Russell Westbrook scored 21 points, including two late buckets, Dennis Schroder also had 21 and the visiting Sacramento Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 128-123 on Saturday night, ending an eight-game losing streak.
Keegan Murray scored 19 points in his second game back from injury. DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points, including five in the final 12 seconds for Sacramento, which had lost all eight games on its skid by double digits.
Zach LaVine added 15 points and Malik Monk 12 for the Kings, who took the last of three games against Denver this season.
Nikola Jokic had 44 points and 13 rebounds, Jamal Murray scored 23 points, Cameron Johnson had 20 and Peyton Watson finished with 15 for the Nuggets, who played without Aaron Gordon due to a right hamstring injury suffered in Friday night’s win in Houston.
Jamal Murray’s 3-pointer early in the fourth gave Denver a 98-94 lead before Sacramento scored the next 10 points. Jokic hit two buckets, but the Kings extended the lead to 112-103 on Monk’s three-point play.
Westbrook’s driving layup kept it a nine-point game, but the Nuggets got within 119-115 on Jokic’s 3-pointer with 2:34 left. DeRozan followed his own miss, Jokic was off on a short jumper, and Westbrook hit a baseline jumper to make it 123-117 with 36 seconds remaining in regulation.
Jokic hit a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, but DeRozan’s three-point play with 12 seconds to go sealed it.
The Nuggets led by as much as nine in the first half, but Sacramento chipped away to get within 65-61 at intermission.
DeRozan’s three-point play early in the third quarter cut the Kings’ deficit to 67-64, but Denver tried to pull away. Watson scored on a putback, Jokic hit a turnaround jumper, Johnson drained a 3-pointer and Jamal Murray hit a pull-up and made a technical free throw to give Denver a 79-66 lead.
Keegan Murray sparked a 15-3 run that tied it at 84 with 3:05 left in the third, and Schroder’s 3-pointer and fadeaway put Sacramento ahead 91-90 late in the quarter.
Jamal Murray’s layup gave the Nuggets a one-point lead heading into the fourth.
–Field Level Media
