A solid first half from the Sacramento Kings was all but forgotten by the end of the game, due to a porous second half effort. The Kings (15-21) fell to the Denver Nuggets (17-20) 118-108. DeMarcus Cousins finished with 32 points, 13 rebounds, four dimes and four blocked shots, Rudy Gay added 22 points and Darren Collison who contributed 15 points and seven assists weren’t enough to get the W.
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The defense the Kings had shown against the Oklahoma City Thunder just two days before was long gone for the last 24 minutes of tonight’s contest.
Cousins got the ball early and often, with the Nuggets missing Timofey Mozgov who was traded and Javale McGee who has been sidelined with a leg injury and he went to work. Cousins had 11 points in the first period, but the Kings trailed the Nuggets 30-27.
The Kings tied the game on a Nik Stauskas three, his second of the game. The Kings gave the lead right back to Denver, though, as their transition defense struggled. The Nuggets were up 43-42 with four-and-a-half minutes to play in the second.
Back and forth buckets continued as the game went to the break with the Kings leading 60-54 after a floater from Collison and a buzzer-beating three from Ben McLemore.
Cousins finished with 13 points and eight rebounds at the half. Gay dropped 16 points and Collison added 10 points and seven assists.
An 8-0 run for the Nuggets would give them a 62-60 advantage less than two minutes into the third.
Poor defense from the Kings allowed the Nuggets to extend their lead to 12 just as the Kings offense became stagnant. Halfway through the third, the Kings found themselves in a tough hole.
The Kings trimmed the lead to nine after Cousins found an open Collison to stop the bleeding as he netted an open three.
The Kings, though, would head into the fourth down 15.
Cousins would come alive in the fourth but the Nuggets kept on scoring at will. Pathetic, even non-existent, defense allowed Denver to stretch their lead to 20 with under six minutes to play.
That would seal the deal as the Kings and their abysmal play couldn’t make it a game.
The Kings play the LeBron-less Cleveland Cavaliers next as they hope to get back on the winning track.