Denver Nuggets miss golden opportunity in loss to the Sacramento Kings, 110-105.

Nov 3, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried (35) guards Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) in the third quarter at the Pepsi Center. The Kings won 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets missed a golden opportunity Monday night at home as they fell to the Sacramento Kings, 110-105. Just like the Oklahoma City game, Denver got off to a rough start which may have come back to haunt them.

Denver shot just 2-for-12 in the early goings and trailed by just one point as Sacramento was in a scuffle of their own. Sacramento may have a 3-1 record right now, but they did nothing special to beat Denver. Denver took way too many jumpshots and failed to capitalize on the wide-open ones. If you shoot under 40% percent for the entire game, you likely won’t win many games.

Arron Afflalo and JaVale McGee led the way for the Nuggets recording 16 points apiece. Afflalo was one of the guys who had a rough night from the field, shooting 4-for-13 but managed to make all seven of his free-throws. Birthday boy Ty Lawson was not aggressive –  not a good sign for Denver. Lawson shot just 1-of-8 from the field, recording 9 points and 12 assists.

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Coming into the game, you’d think Denver’s main focal points would be just Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins – nope. Darren Collison lit up Lawson, scoring 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting, cashing in 11-of-13 free-throw attempts. Collison also collected 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal in the winning effort. Gay went on to score 14 points while Cousins added 19.

It’s going to take a handful of games for Danilo Gallinari to get back to his normal self. The 6’10” forward hasn’t been the same since returning to the court after ACL surgery. Danilo went 0-for-6 tonight off the bench; including 0-for-3 from deep where he airballed a shot.

One thing’s for sure is that you cannot be displeased that Denver was still in this game despite such a low shooting percentage – they can’t be this cold from the field for long. Free-throws are night and day compared to last season. Denver shot 28-of-33 from the line tonight (84.8%).

The Denver Nuggets (1-2) are back in action Wednesday night taking on the Sacramento Kings on the road. Tip-off is scheduled for 10:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM MST from Sleep Train Arena.