Nuggets at Kings
THE STORY: The Sacramento Kings are running out of home games in front of the fans that have supported them for the last 25 years. With a move downstate to Anaheim becoming more of a reality and the team still sitting in last place in the Pacific Division, the few fans left don’t have much to cheer. Denver Nuggets fans, on the other hand, have plenty to be happy about. Instead of folding after the Carmelo Anthony trade, the Nuggets are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot and are currently sitting in the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference. Denver will be looking to get closer to that goal when it pays possibly its last visit to Sacramento on Friday.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, ALT2, CSCA
ABOUT THE KINGS (21-53): The Anaheim City Council approved a $75 million incentive plan on Tuesday that will provide costs to upgrade the Honda Center where the Kings will play next season. The unanimous vote by the council cleared the last significant hurdle to the team moving. On the court, Sacramento is closing out the season in impressive fashion. The Kings had won a season-high four straight games before falling at Denver, 104-90, on Wednesday. The last three games of the winning streak came with point guard Tyreke Evans back in the lineup, giving the team a glimpse of the inside-outside combination of Evans and DeMarcus Cousins that it had envisioned when drafting Cousins No. 5 overall last June.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (45-29): Denver has won four straight and improved to 13-4 since sending their former franchise player away to New York in a trade last month. They took the opener of the home-and-home set with the Kings on Wednesday. Ty Lawson led six players in double figures with 20 points. That sort of offensive balance has been the key to the Nuggets’ surge, as several different players have taken turns leading the team in scoring since Anthony’s departure. Denver also has a distinct advantage now at the point guard position, where Lawson and Raymond Felton split time and occasionally appear on the court together, giving coach George Karl two players who can run his high-scoring attack efficiently.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Evans scored 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting on Wednesday, marking the first time in four games since his return that he managed to shoot better than 50 percent from the field. J.R. Smith is averaging 17.8 points in the last five games for the Nuggets while Wilson Chandler has struggled to 9.8 points in his last four.
KEY STATISTIC: 10-27. Sacramento is the only team in the NBA with more wins on the road (11) than it has at home (10). Denver is among the worst road teams in the top half of the West, owning a 14-22 mark outside of the Pepsi Center.
SEASON SERIES: The Nuggets have taken two of three this season, with the Kings earning a 122-102 home victory on Jan. 6. Sacramento has won the last four in the series at home.
KEY INJURIES: DENVER: G Arron Afflalo (hamstring); F Kenyon Martin (flu). SACRAMENTO: G Marquis Daniels (neck).
LAST WORD: “Walt Disney always said, ’if you can dream it, you can do it,’” Anaheim City Councilman Henry Sidhu said after the vote on the $75 million incentive package was announced. Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson offered a different sentiment, saying, “If (the Kings) don’t want to be here, then I’m OK with (the move) and I think our community will be OK with that.”