Aaron Gordon isn’t stopping until he gets to the mountains.

That’s the All-Star break destination for one of the Denver Nuggets’ hardest workers through the first 55 games of the season.

“Night in, night out, he does the dirty work, guards a top-two player,” Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson said of his teammate after Denver dropped its final game before the break, 102-98, Wednesday at Ball Arena. “Him and (Kentavious Caldwell)-Pope, (are) always guarding the best players. (He) doesn’t complain, doesn’t get foul calls. Some nights (he) may not see the ball at all, while you’re defending the toughest position in the league.”

Gordon saw plenty of the ball against Sacramento. Thanks to his constant activity around the rim, Gordon finished with a team-high 25 points and 15 rebounds. He made 8 of his 15 field goal attempts and drained all eight of his free throws, but it wasn’t enough on a night the Nuggets were without a couple of other starters.

Up until the final 30 seconds — when Denver’s seven-point deficit dictated Gordon take a desperation 3, which he made — the powerful 28-year-old power forward didn’t take a shot outside the lane.

“Attack. Aggression,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone summarized Gordon’s play against the Kings. “I thought AG’s 25 and 15 were impactful. He played downhill. When Aaron plays with that kind of mentality … he’s a different player, and he makes us a different team. We need that from him. (He) got to the foul line eight times, too. It’s just too bad, man. That was a game I wanted to win for our guys. They worked so hard, and obviously we were just not able to close it out.”

The loss sends Denver into the break losers of three straight. The Nuggets will start the post-break portion of their schedule at least two games back of first-place Minnesota atop the Western Conference.

Gordon doesn’t sound too concerned, however. He mentioned the challenges of Denver’s busy, road-heavy schedule to start the season and the added difficulty of being the defending champions, an honor that comes with every team’s best effort the following season, has taken its toll. Still, there’s confidence the Nuggets can get back on their winning ways after a break for everyone but Nikola Jokic, the team’s only All-Star.

“We need it. Big fella (Jokic) needs it. Big fella goes hard every day. Mal needs it. Everybody needs it. We’ve played a lot of games,” Gordon said in the postgame locker room.

“Everybody’s hyped (to play us). Everyone’s geeked. It gives you that little extra pep in their step, but we like it. I think as these last 27 games come to a close, you’re going to start to see us pick up our level of play and get back to championship caliber.”

After Wednesday’s performance, Gordon enters the break having scored in double figures in seven straight games. The 15 rebounds were a new season-high, while the scoring marked his second-highest output of the season.

“Just go, go after it, go get it. Try and help my team win, that was really it,” Gordon said of his mindset Wednesday before disclosing his plans for the break.

“I’m going to go to Aspen.”

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon is guarded by the Kings’ Malik Monk during the second quarter Wednesday in Denver.

Jerilee Bennett, The Denver Gazette