Denver @ Sacramento preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 28, 2019 ) Denver 101, Sacramento 94

The Denver Nuggets are flying under the radar in the Western Conference with the two Los Angeles teams eating up the headlines but are looking just as solid as the Lakers and the Clippers. The Nuggets will try to push their latest winning streak to seven in a row when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.

Denver, which returns to host the Lakers on Tuesday before heading east for a four-game trip, shut down shut down Houston, Boston and Phoenix before finishing off a four-game homestand with a 117-104 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. "The record is good, and the style of play is getting better," Nuggets reserve forward Mason Plumlee told reporters. Hopefully we're just getting better each month." The Kings are trying to steadily improve as well but are coming off a tough road trip that saw them drop a one-point decision at Boston before going cold and falling into a large hole only to crawl back and fall 97-91 at Philadelphia. "Our guys have shown that they have (the ability to fight back) in them, which is great, because at the beginning of the season we didn't have that ability," Sacramento coach Luke Walton told reporters. "But we have that now, so it's time to continue to push and get past that, where it's not just about fighting and not giving in, but it's about going into arenas and taking games."

TV: 5 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), NBCS California (Sacramento)

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (13-3): Denver can usually count on production from center Nikola Jokic and the backcourt combination of Jamal Murray and Will Barton, but getting frontcourt help off the bench is a bonus. Plumlee scored 15 points in 23 minutes against the Wizards while Jerami Grant poured in a team-high 20 in 28 minutes. "When Jerami Grant is a spot-up 3-point shooter, you're getting half the player that he is," Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters. "When he attacks and gets to the free-throw line, he can be a threat in so many ways."

ABOUT THE KINGS (7-10): Shooting guard Buddy Hield can put up big numbers when his shot is falling but is battling some inconsistency and needed 24 field-goal attempts to score 22 points on Wednesday. Hield exploded for 41 points on 15-of-26 shooting and a franchise-record 11 3-pointers at Boston on Monday but was a combined 19-of-53 from the field in the other three games on the road trip. Reserve shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic is streaky as well and is 19-of-51 from the floor in three games since going off for 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting against Phoenix on Nov. 19.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Jokic was held to single digits in scoring in each of the last two games but totaled 33 rebounds in that span.

2. Kings C Dewayne Dedmon scored a season-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting Wednesday.

3. Denver took the last five in the series, including a 101-94 triumph at Sacramento on Oct. 28.

PREDICTION: Nuggets 102, Kings 99