Nuggets at Kings
The Denver Nuggets must be wondering what it’ll take to earn a victory after they were stung by two straight hard-to-swallow losses heading into their matchup Wednesday night against the host Sacramento Kings. The Nuggets fell to the visiting Kings on Monday night, two days after they couldn’t take advantage of an injury-depleted Thunder team and lost by double digits. The Kings, meanwhile, are off to their first 3-1 start since 2010.
Getting small forward Wilson Chandler on track would be a good start for Denver. He’s shooting 8-for-33 through the first three games, including 2-of-17 from long range. Denver’s third-leading scorer last season showed flashes of his ability in Monday’s loss to the Kings, scoring seven points in a 94-second span midway through the fourth quarter, but Chandler then missed his final three field-goal attempts to douse the comeback. Sacramento’s hot start is even more impressive considering the lack of production it’s getting from starting shooting guard Ben McLemore and his rookie backup Nik Stauskas, who picked up three fouls in only two minutes of action Monday.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (1-2): Ty Lawson was questionable to play Monday because of an ankle injury and the veteran point guard shot 1-for-8 but did find a way to distribute 12 assists and get to the free throw line eight times to scrape together nine points. Lawson needs to be better on both ends of the floor in the rematch, however. Darren Collison, his counterpart on Sacramento, scored a team-high 21 points with six assists and one turnover, and even backup Ramon Sessions scored 13 points in 21 minutes.
ABOUT THE KINGS (3-1): Sacramento is benefiting from solid production from its role players, whether it’s Carl Landry with his offensive punch off the bench, or Reggie Evans with his tenacious rebounding. Ray McCallum got the nod over McLemore and Stauskas down the stretch against the Nuggets and the second-year guard responded with two clutch baskets, the second giving Sacramento the lead for good with 3:17 remaining. Some outsiders are calling for McCallum to replace McLemore in the starting lineup.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Kings haven’t started 4-1 since 2001, when they won their first four games and went on to advance to Western Conference Finals, losing in seven games to the Lakers.
2. Sacramento has won back-to-back road games, something it did only once last season when they beat the Knicks and Nuggets 11 days apart in February.
3. Denver trying to avoid starting 1-3 for the third straight season.