[Game] 61/82: Kings @ Nuggets, 05 MAR 2025, 6:00p PT/9:00p ET

#1
Kings: 32-28; 8th in Western Conference; 3rd in Pacific Division
Nuggets: 39-22; 3rd in Western Conference; 2nd in Northwest Division

Season Series (Nuggets lead 2-0)
Game 1
: Nuggets 130 @ Kings 129
Game 2
: Kings 123 @ Nuggets 132

Injury Report
Kings
: Malik Monk (GTD), Domantas Sabonis (OUT)
Nuggets: Zeke Nnaji, Peyton Watson, Vlatko Cancar, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic (All listed as GTD)

Last 10 games
Kings
: 7-3
Nuggets: 7-3

Here's to win number 33 on the regular season....LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

 
#3
I like our chances a lot better if Jokić does not play. It's probably better to rest Monk, seeing as how toe injuries can linger for a while. He is too instrumental to the Kings' playoff chances to take any chances with his availability down the stretch.
Way to go out there on a limb with that first sentence lol

Agreed on Monk. Might as well rest during a game we're more than likely going to lose anyway if they have Jokic out there.
 
#4
With two healthy rosters, this would be a barometer game helping to establish if the revamped Beam Team is a top 3 in the West or not. It looks like it may be more of a battle of the benches, which I guess tells us something else. Playing in Mile High City is always hard, but I like the Kings odds tonight. Zach and DDR are hitting their stride and JV is fitting in nicely. The bench is improved a looking to more trustworthy. I think if the Kings can get out early, move the ball well and not settle for outside shots they can get this one. They need a statement game. Go Kings!
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#5
Seeing all over twitter and reddit that Monk is definitely out tonight but not from a known trustworthy source. Have to assume it's true at this point. Hopefully it is more on the side of being overly precautious and having some trust in the rest of the lineup at 100% to rise to the challenge rather than playing a guy who may only be 80%.
 
#8
Last 4 games we won for a reason. We played well. Last game in Dallas - only 7 turnovers (Kings had 18 TOs in their 130-88 W against CHA). We took 2 chargers (difficult stuff in the current NBA's scorching speed).
Sucks to have Monk out, but health is a priority.
Sucks to have Domas out - in our last game in Denver he was the highest scorer.

In the play-off watch thread I posted some interesting stats with the regards to Nuggets. Basically, Denver has a hard time winning against good teams. I looked up even more today, but maybe later :)
I looked at what Kings did lately.
I was really impressed at something that popped-out in our last 17 games. In those 17 games we NEVER had the same consecutive high scorer.
DDR scored most points 6 times.
LaVine - 3 times.
Domas, Monks and the former Kings player jersey #5 -2 times. Domas and Monk sadly are not available tonight. Fox, happily, will not be available EVER in Kings jersey.
Keegan and Keon were highest scorers once.

That's really impressive. Of course, it doesn't guarantee LaVine won't break this trend. He still needs to catch up with his regular stats that he had with the Bulls. I am more than fine with that. High flying objects have less air resistance up high, right? ;)
Keon went 0-7 last game, missed all 6 three pointers. Strange...
Keegan scored 18 points an 10 FGAs on Monday. In 25 minutes. People in arena heard him yell "Ball, ball, ball!!!" and paparazzi caught him smiling on the bench once.
Last season JV started in all games. 82 in regular season, 2 in play-ins, 4 in play-offs. In 82 regular season games JV missed 10 FGAs once (4/14), never missed 9, missed 8 FGAs twice (10/18, 7/15). In Dallas he was 6/15. JV is 5/11 on his last long range launches.

We lost to Nuggets at home 129-130. Last play fumble by DDR. Hurts...
Kings beat GSW 123-118 at home and next day lost in Denver 123-132. In Denver Kings were 85-110 after 3 quarters. We ALMOST made it back with Doug's three pointer with 2:09 left in the game, 118-124. Sadly, too late and not enough.

Have less turnovers than them. Have more rebounds. More steals and more blocks. Punch W #33 and LTB!!!
 
#9
Last 4 games we won for a reason. We played well. Last game in Dallas - only 7 turnovers (Kings had 18 TOs in their 130-88 W against CHA). We took 2 chargers (difficult stuff in the current NBA's scorching speed).
Sucks to have Monk out, but health is a priority.
Sucks to have Domas out - in our last game in Denver he was the highest scorer.

In the play-off watch thread I posted some interesting stats with the regards to Nuggets. Basically, Denver has a hard time winning against good teams. I looked up even more today, but maybe later :)
I looked at what Kings did lately.
I was really impressed at something that popped-out in our last 17 games. In those 17 games we NEVER had the same consecutive high scorer.
DDR scored most points 6 times.
LaVine - 3 times.
Domas, Monks and the former Kings player jersey #5 -2 times. Domas and Monk sadly are not available tonight. Fox, happily, will not be available EVER in Kings jersey.
Keegan and Keon were highest scorers once.

That's really impressive. Of course, it doesn't guarantee LaVine won't break this trend. He still needs to catch up with his regular stats that he had with the Bulls. I am more than fine with that. High flying objects have less air resistance up high, right? ;)
Keon went 0-7 last game, missed all 6 three pointers. Strange...
Keegan scored 18 points an 10 FGAs on Monday. In 25 minutes. People in arena heard him yell "Ball, ball, ball!!!" and paparazzi caught him smiling on the bench once.
Last season JV started in all games. 82 in regular season, 2 in play-ins, 4 in play-offs. In 82 regular season games JV missed 10 FGAs once (4/14), never missed 9, missed 8 FGAs twice (10/18, 7/15). In Dallas he was 6/15. JV is 5/11 on his last long range launches.

We lost to Nuggets at home 129-130. Last play fumble by DDR. Hurts...
Kings beat GSW 123-118 at home and next day lost in Denver 123-132. In Denver Kings were 85-110 after 3 quarters. We ALMOST made it back with Doug's three pointer with 2:09 left in the game, 118-124. Sadly, too late and not enough.

Have less turnovers than them. Have more rebounds. More steals and more blocks. Punch W #33 and LTB!!!
Keon and JV especially will need to be way way more efficient with their shots for Kings to have a shot
 
#11
We should get a good look at fultz tonight with I believe somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes. I think he will shine and his defense will help.
Heck who knows maybe they need to bring Carter up and give him some run while Monk recovers. I hope with more defensive guys having to fill the minutes tonight they just may surprise us.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#12
I would figure Keon definitely starts. He and LaVine has played too well in the backcourt together.
Agreed. Keon should start and play 30+ minutes barring foul trouble or an awful shooting night. By necessity we'll also see a lot of Lyles as a smallball 5. If Jokic plays I don't think you can get away with that for more than a few minutes, but in any non-Jokic minutes that bench unit will hopefully get some extended time. They looked great last game.
 
#15
Keon and JV especially will need to be way way more efficient with their shots for Kings to have a shot
They will. It's a fluke for Keon to miss all his shots. JV in his last 160+ games missed 9 shots twice and 10 shots once. Last season he averaged 8.8 FGAs per game, making 4.9. And I don't need to explain, especially you ;) , how many of those misses were because of the non-called fouling.
 
#16
I like our chances a lot better if Jokić does not play. It's probably better to rest Monk, seeing as how toe injuries can linger for a while. He is too instrumental to the Kings' playoff chances to take any chances with his availability down the stretch.
Very true. I just hate how we ALWAYS have a minor injury screw with our momentum. Since October and DeMar’s back spasms
 
#21
Not liking our chances tonight with 2 of our big guns on the injured list. Denver will probably eat us alive. That's okay though, we aren't going to win them all. I just hope it's not a blowout and we give a respectable effort in spite of the injuries.
 
#23
Good, not escaping great players in the playoffs. Show us what you got against them now. What I want is for the kings to play the way they have the last 4 games for the rest of the season. If they do that they likely win 44 ish games. Given all the crap that’s happened this year, that would be a success
True. Would be nice to have monk or Sabonis though, i think it may be too much to ask tonight but I’d love to be wrong. Injuries always messing up our momentum