The Nuggets approached a game they desperately needed to win Monday night without their best player.
was sent home from the morning shootaround because of illness, and he was unable to suit up against the even after getting an IV before the game.
“With Jokic out, he’s our best player,” forward Wilson Chandler said. “Other guys had to step up.”
Luckily for the Nuggets, was ready to perform Jokic’s laundry list of tasks.
Chandler scored a career-high 36 points and added 12 rebounds and four assists to lead the Nuggets to a 108-96 victory over Sacramento at the .
“He got us off to a hot start, and he continued playing at high level throughout the game,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of Chandler. “Whether it was knocking down 3s, getting to the rim, moving without the basketball, he was phenomenal tonight.”
Malone insisted before the game that he is long past experiencing any kind of feelings, resentful or otherwise, when he coaches against the team that fired him more than two years ago.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t keenly aware of the recent series history.
“We haven’t beaten them since I got here,” the Nuggets coach said before the win. “That’s in the back of my mind. It’d be nice to beat them.”
Chandler bounced back from a rough outing Saturday to score 12 points in the third quarter, helping Denver extend a 57-50 lead at halftime to a 90-73 edge entering the fourth. His effort helped the Nuggets (29-34) snap a five-game losing streak to the Kings. The previous win for Denver over Sacramento came under former coach Brian Shaw on April 12, 2015.
“We were able to play our game plan for 48 minutes,” said forward Danilo Gallinari, who had an efficient 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting. “I thought we were able to get more stops on defense and run.”
The victory extended the Nuggets’ lead for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference to two games over Portland, which had its scheduled game at Minnesota on Monday postponed because of issues with the court.
Chandler was left frustrated after Saturday’s loss to Charlotte, when he made just 1-of-8 shots and finished with six points in 22 minutes.
He came out firing against the Kings, burying a 3-pointer on Denver’s opening possession. Chandler was just getting started. Quick to catch and release and aggressive in moving toward the basket, the veteran forward had 18 points in the first half, hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
BOX SCORE:
The third quarter featured more of the same. Chandler cut for a layup in the opening minutes. Later, he picked off a pass and got to the line to help the Nuggets extend their lead to 16 points. Chandler then caught fire with a stretch of seven points in 90 seconds at the end of the third to give Denver enough of a cushion to ride to the finish line.
had 15 points and Mason Plumlee, starting for Jokic, had 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Denver.
“I thought Mason was great,” Malone said. “His communication, his energy, his athleticism. He has the athleticism to make plays and we were locked in tonight. It was really fun to see our guys locked in on the defensive end like that.”
The Nuggets had been eager for another shot at the Kings after being throttled in Sacramento 116-110 on Feb. 23 in the first game after the all-star break. Sacramento shot 52.3 percent in that game and got a career performance of center Willie Cauley-Stein, who had 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Denver limited the Kings to 43.4 percent shooting on Monday and held Cauley-Stein to 10 points and five rebounds.
“Our defense was the difference,” Chandler said. “Our defense was much better tonight.”
So was Chandler.
