SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — De’Aaron Fox had 26 points and a career-high 16 assists, Malik Monk made a clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter and the Sacramento Kings spoiled Nikola Jokic's NBA-leading eighth triple-double and beat the Denver Nuggets 123-117 on Saturday.
The Kings led comfortably most of the might before Denver made its best run of the night to get within 112-110 on Jokic's only 3-pointer of the game with 4 minutes remaining.
Fox then made a contested jumper in the key, before Monk’s corner 3-pointer with 1:11 helped seal the win as chants of “Light the beam! Light the beam” broke out inside Golden 1 Center.
Jokic finished with 36 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds, the 114th career triple-double for Denver’s big man. The rest of the NBA had eight triple-doubles combined going into the night.
Monk scored 26 points while Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.
Reggie Jackson scored 20 points for the Nuggets, who looked much crisper on offense with Aaron Gordon back in the lineup after missing four games with a right heel sprain. Gordon had 17 points and seven rebounds.
It wasn’t enough as the Kings ended the Nuggets' hopes of winning a third consecutive road game for the first time since the playoffs last season.
Jokic gave the Nuggets an early boost with 16 points in the first quarter as Denver led 30-25.
When Jokic went to the bench in the second quarter, the Kings went on a 17-4 run punctuated by Monk’s drive and dish to JaVale McGee for an easy dunk.
UP NEXT
Nuggets: Play the Clippers in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Kings: Face the Pelicans in the quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament in Sacramento on Monday. New Orleans has defeated the Kings twice this season.
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