What we learned as the Kings squandered their comeback after loss to the Nuggets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX score

SACRAMENTO – Domantas Sabonis had another fantastic game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Kings’ slow start in their 130-129 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday.

Sabonis had 28 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, leading a group of five Kings players in double figures. De’Aaron Fox scored 29 points and seven assists before the end. Malik Monk scored 25 points, while DeMar DeRozan added 17 points and Doug McDermott had 16 points.

The Kings trailed by 23 points and allowed 75 points in the first half before getting back on track in the second half.

In the end the game was close. There were seven lead changes in the final 75 seconds, with DeRozan’s baseline dunk with 18 seconds left bringing the Golden 1 Center crowd to its feet.

However, the Kings were unable to hold on. Denver’s Jamal Murray sank a 16-foot jump shot 8.6 seconds before the game-winning shot.

The Kings played without Keegan Murray (left ankle soreness) and Kevin Huerter (left cruciate joint sprain).

Here are the takeaways from Monday’s game:

Dougie starts in place of Keegan

McDermott was solid when he replaced Murray after the Kings forward suffered a late loss. McDermott had the hottest hand on the Sacramento roster, shooting 6 of 9 overall (4 of 7 from behind the arc).

McDermott’s third start of the 2024-25 NBA season came eight days after he electrified the crowd at the Golden 1 Center by coming off the bench and scoring 18 points on six shots in six minutes against the Utah Jazz.

Jokić against Domas

In a classic battle of big men, Sabonis gave Jokić everything he could, even though Jokić ended up with the better stat line with his NBA-leading 10^Th Triple-double of the season.

Sabonis came close to the duel between the former triple-double champions and showed no fear, going straight at and through Jokić several times, although Joker got the last laugh with the win.

Protect the paint

The Nuggets are second in the NBA in scoring, and they continued that trend against the Kings by an absurd margin of 76-58. That’s 33 more points than the Kings allowed in the game, and they made the difference in the end.

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