Nuggets rally to beat Kings 113-106 for 5th straight win

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Michael Porter Jr. scored 30 points, Jamal Murray added 25 and the Denver Nuggets rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Sacramento Kings 113-106 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight win.

Porter and Murray sparked an 8-0 run in a span of 56 seconds late in the fourth quarter to turn a tie game into another win for the top team in the Western Conference.

Porter’s 3-pointer broke a 96-all tie with 3:14 to play and Murray followed with a desperation 3 just before the shot clock expired. Murray then added a breakaway layup to make it 104-96 with 2:14 to play and Denver hung on from there.

Nikola Jokic added 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Nuggets, who have won eight of their last nine games.

De’Aaron Fox scored 26 points and Kevin Huerter added 11 for the Kings, who have lost three of four games to open a six-game homestand.

The Kings built a 20-point lead midway through the second quarter before the Nuggets chipped away thanks to the play of Porter, who scored 19 points in the first half.

Sacramento led 56-47 at the break, holding Jokic to two points on two shots.

But Jokic scored 14 points in the third quarter to cut the deficit to four points headed into the tight final period.

SHORT-HANDED

The Kings were without coach Mike Brown and star center Domantas Sabonis.

Brown entered the health and safety protocols after testing positive for COVID-19 and missed the game. Associate coach Jordi Fernandez took his place.

Sabonis was sidelined with an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. Sabonis hurt his non-shooting hand in the fourth quarter of Sacramento’s loss to Washington on Friday. He will be re-evaluated Wednesday.

Forward Aaron Gordon missed the game with a shoulder injury.

TIP-INS

Nuggets: This was the third time in the past six seasons that Jokic was held to two points or fewer in the first half when playing at least 17 minutes. … G Bruce Brown left the game in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle and didn’t return. … Zeke Nnaji replaced Gordon in the starting lineup for his third start in three seasons in the NBA. He fouled out with no points in 15 minutes.

Kings: Alex Len, who had played 25 minutes all season, started in place of Sabonis. … Former Kings GM Vlade Divac sat courtside next to owner Vivek Ranadive.

UP NEXT

The teams finish a two-game series with another game in Sacramento on Wednesday night.

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