Two teams riding positive momentum after a shaky start and recent lineup adjustments will clash on Monday night as the Denver Nuggets visit the Sacramento Kings for the first time this season.
Both teams are on winning streaks. The Nuggets have won two consecutive games following an 11-10 start, while the Kings have won three straight to reach .500 after opening the season 10-13.
This game features a showdown between the NBA’s recent triple-double leaders.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic aims to reclaim the triple-double crown from Domantas Sabonis, who edged him out last season with 26 triple-doubles to Jokic’s 25. This season, Jokic leads 9-4.
Russell Westbrook, who joined the Nuggets this year, was the last player other than Jokic and Sabonis to win the triple-double title, achieving a league-best 38 with the Washington Wizards in 2020-21.
Both Jokic and Westbrook have already posted historic triple-doubles this season.
Jokic surpassed Magic Johnson for third on the all-time list with his ninth triple-double of the season, the 139th of his career, on Dec. 5 in Cleveland.
Despite not adding to his total in the last three games, Jokic has posted impressive stats: 56 points with 16 rebounds, and 48 points with 14 rebounds in road wins at Washington and Atlanta, respectively, followed by a dominant performance in a blowout win over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.
Jokic trails only Oscar Robertson (181) and Westbrook (200) on the all-time triple-double list, with Westbrook’s latest coming on Nov. 19 at Memphis. It was his only triple-double of the season.
Westbrook had a double-double in the loss at Washington, then missed a triple-double by one point in Atlanta while getting his fourth and fifth starts of the season due to Jamal Murray dealing with plantar fasciitis.
Murray returned from a two-game absence to replace Westbrook in the starting lineup against the Clippers, but Westbrook remained highly productive off the bench, leading the team with a plus-21 plus/minus in 24 minutes.
Denver coach Michael Malone said the goal moving forward is for Westbrook, whether starting or not, to play more in tandem with Jokic.
Kings coach Mike Brown has also been adjusting his lineup, inserting super sub Malik Monk into the starting five for the last six games. Monk scored at least 16 points in the first five of those games before becoming more of a distributor with nine assists in Thursday’s 111-109 win at New Orleans.
Sabonis hasn’t recorded a triple-double since Monk’s promotion but contributed 32 points and 20 rebounds to the win over the Pelicans.
Brown noted a key to the team’s recent success has been Kevin Huerter’s response to his new role as a backup and how the coach has adjusted based on Huerter’s performance in any given stint.
