A day removed from the surprise firing of coach Michael Malone, the Denver Nuggets pulled out of a four-game losing streak with a 124-116 road win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
Denver (48-32), playing its first game under interim coach David Adelman, led almost the entire way in a game crucial for the Nuggets’ postseason positioning. The preceding losing streak dropped the Nuggets from third place in the Western Conference into a four-team cluster of teams that all went into the Wednesday slate with identical 47-32 records.
The Nuggets are now tied for fourth with the Los Angeles Clippers (48-32), a game behind the Los Angeles Lakers (49-31) and just in front of the Memphis Grizzlies (47-32) and the Golden State Warriors (47-33).
Nikola Jokic furthered his pursuit of becoming just the third player ever to average a triple-double for a season, posting 20 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists vs. Sacramento (39-41).
Although it was a muted scoring performance for the 30-point-per-game-averaging Jokic, who shot 5-for-12 from the floor, he came up clutch late, muscling through a double-team to make a contested floater.
Jokic then found Jalen Pickett on Denver’s next trip down the floor for a basket, helping the Nuggets answer a late Kings rally effort.
Sacramento trailed by as many as 16 points but battled back to pull within four with four minutes remaining. Zach LaVine, who scored a game-high 27 points, keyed the Kings’ push.
LaVine shot 4-for-8 from 3-point range and teammate Keon Ellis knocked down 6 of 11 from beyond the arc on the way to 20 points. That duo and DeMar DeRozan (22 points) gave Sacramento a chance down the stretch.
Denver’s clutch buckets were too much for the Kings to overcome, however. Michael Porter Jr. hit a 3-pointer under duress as the shot clock was winding down to bump the Nuggets’ lead back to seven with 3:41 to go.
The triple was part of a 21-point game for Porter.
Pickett added another crunch-time score, a 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining for a 12-point lead. Pickett shot 5-for-7 from outside on the way to 18 points — the lowest point total from any of Denver’s starting five.
Christian Braun finished with a team-high 25 points, 16 of which came in the first half. Aaron Gordon scored 21 points, with 10 coming in the first quarter.