The Sacramento Kings have, for the most part, had absolutely terrible defense this season. Against the Denver Nuggets, the Kings' defense actually held the Nuggets back, even Nikola Jokic. For the first time this season, Sacramento's defense was a legitimate game-changer.
Walking into last night's game, the Kings had one of the worst defenses in the league as well as one of the worst offenses. There is no sport where that is a good combination, and that's definitely true in the NBA. You kind of need both in place to do little things like winning.
At the same time, it's also important to realize that winning starts with defense. An impactful offense is built on reliable defense. Stopping the other team from scoring with strong defense generates offensive opportunities. Winning is literally just that simple, yet the Kings have made it look so hard.
While the problem has existed for years, the Kings' defense has looked particularly abysmal this season. They have been blown out several times, including a recent 41-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies of all teams. But their win over the Nuggets showed that the potential is there.
Kings shutting the Nuggets down is no easy feat
The Denver Nuggets have one of the toughest offenses in the NBA, particularly when Jokic is on the court. They scored 123 points last night, and 44 of them belonged to Nikola. He also clocked out with 13 rebounds and seven assists, once again just shy of yet another triple-double.
Yet, the Kings actually managed to slow him down. It usually took two or more of them, but they did get the job done. It wasn't so much preventing him from scoring as it was slowing him down on rebounds and cutting him off from passing to his teammates.
That seems insane to say, considering he finished with 13 rebounds and seven assists. For anyone else, those would be huge numbers, but Jokic often does better than that in both stats. Even managing to slow his game down in the slightest is an impressive defensive feat to say the least.
It is worth mentioning that both Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun didn't play, meaning the Nuggets were not at full strength. Still, the Kings have missed their shot on openings like that before, so it was good to see them capitalise. This was their most impressive win of the season.