they were guarding LaVine out to 30 feet and had little answer for others as a result.
Can Porter get back to providing a similar scoring impact that LaVine brings at all levels? The Nuggets starting forward is averaging 14.7 points per game on 48.1 True Shooting % having played against some pretty tough competition. In theory, facing the Kings should be a breath of fresh air for Porter.
Number of the Day – 20.4
+20.4 is the Nuggets Net Rating with Jalen Pickett on the floor this season, according to Cleaning the Glass.
It’s of course a small sample size. Pickett has played just 306 minutes this year, and a chunk of those have been garbage time minutes. Still, Cleaning the Glass eliminates garbage time from their sample, and the vast majority of Pickett’s minutes in the last few weeks have been against real competition. His ability to fit next to Denver’s starters is one thing, but he’s positive with every single qualified player on the team. That means something to me. It shows that as long as the Nuggets approach Pickett’s development seriously, he could be their backup point guard of the future and eventually have a playoff role.
For now, he’s likely an odd man out, despite the numbers being as encouraging as they are.
Nugget who should have a good game: Russell Westbrook
Westbrook’s impact since returning from injury has been middling at best. He’s due for a bounce back game soon, and matching up with the Kings makes sense. Markelle Fultz is their new backup point guard, having signed with the Kings midseason after not receiving any serious offers from NBA teams during the offseason.
The Nuggets chose Westbrook over Fultz, who is shooting efficiently but turning the ball over at an astronomical rate. Can Westbrook take advantage of facing a player who’s still not all the way back from a long absence from the NBA?