DENVER — Nikola Jokic chugged along with a season-high 34-point outing to tip off a Denver Nuggets four-game homestand by beating the Sacramento Kings 130-124 in Russell Westbrook’s return to Ball Arena.
The Nuggets showed a video during the first timeout of the game for the future Hall of Famer, going over some of the highlights from his year in Denver. The crowd responded with applause, and Westbrook made a small gesture of acknowledgment back.
“The fans, I mean, since I’ve been here, they were great,” Westbrook said. “Always gave me great energy. I gave them the same. I came out, competed at a high level every night. I was grateful for them for the ovation, so I appreciate that.”
What Westbrook didn’t seem to appreciate much was his ending in Denver. He had a player option that he did not pick up, explaining after his first game against the Nuggets that he was unwanted.
“The truth is that they didn’t want me back. It ain’t up to me,” Westbrook said about his option. God always has a plan. Be patient. Not up to me. They don’t want me. That’s OK. Somebody else do… They told me not to (pick it up). I don’t go anywhere I’m not wanted.”
In his lone Denver season, Westbrook found early chemistry with Nikola Jokic and delivered steady counting numbers — 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 36 starts over 75 games on 45% shooting (32% from three). He gave the Nuggets a jolt against the Clippers in Round 1, but the Thunder series flipped the narrative: 35% from the floor, 22% from deep and 18 turnovers, with momentum swinging the wrong way when he checked into Game 7.
The summer opened with wrist surgery and a contract call shaped by CBA service-time rules that made declining his player option sensible — even before Denver’s appetite to run it back cooled. The bench never quite stabilized, an on-court dust-up with Aaron Gordon turned public, and Michael Malone’s handling of Westbrook became a locker-room sore point amid minutes tug-of-war with rookie Jalen Pickett — issues cited around Malone’s late-season ouster, per reports. Westbrook was left with few options after all of that and now chases a Jokic-like rhythm with Domantas Sabonis.
He had a Kings’ high of 26 points on an efficient 10 of 17 shooting, with 12 rebounds and six assists on Monday. But his six turnovers, including a bad one in the last minute, proved costly as the Nuggets had just eight to Sacramento’s 15 on the night.
But enough about the past with Westbrook, there were a few stats that point toward the routine win being part of a special six-game start for the Nuggets, which has pushed them to 4-2.
It was the team’s third wire-to-wire win of the season, a feat they’ve accomplished in all three of their home games — they only tallied five last season in 82 games. It’s all part of something Christian Braun said coming into camp about blowing teams out more often. While it wasn’t a blowout win, there was never any stress. The team’s win percentage never fell below 85% in the second half. In fact, the Nuggets became the ninth team in the last 20 years to lead by a dozen or more in each of their first six games. Four of those eight teams in the past won the championship.
Braun was second on the Nuggets with 21 points on seven makes on 10 tries, plus nine trips to the free throw line. It’s his second game in the first five where he’s gotten to the line more than eight times in a game, something he’s never done in his NBA regular-season career before.
“This league is about respect, and CB has earned it over the years. It’s a league that’s like, that’s the way it should be,” David Adelman said. “He’s a seasoned guy up there now who knows the league well. I think he’s figured out the physicality of the league.”
Speaking of reputations in the NBA, Sabonis isn’t known as a defender. Jokic made a concentrated effort to attack him — putting up a rare double-figure amount of shots in the first quarter. He ended with 14 makes on 22 attempts, also dishing 14 assists as he really pressured the Kings’ lackluster defense.
Nikola Jokić was stellar vs. the Kings tonight!
🃏 34 points
🃏 14 dimes
🃏 7 boards@nuggets move to 4-2 to start the season 👏 pic.twitter.com/Dbe36EwqHv
— NBA (@NBA) November 4, 2025
Jokic, as the Nuggets’ engine, has made this year’s Nuggets the first in franchise history to shoot 50% or better in five of the team’s first six games. Only the Bucks this season, the Cavaliers last year, the 2009 Suns and the 2004 Jazz have accomplished that since 1999.
And Denver is far from there yet. Jamal Murray shot just six of 17 in the game, flashing at times but more so contributing with seven rebounds and seven assists. Cameron Johnson again struggled from three, missing all five of his attempts, but got inside in the second half via a two-man game with Jokic.
“He doesn’t want to mess it up,” Jokic said about Johnson. “Maybe he overthinks sometimes…but that’s fine. I think that’s normal. He’s a smart player. He’s going to figure it out.”
What’s next for the Nuggets
Johnson will have a stretch of games here to figure it out, with three more in Denver over the next six days. The team has Miami in the Mile High City on Wednesday.
“Sleep would be good for our guys. We’ve had a crazy schedule, but I’d like to finish games better, and we have time here to talk about it, and it’s a process,” Adelman said. “And I’ve said this before. Teams have seen us play for a long time, and so they’ve seen things we run late. I have to keep being more creative with ways to get guys the ball in locations where they succeed.”
