Dug yourself a third-quarter hole? Just call on the I.T. Department.
Isaiah Thomas scored eight points off the bench in the third period Wednesday night in his Nuggets debut to help Denver head into the all-star break with a 120-118 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Thomas — making his first appearance of the season 11 months after hip surgery — put the capper on the Nuggets’ 15-6 run that ended the third frame on a step-back shot, giving the hosts a 93-91 cushion. But it was center Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets’ first all-star selection since Carmelo Anthony in 2011, who sealed a see-saw game on a putback of his miss with 0.8 seconds left, sending Denver into the break with an NBA-best 25-4 record at home.
In a wild tilt that saw nine lead changes, eight ties, and two Nuggets ejected, forward Paul Millsap carried the water for most of the evening with 25 points and 13 rebounds — his first 20-point scoring effort since Jan. 25 and his first double-double since putting up 10 points and 11 boards at Phoenix on Jan. 12.
The Nuggets (39-18) closed the first part of the season on a two-game win streak thanks to another triple-double from Jokic (20 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists), the 28th of his NBA career, tying him with Michael Jordan and John Havlicek; 21 points from Malik Beasley; and 13 timely points from Will Barton.
Denver comes out of the break with a visit to Dallas (26-31) on Feb. 22 and returns home Feb. 24 against the Los Angeles Clippers (31-27).
Beasley was ejected with 6:11 left in the contest after his jumper tied the contest at 105. Barton’s trey with 3:51 to go gave the hosts a two-possession lead at 112-108. The Nuggets were able to salt it away after that, thanks to Jokic’s heroics at the end.
The hosts had gone on a 14-2 run late in the second quarter, capped by two Jokic free throws and clawing the hosts back to within five points, 56-51, with 3:11 left in the half.
But the sublime gave way to the ridiculous in no short order. After Beasley was hacked on a drive to the paint, a would-be foul that went uncalled, Nuggets coach Michael Malone went ballistic, picking up an ejection on a pair of quick technicals and sailing into the all-star break on a current of expletives.
“I’m not a fun guy to watch a game with,” Malone cracked after the game.
His team picked up the flag. The Nuggets came out of halftime staring at an 11-point deficit, but Barton and Beasley keyed a 7-0 run that got the hosts back to within four, 77-73, with 7:40 left in the frame. Thomas’ second trey, with 57 seconds left in the third, gave Denver a 91-89 lead — the Nuggets’ first since an 8-6 cushion two minutes into the first period.
Thomas entered the game to a standing ovation with 3:12 left in the first, the Nuggets trailing 33-18 and needing a spark. Or six.
He cracked the score sheet for the first time with 2:40 to go in the frame on a feed that set up a Millsap jumper, and again with 31 seconds left in the period on an alley-oop that center Mason Plumlee finished for a two-handed slam that cut the Kings’ cushion to 39-30. When I.T. hit the floor, the Nuggets went on a 6-0 run right out of the chute.
Alas, this was after Denver’s defense had shot itself in the foot several times over to open the contest as early on as the Kings set the tempo — and the bar.
The first quarter looked uncomfortably similar to the Nuggets’ recent winless East Coast road trip, with Sacramento draining four of its first six from beyond the arc and finishing the opening period with five 3-pointers, pinning the hosts to a deficit as deep as 17 points over the first 20 minutes. The Kings’ 41 first-period points were the most they had scored against the Nuggets in an opening stanza since February 2002.
