Nuggets at Kings
Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins appears in line for another big game when his team hosts the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. Cousins reached double figures in points and rebounds for the 15th time in his last 17 appearances in a 21-point win Wednesday night against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder and will be up against a team that just traded its starting center. Jusuf Nurkic made his first career start Wednesday, a few hours after Timofey Mozgov was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Denver has momentum on its side courtesy of a three-game winning streak and Arron Afflalo is off to a great start in 2015, averaging 23.3 points in the first four games. Afflalo might spend some time guarding former UCLA teammate and current Sacramento starting point guard Darren Collison, something that didn’t work out too well for another college teammate, Russell Westbrook of the Thunder. Collison and Westbrook went head to head and Collison owned that battle Wednesday night, scoring 24 points on 9-for-19 shooting while Westbrook was held to 10 points on 3-for-19 from the field.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT NUGGETS (16-20): Nurkic, a 6-10 rookie, has been solid since getting a big boost in minutes midway through last month. He has reached double figures in four of the last five games with two doubles-doubles, which likely made it easier to part ways with Mozgov. It would be wise of Nurkic to avoid foul trouble, as backup center J.J. Hickson is undersized at 6-9 and will have little chance of stopping Cousins.
ABOUT THE KINGS (15-20): The play of Cousins and Collison has taken some of the spotlight off Rudy Gay, but that’s probably just fine with him. He quietly scored another 28 points Wednesday night, made all three of his 3-point tries and pulled down nine rebounds. Gay can still leave onlookers scratching their head, such as when he turned the ball over eight times last week against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a game after he finished turnover-free against the Boston Celtics but shot 4-for-19.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro spent three seasons with the Nuggets as an adviser and was the Vice President of Basketball Operations during the 2012-13 season.
2. Sacramento is averaging 102 points a game while allowing 103.8, and the Nuggets are averaging 101.8 while surrendering 103.5.
3. The Kings are 0-15 this season when their opponent shoots a higher field goal percentage.
PREDICTION: Kings 95, Nuggets 91