Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone blames 3 game slide on injuries to starters

The Denver Nuggets had one last game before the NBA All-Star break. A win Wednesday night would have sent them into the break on a good note and erase the taste of back-to-back blowout losses. But it wasn't to be. Despite leading against Sacramento until there were only 5 minutes left in the game, they fell to the Kings at home. The final score was 102-98.  

The reigning NBA champion Nuggets entered the game with a 21-4 record at home this season, the second-best mark in the league. The loss was their third in a row, matching their longest skid of the season.

"We have a bullseye on our back now," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "For 82 games, we're going to get everybody's best, from a team in Sacramento or from teams that may be down in the standings. There are no easy nights for us."

Denver was without starting guards Jamal Murray (shin splints) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (hamstring tendinosis) on Wednesday. Caldwell-Pope didn't play in three of the Nuggets final four games before the break, and he only played 9 minutes in Milwaukee against the Bucks on Monday before before leaving with tightness in his right hamstring.

"We're not healthy," Malone said. "We have the best five-man starting unit in the league. The last three games we haven't had those five guys together. I think it's more of that."

Murray is the team's second-leading scorer at 20.5 points per game and the team's top 3-point shooter, making 41.1% of his shots from beyond the arc this season. Hopefully rest over the break will help him get back to full health.

The Nuggets won't play again until Feb. 22.