The Denver Nuggets have been historically poor on the road but are starting to show they can win away from altitude.

Denver has a 10-8 road record after Tuesday night’s win at Sacramento, and the Nuggets can notch another victory when the same two teams play again at the Kings’ arena on Wednesday night.

The Nuggets rallied from 20 points down in the first half to beat Sacramento 113-106 for their fifth straight win, and they did it without two key pieces.

Aaron Gordon, the dunking star from the Christmas Day overtime win over Phoenix, was a late scratch Tuesday with a shoulder strain, and he watched the game in street clothes. Denver then lost Bruce Brown to an ankle sprain in the first half.

Coach Michael Malone said Brown’s injury didn’t appear serious, but both players are questionable for Wednesday night.

“Aaron Gordon woke up, and that shoulder was pretty sore,” Malone said. “We’ll see how he feels (Wednesday). If it loosens up and he’s able to go, great. If not, we’ll get him ready for Miami on Friday night.”

The Kings played Tuesday without Domantas Sabonis due to an avulsion fracture in his right thumb suffered in Friday’s loss to Washington. Meanwhile, coach Mike Brown was placed in the health and safety protocol earlier Tuesday, and assistant Jordi Fernandez led the team.

The Kings didn’t announce if Brown would be cleared for the second game against Denver.

Fernandez, a former Nuggets assistant under Malone, has seen what Nikola Jokic can do to a team, and Sacramento smartly made him the focus of its defense Tuesday night. Jokic attempted only two shots in the first half and scored two points.

“Nikola is a great player, but talk about the definition of being a selfless player,” Malone said. “I said to him at halftime, ‘I have to get you more than two shots.’ He said, ‘Coach, it’s OK, they’re double-teaming me every time. I’m just going to keep making the right play.’ He never worries about that stuff; he just wants to win.”

Jokic finished with 20 points, 11 assists and was a rebound shy of a triple-double.

The Kings, meanwhile, have lost five of their past eight games, including two straight at home. Not having Sabonis is tough for a team that is trying to stay in the playoff race.

Sacramento recovered nicely from an 0-4 start to this season and was four games above .500 before losing to the Wizards and Nuggets. After the loss to Washington, Brown lamented the team cannot afford to let down against any opponent.

“If we think we’re just going to show up and go through the motions because our record is what it is, we’re going to be in for a rude awakening,” he said.

Without Sabonis on Tuesday night, Fernandez inserted Alex Len into the starting lineup after he didn’t play in the previous game. Len was no match for Jokic and scored just two points in 14 minutes and picked up four personal fouls.

De’Aaron Fox led Sacramento with 26 points, and Kevin Huerter added 21.

–Field Level Media

Two powerful trends that have pulled the Golden State Warriors in opposite directions will intersect Wednesday night when the defending champions host the Utah Jazz in San Francisco.

The Warriors improved to a league-best 14-2 at home with a hard-fought, 110-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night.

The win came despite the absence of Stephen Curry (shoulder) and Andrew Wiggins (groin), both of whom are expected to miss Wednesday’s second night of a back-to-back.

Klay Thompson posted a game-high 29 points against the Hornets, and he also likely will sit out the Utah game as part of a rest routine the veteran has undergone so far this season.

Always without Thompson and often without Curry, Wiggins and/or Draymond Green, the Warriors have struggled on the second nights of back-to-backs this season, going 2-5. They lost 125-119 at Indiana and 143-113 at Brooklyn on second nights during their recent six-game trip.

The Warriors have swept just one back-to-back this season, and that came on their only previous sequence of two home games in two nights. They beat the Chicago Bulls 119-111 and Houston Rockets 120-101 on that occasion in early December.

One player the Jazz can expect to see in their second trip to San Francisco this season is Jonathan Kuminga. The 20-year-old, getting a chance to play at crunch time with Curry and Wiggins out, made contributions plays at both ends of the court late in the Tuesday win.

“I thought he was just brilliant,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He made huge plays defensively, and I thought that kinda led to a couple of offensive plays. He was rewarded for his defensive effort.”

Kuminga played 30 minutes in Golden State’s 124-123 loss at Utah on Dec. 7, a night when Kerr chose not to suit up Curry, Wiggins and Green. He hit 10 of his 13 shots while also logging five rebounds and four assists.

The Jazz took advantage of a Warriors team that was resting up for an NBA Finals rematch with the Boston Celtics by getting 22 points and nine assists from Jordan Clarkson and double-figure scoring from six others in the high-scoring affair.

Utah has lost five of nine since then but has seemed to find its offense in the past three contests. The Jazz scored 126, 120 and 122 points while going 2-1 against the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs.

The lone loss in the stretch occurred in their most recent outing, a 126-122 defeat against the Spurs on Monday that resulted despite Lauri Markkanen’s 32 points and Clarkson’s 25.

Utah was without Kelly Olynyk, who might be able to return against the Warriors following a four-game absence caused by a sprained left ankle.

The Monday defeat followed a relaxing stretch in which the Jazz enjoyed three days off, including Christmas, before flying into San Antonio to begin a three-game trip.

“We knew these games are always tough going on the road after (a) holiday,” veteran Mike Conley said. “Give them credit. They kept pushing, kept getting to the rim and they kept tempo fast and we never really got our feet under us. We didn’t make shots, but that can’t be an excuse for what we do on the opposite end.”

The Warriors beat the Jazz 129-118 at home in the teams’ first head-to-head matchup of the season on Nov. 25. Curry and Wiggins combined for 53 points in that game.

–Field Level Media

The visiting Brooklyn Nets will put their league-leading, nine-game winning streak on the line on Wednesday when they oppose the Atlanta Hawks, who may be without All-Star point guard Trae Young.

Young left Atlanta’s 129-114 road loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday with 4:15 to play due to a left calf contusion. The injury came on a non-contact play when Young drove to the basket. He was taken to the locker room for examination and did not return. He will be treated and re-evaluated on Wednesday.

Asked if he would be able to play against the Nets, Young said postgame, “Hopefully. I don’t know. We’ll see.”

The loss of Young could be especially problematic for Atlanta, which is already missing two starters. Clint Capela, who missed three games due to a right calf strain, returned to action Friday, aggravated the ailment and sat out Tuesday. De’Andre Hunter (left ankle sprain) also missed the Los Angeles game.

This will be the second of four meetings in the season series between Brooklyn and Atlanta. The Nets, who earned a 120-116 home win over the Hawks on Dec. 9, took two of the three matchups last season. The team won’t play again until a Feb. 26 game in Atlanta.

Five of Brooklyn’s wins during the current streak have come on the road, where the Nets are 10-7. The Nets are coming off a 125-117 road victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.

Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant has feasted against the Hawks during his career, including a game-high, 34-point performance earlier this month.

Durant has scored 25-plus points in 13 straight games against the Hawks dating back to Nov. 30, 2016. He posted a career-high 55 points on April 2, 2022, in his last visit to Atlanta.

Nets guard Kyrie Irving has averaged 28.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists over his past 10 games, scoring 20-plus points eight times and 30-plus points five times. Irving (26 points per game) and Durant (30 ppg) form one of three duos in the league averaging 25-plus points. They both scored 32 against Cleveland on Monday.

“To be honest, we’ve always been about basketball,” Durant said. “The outside noise makes it seem like we don’t care about the game, but so many voices speak about our locker room who don’t have any idea what’s going on. We’ve always been about the game.”

The Nets lead the league in field-goal shooting (51 percent) and 3-point shooting (39.1 percent). Brooklyn center Nic Claxton leads the league in field-goal shooting (73.8 percent) and is the only qualifying player in the league shooting over 70 percent.

With Atlanta’s roster thin because of injuries, the Hawks will rely more heavily on John Collins. The veteran forward, playing his fourth game since missing eight contests because of a left ankle sprain, scored a season-high 26 points and had 10 rebounds in the Hawks’ loss to Indiana.

“We want John to shoot the ball,” Atlanta coach Nate McMillan said. “He didn’t hesitate. He was looking for his shot. I thought he was aggressive on the offensive end of the floor. He had to play a lot more ‘five’ and we got him involved by setting screens and (finding) him in those pick-and-rolls.”

–Field Level Media

The Washington Wizards will look to extend a winning streak past two games for just the second time this season when they host the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

The Wizards, who won four in a row from Nov. 7-13, have rebounded from a season-high, 10-game losing streak by earning three victories in their past four games — including a 113-110 win in Phoenix on Dec. 20. Washington fell to the Utah Jazz two nights later before posting a 125-111 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday and a 116-111 triumph vs. the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.

“I think guys are just bought into trying to get ourselves back on track and winning games, so whatever that means (to complete the task),” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr.

Kristaps Porzingis sat out the previous encounter with the Suns and the game against the Jazz due to a non-COVID illness. Porzingis looked healthy on Tuesday in his second game back as he collected 24 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals to help Washington overcome Joel Embiid’s 48-point performance and snap Philadelphia’s eight-game winning streak.

Porzingis, who has a team-leading 11 double-doubles on the season, has scored at least 20 points in 11 of his past 13 appearances.

Washington’s Bradley Beal recorded 19 points and five assists on Tuesday before exiting in the fourth quarter with a left hamstring injury. Beal tossed his headband in frustration as he slowly walked to the locker room.

“We’ll let him get evaluated. We’re not really sure at this point (of) the severity,” Unseld said of Beal, who missed six games earlier this month with a right hamstring injury.

Corey Kispert likely would get the start on Wednesday if Beal is unable to play.

Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma recorded 14 points and eight rebounds on Tuesday, one week after he drained five 3-pointers and finished with 29 points against Phoenix.

The Suns snapped a three-game skid with a 125-108 road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

Duane Washington Jr. contributed a career-high 26 points and eight assists off the bench. He sank 10 of 21 shots from the floor and 5 of 9 from 3-point range.

Deandre Ayton recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Paul added 14 points and six assists to help the Suns, who have scored at least 125 points in three of their past five games.

The Tuesday offensive surge was welcome for Phoenix, which played without three-time All-Star guard Devin Booker (groin).

“He’s getting more evaluation back in Phoenix. He can get the best care back there,” Suns coach Monty Williams said of Booker, who averages a team-high 27.1 points per game and is second on the team with 5.6 assists per contest.

Phoenix also played without Landry Shamet (right Achilles soreness) and Cameron Payne (right foot strain).

Shamet drained a career-high nine 3-pointers and scored a career-best 31 points in the Suns’ loss to Washington last week. He matched that point total in Phoenix’s 128-125 overtime loss at Denver on Sunday.

–Field Level Media