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Effort was not the problem, but fatigue could have been a factor for the Kings as they concluded a road trip of three games with a 126-112 loss against the unbeaten Nuggets on Tuesday night at Pepsi Center .
Rookie forward Marvin Bagley III concocted a small part of NBA history and Justin Jackson featured his most encouraging performance of the season, but for others, the energy seemed to be rarer than the air outside the arena.
"It's always hard to come to Denver and play," Jackson said. "The altitude is pretty crazy here. Have we been tired a little? We could have, and that's pretty understandable. … it's Denver. The altitude is: you can push so long, but you will end up being a little tired. "
Bagley became Sacramento's first rookie to score 20 points, nine rebounds and five shots blocked in a match since Brian Grant in 1995. He's just the third rookie in NBA history to publish those numbers in a role. secondary school, joining John Salley (1987). and Stanley Roberts (1992).
"I have to give everything every time I go out on the floor, whatever the score," Bagley said. "I like playing this game and I think I would be wrong if I did not go as hard as I could and I remained an excellent teammate whatever the circumstances."
The Kings (1-3) faced four playoff teams in the first week of the season. They fought at home against Utah before embarking on a three-game trip leading them from New Orleans to Oklahoma City and Denver. They will play their fifth game in eight days when they return to Sacramento to face the Memphis Grizzlies on the second consecutive night of Wednesday at the Golden 1 Center.
"It's the worst back-to-back you can have (when) one goal is to get in and out of Denver," said Kings coach Dave Joerger before the game. "It's what it is and we always want to get on and off, keep some fresh legs and play fast."
Entering the competition, the Kings were first in the NBA in terms of speed and second in scoring with 125.7 points per game average, which is surprising considering their last place in both categories in 2017 -18. The Nuggets (4-0) led the league in defense by scoring, limiting opponents to 95.7 points per game.
The Kings became the first team to score 100 points against the Nuggets this season, but they were not the same on key innings.
Sacramento entered the game with an average of 94 attempts per game. At the start of the season, they only tried 21 shots and scored 26 points, their second-weakest quarter of the season. They finished the match with a total of 86 solo attempts, scoring 52.3% of the vote while getting 13 out of 31 (41.9%) from the 3 point range.
"I think we started the first quarter quite slowly," Bagley said. "There were parts of the game where we had the rhythm. We retrieved it, went up and down and ran the ground, but we are still talking about the beginning. When you start as we did tonight – slowly – you lose. This is what happens every time we leave slowly. We just have to start quickly and continue the rest of the game. "
Jamal Murray had 19 points, Gary Harris scored 18 and Paul Millsap 15 for the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
None of Joerger's starters played more than 23 minutes. Frank Mason III came off the bench to score 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Starting guards, De 'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield, combined for only 11 points on 4 shots out of 15.
Was it due to fatigue?
"Maybe a little," said Fox. "Denver is still a tough place to play, but every team has to come here, so that can not be an excuse – I'm just looking forward to tomorrow.
Jason Anderson: 916-321-1363, @JandersonSacBee
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