The Denver Nuggets have jumped out to an impressive 7-2 start this season. However, they sit two games behind the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder for first place in the Northwest Division.
The Nuggets visit California’s capital on Tuesday night to take on the struggling Sacramento Kings, who have begun they year 3-7.
Let’s look at the Nuggets vs. Kings prediction and picks for Tuesday night’s showdown at Golden 1 Center, tipping off at 11:00 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
Nuggets vs. Kings Prediction, NBA Pick Today
- Denver is the only team in the NBA to lead after the first quarter in every game this season.
- The Nuggets are coming off a perfect 4-0 homestand, capped off by a 117-100 victory over Indiana on Saturday.
- The first victory during that home stretch came against Sacramento on November 3. The Nuggets held off the Kings, 130-124, marking the most points Denver has allowed in regulation this season.
- Former Nuggets G Russell Westbrook led Sacramento with a season-high 26 points in that defeat.
- Sacramento looks to get on track following a 31-point loss to Oklahoma City and a 27-point defeat to Minnesota at Golden 1 Center.
- Kings C Domantas Sabonis returned after a two-game absence to score 20 points and pull down 13 rebounds against Minnesota on Sunday.
- Sabonis is listed as questionable on the injury report, dealing with a left rib cage contusion.
- Nuggets G Jamal Murray and F Aaron Gordon are both expected to play tonight after each player missed Saturday’s win against the Pacers due to injury.
Denver Nuggets
- Denver posted a defensive rating of 115.9 against Sacramento on November 3, its worst of the season.
- The Nuggets own the second-best defensive rating in the NBA behind Oklahoma City at 108.1. However, they slip to 18th away from Ball Arena, posting a 117.3 defensive rating.
- Denver shoots 50.7% from the floor and compiles an EFG% of 57.2%. Both numbers rank in the top five of the NBA.
Sacramento Kings
- The Kings rank fifth in the league in pace at 103.15, a huge step from last season after placing 19th.
- Sacramento is the top 3-point shooting team at home, knocking down 42.5% of its attempts. The Kings hit 9-of-27 shots from downtown in the first matchup at Denver.
- Denver is the sixth consecutive playoff team from last season that Sacramento is facing. In the previous five games, the Kings have trailed at the half each time.
Nuggets vs. Kings Picks & NBA DFS
Check out tonight’s top picks for this matchup between Denver and Sacramento.
Nuggets C Nikola Jokic vs. Kings Projection: 50.5 PRA
- Jokic has recorded a triple-double in six of nine games and is averaging 25.2 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 11.9 assists per contest.
- In the last two wins over the Warriors and Pacers, Jokic converted 22-of-29 field goal attempts for an incredible 75.8%.
- Since shooting 8-of-23 from the floor in the season opening loss to Golden State, the three-time MVP has hit 70.5% of his shots in the last eight games.
- Jokic eclipsed this projection in the last meeting against the Kings. However, he was held to his lowest rebounding output of the season with 7 boards.
- In two road games against the Warriors and Trail Blazers, Jokic failed to put together a PRA higher than 44. Denver ended up losing both those games.
Kings G/F DeMar DeRozan vs. Nuggets Projection: 20.5 Points
- DeRozan’s home scoring average sits at 18.6 ppg, compared to 23.0 ppg on the road.
- The veteran shot a season-best 63.6% from the floor in Sunday’s 144-117 blowout loss to Minnesota. DeRozan scored 22 points to mark his third home game of at least 21 points.
- In the first matchup at Denver, the former USC standout scored 19 points. In four meetings with the Nuggets last season, DeRozan averaged 24.5 ppg.
- DeRozan began the season shooting 3-of-13 from 3-point range, but has caught fire lately by hitting 7-of-10 attempts the last two games.
- In all three road games, the Nuggets have allowed an opposing forward to score at least 20 points.
Kings G Russell Westbrook vs. Nuggets Projection: 17.5 Pts+Rebs
- In the last eight seasons, Westbrook has played with seven different teams.
- He spent last season in Denver, averaging 13.3 ppg, but has jumped to 15.0 ppg in Sacramento.
- Westbrook produced a points and rebounds average of 36 in a three-game stretch this month against Golden State, Denver, and Oklahoma City.
- However, the 2017 MVP was held to 6 points in Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, his third game scoring in single-digits.
- Westbrook is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game, but his two worst rebounding performances came at home. He pulled down a combined 1 board against Utah and Minnesota.
- In five of eight games, Westbrook has racked up at least 18 points and rebounds.
The Nuggets look to stay hot in Sacramento against the Kings in a Western Conference battle tonight at Golden 1 Center.
There’s never been a better time to add to the excitement of every NBA moment than with PrizePicks.
There is a wide variety of player stat projections on the NBA board, so you can build your Lineup however you’d like — with no salary or positional restrictions. Just pick at least two player stat projections to build your Lineup on PrizePicks.
Check out the Playbook throughout the remainder of the NBA season for more analysis for your PrizePicks and NBA DFS Lineups.
