Here is the latest news live from Sleep Train Arena:
- After a big win on Wednesday night over the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Sacramento Kings (15-20) look to keep the ball rolling tonight against the Denver Nuggets (16-20). The Kings are 2-0 against the Nuggets on the season, but Denver has won three in a row and currently sit a half-game above Sacramento in the standings.
- The Nuggets traded starting center Timofey Mozgov to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday for a pair of first round picks. 7-foot, 280-pound Bosnian-born rookie Jusuf Nurkic is now the starter for coach Brian Shaw and tonight, he draws DeMarcus Cousins, one of the toughest covers in the league.
- In their two matchups early this season, the Kings shot a combined 97 free throw attempts, connecting on 79 (81.4 percent) of the freebies. DeMarcus Cousins shot 20 of those attempts and will look to be aggressive in the paint again tonight against the short-handed Nuggets, who are 29th in the league in opponent free throws attempts. “Even when we had all our bigs healthy and available, obviously the number of foul shots that they shot in those first two games was a problem for us,” coach Brian Shaw said. “We know he’s a load. In my estimation, he’s the best center in the league to me, in terms of what he can do offensively and defensively.”
- Ramon Sessions and Omri Casspi continue to miss games for Sacramento. Sessions has missed seven straight with a lower back strain and Casspi has missed 10 of the team’s last 15 with a left knee bone contusion. Speaking to Casspi before the game, he said he thought he came back too soon the first time around and that his injury is similar to what LeBron James has. Casspi hasn’t practiced in a while, but he is getting closer to a return.
- Denver is without Wilson Chandler (right knee strain), JaVale McGee (lower leg strain), Randy Foye (vastus lateralis strain) and Danilo Gallinari (meniscus tear). They will play this game with just nine healthy players.
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