The one that got away. After leading big in the first half, the Kings couldn’t put the Denver Nuggets away Wednesday at the Pepsi Center.
Playing in front of a noisy crowd, the home team found a way to pull one out, sending the Kings home with a disappointing 120-118 defeat.
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Nikola Jokic hit the Kings with a big-time triple-double, and Paul Millsap punished Sacramento in the paint for 25 points and 13 rebounds.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings let one slip away to fall to 30-27 heading into the All-Star break.
Almost...
Buddy Hield caught the ball and let it fly with 0.8 seconds remaining. The 3-ball caught iron and slid off the rim to preserve the win for Denver.
NBA
Hield, along with plenty of other Kings, has come up with big shots this season in moments like this. Unfortunately for Sacramento, their luck ran out against the Nuggets.
Hield scored a team-high 25 points on 9-of-23 from the field and added five rebounds and three assists.
Third Quarter
The Kings had everything going for them early, leading by as many as 17 points in the first half. And then the third quarter happened.
Denver came out of the locker room the aggressor and pushed the Kings around. The Nuggets outscored the Kings 35-22 in the quarter to take a 94-93 lead into the fourth.
After not stepping on an NBA court since March of last year, Isaiah Thomas torched his former team for eight points in the third frame.
Getting Comfortable
You could see Harrison Barnes surveying the landscape and searching for his role in his first two games in a Kings uniform. The forward finally looked like himself on the road in Denver.
Playing primarily at the three, Barnes went to work against the Nuggets. After taking just nine shots in each of his first two games for Sacramento, the veteran wing shot 7-of-19 from the field and 3-of-9 from long range to score 19 points. He added 11 rebounds for his first double-double in a Kings uniform and he chipped in four assists and two steals.
It’s easy to see why the Kings went after Barnes at the trade deadline. He gives the team an element they were lacking and he’s only going to get better as he gets more comfortable.