A bold Fox snuck into Ball Arena on Wednesday and swiped a game from the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets led De’Aaron Fox and the Kings by four with 3:15 left. Then, the Nuggets got a head start on their All-Star break. Sacramento surged ahead by seven in the final minute and held on for a 102-98 win.

“I don’t think it was an effort issue. I think the guys played hard. I think they got going. They played last night. I think they started to find a rhythm,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, sounding like his voice needed a week’s rest.

“Late in the game, De’Aaron Fox took over.”

Fox scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including Sacramento’s last 10 points. He added eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals.

“He seems to get stronger. He seems to get faster. He’s older. He’s more wise. He picks his spots. Not only does he have ultimate belief in himself, but his teammates have ultimate belief in him. It’s been fun to watch his progression. You always want to compete against guys like that and find out where you fall,” Reggie Jackson said. “Unfortunately, tonight we got a loss. I think the difficult thing is he’s gotten so much better at just feeling the game out and picking his spots. Once the game wears on you and he starts coming at you with that pace in the second half, and especially the fourth quarter down the stretch, you got to have a special guy on your roster to really hone in and keep him at bay.”

The Nuggets missed that on Wednesday. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, typically the Nuggets primary defender on a perimeter player of Fox’s caliber, missed another game with a bothersome hamstring, while Jamal Murray remained out. Jackson and Justin Holiday started in their place and did a solid job to start the game.

Fox made just two of his first seven shots, finishing the fourth quarter with four points. He went 2 of 5 in the second and 1 of 2 in the third, but he was flawless in the final three minutes.

After Nikola Jokic, who finished with 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds in 39 minutes of playing time, put the Nuggets up four with just under three minutes to play, Sacramento’s star took advantage of tired legs. Fox hit Harrison Barnes for a 3. Then, he drove for a reverse layup that gave the Kings the lead for good with 2:02 to play. He added to the lead with a floater and made it a five-point game in the final 90 seconds when he stripped Jackson and raced down court for a dunk. Two more buckets in the final minute secured Sacramento’s third straight win over the Nuggets to start the season, as Fox finished 12 of 26 from the field thanks to his 5-for-5 finish.

“He’s one of the more dynamic guards in the league,” Malone said. “Give him credit and we have to be better.”

KINGS 102, NUGGETS 98

What happened: Denver, playing without Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, dropped to 36-19 in the final game before the All-Star break.

The Nuggets led by 11 after the first quarter, stretched the gap to as many as 15 in the second and led 53-41 at halftime. The Kings closed within three by the start of the fourth quarter, tied the game in the middle of the fourth and took their first lead of the game with just under five minutes remaining. De’Aaron Fox, who led all scorers with 30 points, took over down the stretch to send Denver into the break on a skid.

What went right: The Nuggets defense capitalized early on a Kings team that played Tuesday night in Phoenix. Denver held Sacramento to 16 points in the first quarter on 7 of 26 shooting from the field. Rookie Collin Gillespie finished the first quarter with two steals in five-plus minutes of playing time, and the Kings finished the first half with 11 turnovers, which led to 13 Nuggets points.

What went wrong: The Kings got back in the game via the free throw line in the third quarter. After attempting eight free throws in the first two quarters, Sacramento went 7 of 9 in the third. A couple of those were the result of technical fouls assessed to Michael Malone and Nikola Jokic.

Highlight of the night: Take a pick between Aaron Gordon’s handful of dunks on the night. There were alley-oop finishes, reverse slams and dunks over a couple of Kings defenders. Gordon was busy around the bucket throughout the night, which helped him lead Denver with 25 points on 15 shots.

Up next: The Nuggets have eight days off for the All-Star break before the regular season resumes against the Wizards on Feb. 22.

Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was defended in the fourth quarter by Nuggets Justin Holliday, Michael Porter, Jr., and Aaron Gordon during a game at Ball Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. The Nuggets lost the game 102-98. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)