Sacramento Kings – Denver Nuggets · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 23 December 2020

SAC124–122DEN

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 98% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· The win probability swung between the two teams 28 times
· It stayed close for almost the whole game

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ DEN winsSAC wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when DEN leads and falls when SAC does.

This is how the game was decided.

Buddy Hield decided it, the Sacramento Kings player with the most points (22, with 4 rebounds and 3 assists; -2 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Cory Joseph's (+8). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Denver Nuggets 122-124 Sacramento Kings (December 23, 2020) was hit by Buddy Hield: a putback with 0.0 s left in overtime, putting the Sacramento Kings up 124-122. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Denver Nuggets 122-124 Sacramento Kings (December 23, 2020) was a 8-0 run by the Sacramento Kings between the second quarter and the third quarter, from 51-60 to 59-60. The Denver Nuggets' best was a 7-0 run in the first quarter (from 8:58 to 8:25), from 7-7 to 14-7.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Buddy Hield makes tip shot.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Buddy Hield decided this game: his points put his team ahead at the buzzer of overtime 1, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 3 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Hield decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

23 December 2020 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401267179:770; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · SAC

Barnes · Hield · Fox · Joseph · Whiteside

Closing lineup · DEN

Jokic · Harris · Millsap · Porter · Barton

Q1Q2Q3Q4OT1

SAC

Harrison Barnes

42′ · +3

Buddy Hield

41′ · -2

De'Aaron Fox

39′ · -2

Marvin Bagley III

27′ · +2

Richaun Holmes

23′ · +1

Cory Joseph

29′ · +8

Hassan Whiteside

18′ · +3

Nemanja Bjelica

16′ · -4

Tyrese Haliburton

30′ · +1

DEN

Nikola Jokic

42′ · +5

Gary Harris

42′ · +5

Paul Millsap

36′ · -6

Jamal Murray

34′ · +3

Michael Porter Jr.

30′ · 0

Will Barton

33′ · +1

Monte Morris

16′ · -7

PJ Dozier

15′ · -6

Facundo Campazzo

8′ · -4

Isaiah Hartenstein

9′ · -1

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. SAC and DEN.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Sacramento Kings

Holmes, Hield, Fox, Bagley, and Barnes played 12.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
Hield, Bagley, Haliburton, Joseph, and Barnes played 10.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Fox, Haliburton, Whiteside, Bjelica, and Joseph played 7.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

Denver Nuggets

Murray, Porter, Millsap, Harris, and Jokic played 14.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Murray, Millsap, Barton, Harris, and Jokic played 10.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.
Porter, Millsap, Barton, Harris, and Jokic played 6.4 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

▸See every lineup of the game

Sacramento Kings

Hield, Fox, Whiteside, Joseph, and Barnes played 5.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Holmes, Hield, Fox, Bjelica, and Barnes played 4.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Hield, Fox, Haliburton, Whiteside, and Barnes played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Holmes, Fox, Haliburton, Joseph, and Barnes played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Hield, Haliburton, Whiteside, Bjelica, and Joseph played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Holmes, Fox, Haliburton, Bjelica, and Barnes played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Hield, Fox, Bagley, Haliburton, and Barnes played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Holmes, Hield, Fox, Bagley, and Haliburton played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Holmes, Hield, Bagley, Joseph, and Barnes played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

Denver Nuggets

Hartenstein, Dozier, Morris, Campazzo, and Barton played 3.6 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Murray, Hartenstein, Morris, Porter, and Barton played 3.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Murray, Porter, Barton, Harris, and Jokic played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Dozier, Morris, Campazzo, Barton, and Jokic played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Dozier, Morris, Campazzo, Millsap, and Barton played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Hartenstein, Dozier, Morris, Porter, and Harris played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Murray, Dozier, Millsap, Harris, and Jokic played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Murray, Dozier, Morris, Harris, and Jokic played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Harrison Barnes covered 5.15 km, more than anyone in the game.

Nikola Jokić touched the ball 129 times, a game high.
Nikola Jokić made 99 passes, a game high.
Nikola Jokić defended 10 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 5.
Nikola Jokić had 26 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Sacramento Kings

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Harrison Barnes	5.15	6.9	67	48
Buddy Hield	5.05	6.8	57	36
De'Aaron Fox	4.39	6.4	97	69
Cory Joseph	3.80	7.1	58	41
Tyrese Haliburton	3.75	6.9	37	27
Marvin Bagley III	3.49	7.2	53	35
Richaun Holmes	2.56	6.3	34	28
Nemanja Bjelica	1.93	6.7	34	22
Hassan Whiteside	1.83	5.7	25	16

Denver Nuggets

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Gary Harris	5.04	6.7	40	27
Nikola Jokić	4.67	6.2	129	99
Paul Millsap	4.17	6.5	44	29
Jamal Murray	4.14	6.8	69	55
Will Barton	4.09	6.7	61	39

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2020-21 regular season, not this game.

Sacramento Kings

Marvin Bagley III drew 0.23 charges per game over his 43 games.
He ranks 19 of 364 in the league.
De'Aaron Fox deflected 2.8 passes per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 20 of 364 in the league.
Richaun Holmes contested 9.8 shots per game over his 61 games.
He ranks 21 of 364 in the league.

Denver Nuggets

Facundo Campazzo deflected 2.8 passes per game over his 62 games.
He ranks 17 of 364 in the league.
Nikola Jokić deflected 2.8 passes per game over his 72 games.
He ranks 21 of 364 in the league.
Jamal Murray recovered 1.0 loose balls per game over his 48 games.
He ranks 23 of 364 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Denver Nuggets have won 84 of their 159 games against the Sacramento Kings.

84-75record of the Denver Nuggets · NBA 1985-86 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

3-1in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1985-86 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Scoring

246

combined points

21.8 above the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

21 calls reviewed5 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Shooting · 00:01.5

Will Barton → Harrison Barnes

Barton (DEN) jumps from point A to point B into Barnes (SAC) and makes contact with his arm and body that affect the dunk attempt.

Foul: Personal · 00:06.2

Harrison Barnes → Nikola Jokic

Barnes (SAC) makes contact to Jokic's (DEN) arms as he receives the inbound pass and causes him to lose possession of the ball.

Turnover: Traveling · 00:08.4

Harrison Barnes → Nuggets

Barnes (SAC) takes more than two steps after gathering the ball.

Turnover: Traveling · 01:52.5

Harrison Barnes → Nuggets

Barnes (SAC) splits his pivot foot prior to the start of his drive.