The Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings met for the first time of the season with both Michael Malone and George Karl coaching against their former teams. DeMarcus Cousins (37 points, 20 rebounds) and Rajon Rondo (24 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals on 8-16 shooting) led the way for the Kings as they held off a late Nuggets run and came away with a 116-110 victory in both teams’ first games coming out of the All-Star break. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone will have to wait until Tuesday to get revenge against his former team when they visit the Pepsi Center.

When/Where

Friday, February 19, 2016 at Sleep Train Arena – Sacramento, CA

Star of the Game

Danilo Gallinari – Gallo was Gallo once again scoring efficiently and getting to the line, keeping the Nuggets in the game throughout even when things got bogged down on offense. The Rooster finished the game with 27 points (6-11 from the floor, 3-6 from three and 10-11 from the line) and even a nice thick layer of tape on his shooting hand to show for his effort (he was bleeding from his hand). It wasn’t enough to steal a win in Sacramento, but Gallo’s steady play is certainly something to build on down the stretch.

Turning Point

Offensive rebounds by Rondo on consecutive possessions with about three minutes left in the game helped to slow a late Nuggets run and Rondo’s lay-in after the second one upped the Kings lead to 105-98 with 2:45 left to play. Rondo grabbed another rebound off of his own missed free throw with under a minute to play adding to the Nuggets’ late game misery.

Boogie Down (Low) Productions

From the opening tip, Boogie Cousins staked his claim on the paint, forcing two early fouls on both of Denver’s promising young bigs, Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic. Kenneth Faried was forced into action against Cousins for a good stretch of the second quarter and the results were not pretty for Nuggets fans.

Joffrey Lauvergne (or potentially lack of conditioning) was able to slow Cousins in the 4th quarter, but the damage had already been done at that point. Boogie’s running mate, Rondo, managed to put the icing on the cake with his surprising shooting, hitting 4-6 on both 3-point attempts and free throw attempts, and all six of the free throw attempts came down the stretch as the Nuggets tried to claw back into the game late.

New Guy in Town

It didn’t take D.J. Augustin long to make an impact for his new team, dropping five dimes in his first five minutes on the court in the second quarter. He started his Nuggets career off with a turnover leading to a Kings layup, but put on a pretty drive and dish display with Joffrey Lauvergne on the receiving end of four excellent passes.

If tonight’s display of passing and 3-point shooting was an indication of what’s to come from Augustin, it’s clear that the offense won’t skip a beat when #12 comes into the game for Emmanuel Mudiay. Augustin finished with 8 points, 6 assists and 3 steals while hitting two of his three 3-point attempts.

Return of the King

Joffrey Lauvergne was forced into extended duty after the early foul trouble for Jokic and Nurkic who ended up with a combined 9 fouls, 4 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes. King Joffrey defended Cousins admirably, but was really able to make a difference at the offensive end, scoring a career high 22 points on 10-14 shooting.

He also added 7 rebounds and hit his only 3-point attempt — even picking up a block on Boogie late in the game after Cousins looked like he had been run ragged trying to chase Lauvergne around the court on defense. It would have been nice to see how Jokic could do against the NBA’s premier big man, but it was nice to see that Denver’s forgotten Euro-big was able to make an impact off the bench in a game where he was needed more than ever before.

Plays of the Game

Joffrey Lauvergne had a nasty contact dunk over Ben McLemore after taking DeMarcus Cousins off the dribble late in the 4th quarter.

Emmanuel Mudiay floated a pretty lob pass just over the outstretched arms of a defender in the 2nd, leading to a Gary Harris layup.

But it was a Jusuf Nurkic dunk off of a pick and roll dunk in second that stood out the most to me. Nurkic has the size and touch to be a destructive force in the paint, but he often settles for fadeaways and scoop shots to avoid his defender, so it was nice to see him attack the rim like that early in the game.

Quote of the Game

“Don’t let him fool you, he wants to win this game. His players want him to win this game.” – Altitude TV’s Vic Lombardi on Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.

Lasting Impact

The Nuggets loss not only drops them and extra game behind the eighth place Jazz/Rockets, but it also keeps the Kings ahead of them in the quest to sneak into the 2016 playoffs. With the Knicks current seven-game losing streak increasing the chances of a Denver-New York pick-swap, the Nuggets have every reason to push for the best possible finish to the season that they can.

With tonight’s loss, Denver falls a game behind New York, a game-and-a-half behind the Kings and 5.5 games behind the Utah Jazz, the current placeholders of the final playoff spot in the West.

Up Next

Sunday, February 21 vs. Boston Celtics, 3:00 p.m. MST

In an interesting scheduling quirk, Sacramento’s next game is in Denver on February 23rd, while the Nuggets will host the Boston Celtics on Sunday in the meantime. Maybe coach Karl will buy tickets for the guys to take in the game on Sunday afternoon as a team-building activity. Regardless, the Nuggets get another crack at the scrappy Celtics after dropping a close one in Boston at the end of January.