All smiles as two of the league’s hottest teams square off Wednesday when the Nuggets host the Kings at Ball Arena.
The Denver Nuggets (39-22) return home from a four-game road trip Wednesday to take on a streaking Kings team that has won four straight. Here are the five things you need to know before tipoff for this Nuggets vs. Kings showdown.
- Sacramento’s streak: The Kings continue to make a push for a top-six seed in the West, having won four straight entering Wednesday. They have defeated the Hornets, Jazz, Rockets and Mavericks so far on their run, but the challenge intensifies as they head to the Mile High City to face one of the league’s toughest teams in their home arena, where the Nuggets boast a 20-9 record this season (5th in NBA).
- Denver’s home-court advantage: The Nuggets have won eight of their last nine at Ball Arena. The Nuggets have the second-best offensive rating (121.4) at home behind only the Cavaliers. It will be a tough test for them, however, as the Kings have been one of the league’s best on the road at 17-14.
- Battle of the bigs … on hold: The engines for both of these teams are located in the frontcourt with Nikola Jokić doing it all for the Nuggets and the NBA’s double-doubles leader, Domantas Sabonis, patrolling the paint for the Kings. Unfortunately, Sabonis is sidelined with a hamstring injury and will miss the game. In their last meeting, Jokić had the upper hand with 35 points, 22 rebounds and 17 assists in the win, while Sabonis racked up 23 points and 19 rebounds.
- Zach LaVine’s impact: LaVine is making the Kings’ move to get him at the deadline look better with each passing game. The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week has found his groove as of late, highlighted by an unbelievable performance against the Hornets in which he had 42 points on just 19 field goal attempts. Slowing him down will be a key for the Nuggets’ perimeter defenders.
- Jamal Murray turning it up: Murray has been red-hot coming out of the All-Star break with two 30-point games in his last six outings. He is shooting 51.4% from the floor and 56.5% from deep in that stretch. Denver shoots the fewest 3s of any team in the league (31.5) but ranks third in 3P% thanks to efficient shot making from the likes of Murray.
