DeMarcus Cousins, Kings too much for Nuggets

DENVER – The Denver Nuggets returned home looking to take sole possession of the 8th seed in the Western Conference from the Sacramento Kings. Instead, they came out settling for long jumpers and failed to play any defense. The Kings ended up leaving the Pepsi Center with a 120-113 while the Nuggets fall into uncertainty.

“Zero,” Malone said on how much fatigue played into the loss to the Kings. “That is a B.S. excuse. Next question.”

The first quarter was eerily similar to how the Nuggets have been playing as of late; tons of offense and almost no defense. It was a shootout from the start with the Nuggets taking 12 first quarter threes, making six of them while allowing the Kings to shoot 3-9 from distance. The Nuggets also gave away five early turnovers and somehow finished the first quarter down only one point by the score of 29-28.

Danilo Gallinari did most of the damage but the biggest takeaway was that the Nuggets were shooting an immense amount of three-pointers. Gallinari finished with 24 points, four rebounds and three assists. After the first period, the Nuggets were on pace to shoot over 45 threes and that trend continued into the second quarter.

Then, suddenly, the Nuggets began overpassing and turning the ball over at an alarming rate. The game that started with both teams trading leads ended up with the Kings ballooning their lead to 14 points at one moment behind a 16-0 run by the Kings at one point. The Nuggets offense collapses and could not score a bucket for nearly seven straight minutes of game time and they took a deficit of nine into halftime by a score of 60-51.

The Nuggets took 22 three-point attempts in the first half, making 11 of them, and turning the ball over 10 times, seven of which came from the bench. Wilson Chandler continued struggling and was a game-low -17 in the first half alone and finished with 10 points and three rebounds.

The second half started with much of the same. The Nuggets could not deter the Kings from doing whatever they wanted on the offensive end of the floor while the Nuggets offense did everything they could to keep the game close. Jokic began asserting himself offensively and finished with 18 points seven rebounds and five assists on the game but Demarcus Cousins continued to dismantle the Nuggets forcing Malone to play Nurkic instead of Jokic.

“DeMarcus is an All-NBA player,” Malone said. “Obviously he had 31 points tonight. He was a load.”

Eight points from Harris and inspired play from Nurkic help the Nuggets climb back into the game before the fourth quarter while Cousins, who finished with an insane 31 points, six assists and six rebounds, continued to carry the offensive burden for the Kings. The Nuggets continued their three-point shooting barrage and ended up down six points heading into the final quarter with a score of 94-88.

The fourth quarter was a struggle. The Nuggets traded baskets with the Kings but could not inject any defensive intensity. Players stopped moving which all but eliminated Jokic’s effectiveness as a passer. Denver kept the game within five points and refused to give up. Jokic started forcing the issue offensively and it led to better player movement from the Nuggets. While Denver could not stop the King’s offense the game still remained competitive.

The Nuggets ran out of gas as the Kings began to extend their lead. The Nuggets defense was awful giving up 120 points yet again and lose 120-113 to the Kings.

“We have the worst defense in the NBA. That is the bottom line,” Malone said. “It is embarrassing how we go out and attempt to defend every night. That is something that we have to try to fix as soon as possible because it is at an all-time low right now and that is a huge concern of mine.”

Quote of the Night

“Right now we don’t have any leadership. There are no veteran leadership on this team stepping up,” Malone explained. “Don’t hear anybody speaking and taking the lead. We have two young guys trying to speak up which we applaud them but we need some leadership to shine and step up when we are struggling, which we are.”

“I don’t agree with that,” Gallinari said in response to Malone. “That is definitely not the problem with this team. Every veteran on this team wants to win so I don’t agree with that.”

What’s next

The Nuggets play the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday Dec. 5th at the Pepsi Center looking to avoid a three-game losing streak and a statement win.