Denver Nuggets hang tough in overtime to edge out Sacramento Kings 119-116 – NBA Recap
Courtesy of Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson’s clutch shooting, the Denver Nuggets edged out Sacramento Kings 119-116 after a nail biting game that was only decided in extra time.
On Monday night, Afflalo recorded a career high 32 points that included 3 freebies in the final seconds of fourth quarter sending the game into extra time.
"I'm just thinking about making free throws. I wasn't thinking about nothing before or after”. Afflalo said.
Rookie Kenneth Faried had a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds while Ty Lawson, who netted the decisive 3-pointer in extra time, came up 16 points and 13 assists. Al Harrington collected 14 and had 9 rebounds coming off the bench.
Denver rolled to a 4th consecutive win after shooting 80% from the charity stripe and 45.5% from the floor. On the other hand, Kings skidded to 4 game losing streak despite having 5 players in the double figures.
Marcus Thornton and Tyreke Evans tallied a team high 27 points each while John Salmons netted 14 coming off the bench. Jason Thompson chipped in with 13 points and 8 boards while Francisco Garcia recorded 11 points in Kings’ 26th loss of the season.
With15 ties and 13 hand changes this game was a highly competitive affair. Deep down into the opening stanza Kings were leading the game 24-13 but Denver neutralized that with an 11-2 run and capped off the segment after reducing the gap down to just 2 points, 26-24.
The second period followed a somewhat similar pattern. Sacramento were ahead 51-43 with 01:48 left in the 2nd frame when Nuggets once again brushed that aside with a 10-2 run that included 2 treys from Afflalo to tie things at 53 each before halftime.
Sacramento opened the 3rd frame with an 8-2 run and raced their way out of the stalemate by reclaiming a 61-55 lead.
Nuggets replied that with a 9-2 run and took a slender 64-63 lead. Afterwards with some back and forth action game was tied at 77 apiece with 03:01 in hand. However, Nuggets, paced by Anderson and Afflalo, concluded the frame at 85-79 with an 8-2 run. Sacramento once again reeled off an 11-4 run to go up 90-89 early in the 4th stanza and few competitive minutes Faried’s dunk helped Nuggets close the gap down to 3 points 103-100.
With 2 free throws Kings were about to seal the deal at 108-105 but Thornton fouled Afflalo outside the arc. Afflalo kept his cool and tied the score at 108.
In overtime, the Kings again had a better start and with a 6-2 run, they claimed a 4 point lead early. Nuggets however responded with 6 unanswered points for a 116-114 advantage.
With only 24.9 seconds left in extra time, Evans sent the crowd into frenzy by hitting a layup and tying the things at 116 each. Lawson though netted the decisive 3-pointer with only 4 clicks in hand and helped Denver to grab a sensational 119-116 victory.
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