Nuggets-Kings Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD
Posted Dec 16 2012 1:33AM

After beating one of the top teams in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets hope to take their home-court success on the road.

They might have that opportunity against the struggling Sacramento Kings.

The Nuggets will try to win their sixth straight in this series and send the Kings to a fourth consecutive loss on Sunday night.

After winning twice on a five-game trip, Denver (12-12) heads back on the road following a 99-94 victory over Memphis on Friday.

Andre Miller scored 18 points, including four free-throws in the final 10 seconds to key a statement-making victory over the Grizzlies.

"Against a really good team, that was a really good win for us," said Danilo Gallinari, who had 14 points. "We were able to do the right things at the right time at the end of the game."

The Nuggets have been able to do all the right things at home, winning six of seven there while averaging 103.1 points.

However, they've had trouble continuing that success on the road, where they are 6-11.

Defense has been the team's biggest problem away from Denver, allowing 103.5 points in road games compared to 94.0 at home.

Andre Iguodala has been one of the biggest culprits. The first-year Nugget has averaged 16.9 points and 9.3 rebounds with a 52.9 field-goal percentage at home, but has been limited to 12.6 points and 5.3 boards while shooting 39.2 percent in road games.

Denver is one of the league's best offensive teams and that could continue against a Sacramento squad that has allowed 110.0 points during its three-game losing streak.

That skid followed a season-high three-game win streak for the Kings (7-15), who capped a four-game trip with a 113-103 loss at Oklahoma City on Friday.

Sacramento did rally back from a 24-point deficit to cut the Thunder's lead to 103-98 in the fourth quarter.

"I thought our guys played and competed," coach Keith Smart said.

Isaiah Thomas sparked the comeback, scoring a season-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting off the bench. He scored 23 in the fourth quarter – two shy of Mitch Richmond's Sacramento-era record for points in a period.

The guard had totaled 15 points in his previous three games.

"The big thing with me, I score in bunches, so if I make a couple, I feel like I can keep it going," Thomas told the team's official website.

Tyreke Evans finished with 21 points, giving him 38 in two games since returning from missing five of six contests because of a knee injury.

Evans has averaged 18.5 points in eight career games against the Nuggets, including a 27-point performance in 119-116 overtime loss in the teams' last meeting March 5.

While DeMarcus Cousins finished with 10 points in his return from a one-game suspension Friday, the Kings are expected to be without reserve guard Marcus Thornton (personal) for a third straight game.

Cousins had 17 points and 15 rebounds in the Kings' 122-93 loss to Denver in the only meeting in Sacramento last season.

The Nuggets have scored at least 100 points in 18 of their last 19 meetings with the Kings and had 99 in the lone exception.

McGee scores 19, Nuggets beat Kings 122-97

Posted Dec 16 2012 9:33PM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Although it's been a challenging first two months of the season with a long stretch of road games, the Denver Nuggets appeared pretty fresh Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.

Reserve JaVale McGee scored 19 points, Danilo Gallinari had 18 and the Nuggets built a big lead in the first half to cruise past the Kings 122-97.

It was a lopsided victory for the road-tested Nuggets, who have opened the season with 18 of their first 25 games coming away from home. Already ahead by 18 at the half, Denver outscored the Kings 33-21 in the third quarter to take a 97-67 lead heading into the fourth.

"It's the worst stretch of travel I've been associated with," said Nuggets coach George Karl, who is in his 26th season as a head coach. "All we do is travel, play a game, and get in at 3 in the morning. Then we do it all over again."

Being on the road for their NBA-leading 18th road game didn't seem to bother the Nuggets, who produced a season-high point total. They shot 54 percent, had 27 assists, outrebounded the Kings 52-42 and committed only 11 turnovers.

"I'm enjoying what we are going through," said Andre Iguodala, who had 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. "We have a tough schedule and it's a chance for us to build something. We're trying to play at a high level and be mentally tough."

The Nuggets played well right from the start, scoring 16 straight points to snap a tie in the first quarter, and led by a comfortable margin the rest of the way.

"The game was decided very early in this basketball game," Kings coach Keith Smart said. "We knew this team would run and we had to play real solid and not turn the basketball over. But that happened a lot early and we allowed them to get out and run. This is a bad loss for us."

Denver has won seven in a row against the Kings. Sacramento has lost four in a row overall.

Sacramento's Aaron Brooks committed a hard foul against Andre Miller late in the first quarter and a mild altercation ensued involving DeMarcus Cousins of the Kings and Kenneth Faried of the Nuggets. All four players were given technical fouls.

Reserve Jordan Hamilton had a season-high 15 points and Kosta Koufos had 12 points for the Nuggets, who improved to 7-11 on the road this season. Ty Lawson added 11 points and seven assists. Denver's reserves had 64 points.

"Give credit to everyone that came off our bench," Koufos said. "It was a good win for us. We started strong and finished the game strong. We ran the floor very well. Everybody played well."

McGee made seven field goals, four of them on vicious dunks. Denver had 14 dunks in the game.

"McGee and Andre have a great connection on getting lobs in the game and easy baskets," Karl said. "He's (McGee) very active on the offensive glass and we got our favorite shot, which is the dunk and the layup. We also had a lot of easy baskets."

Isaiah Thomas had 20 points and Cousins had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings. Jason Thompson added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Starting Kings guard Tyreke Evans played the first 10 minutes then left the game for good with a sore left knee. He missed five of the previous eight games because of his injured knee. Against the Nuggets, he missed all four shots and scored two points.

"You want to have all your pieces you practice with. We know Tyreke is going through some issues with his knees and we hope to get him back," Kings guard Aaron Brooks said. "But we have to play a little harder. Right now I think we are slow on everything."

The Kings were without Marcus Thornton for a third straight game. Their leading scorer off the bench, Thornton left the team to be with his sick mother in Louisiana.

NOTES: The technical against Cousins was his seventh of the season. He was suspended by the NBA for one game last week for striking O.J. Mayo of Dallas in the groin. ... Smart was given a technical early in the third quarter. ... Koufos shot an airball on a free throw in the second quarter and was jeered by the crowd. He missed his second attempt as well when the shot barely hit the rim.

Notebook: Nuggets 122, Kings 97

James Ham, For NBA.com
Posted Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:40 PM - Updated Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:40 PM

THE FACTS: The Sacramento Kings returned home from their four game road trip just in time to get smacked down by the Denver Nuggets by the score of 122-97.

JaVale McGee put on a show, flying in for dunk after dunk. The big man finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Danilo Gallinari added 18 points in 26 minutes, while Jordan Hamilton gave the Nuggets a solid 15 points off the bench.

The Kings were led by DeMarcus Cousins' 19-point, 11 rebound performance. Isaiah Thomas added 20 points off the bench and Jason Thompson picked up a second Kings double-double, scoring 16 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

QUOTABLE: "[McGee] was very active on the offensive glass and we got our favorite shot which is the dunk and the layup. We also got a lot of easy basketball plays. I think the energy was good, but the defense I think motivated us to play the right way the whole game."

-- Nuggets coach George Karl

THE STAT: The Kings shot just 34 percent for the game, while Denver shot 54 percent.

TURNING POINT: The Kings trailed by nine points after the first quarter, 18 at the half and it only got uglier after that.

HOT: Jordan Hamilton came into today's game averaging just 5.5 points per contest. In the first half of this one, he dropped 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. The Kings had no answer for McGee. The shot-blocking specialist scored 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting. A few posters could be made from some of his dunks tonight.

NOT: John Salmons struggled to give the Kings anything this evening. The veteran wing scored four points and shot a whopping 1-for-8 from the field.

GOOD MOVE: Everything Karl tried worked well, as his team looked athletic and energized.

BAD MOVE: KIngs coach Keith Smart had no answer for the athletic Nuggets. He tried plenty of combinations, but his team played bad defense and couldn't shoot the ball.

NOTABLE: Tyreke Evans started the game, but played only 10 minutes before re-aggravating his sore left knee.

UP NEXT: For the Nuggets, Tuesday vs. Spurs, Thursday @ Portland, Saturday vs. Bobcats. For the Kings, Monday @ Phoenix, Wednesday vs. Warriors, Friday @ Clippers.

• Nuggets: Chandler, Stone
• Kings: Honeycutt

• Nuggets: Faried, Miller
• Kings: Brooks, Cousins, Smart

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, CA
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #33 Sean Corbin, #29 Mark Lindsay
• Attendance: 13327
• Duration: 2:09