Everybody lined up for their turn to miss a slam dunk Wednesday night.

Peyton Watson going for glory on a fast break. Michael Porter Jr. trying to put back a Nikola Jokic miss. Reggie Jackson turning down the layup option on a drive. Grandest of all, DeAaron Fox hammering a doink off the back of the rim and all the way out to mid-court.

Jokic was angry with the referee when he thought he was fouled by Harrison Barnes

It was that kind of game at Ball Arena, the last before the All-Star break, and the shorthanded Nuggets fell flat last in a 102-98 loss to the exhausted Kings.

Denver (36-19) will go into the break on a three-game losing streak after a 93-89 lead fizzled with an 11-0 Sacramento run in the last three minutes. Aaron Gordon’s late 3-pointer cut the deficit to 102-98, and after Watson stole the inbound pass, Gordon missed the next shot in a desperate attempt at a Tracy McGrady moment. Jokic missed two more 3s after offensive rebounds until time finally ran out.

The Kings have won all three matchups against the defending champions this season. In the first two, the Nuggets were finishing road back-to-backs. This time, it was Sacramento’s turn.

But the Nuggets were missing starters Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, both cautionary holdouts to get a head start on a week without games. Jackson and Justin Holiday started; Collin Gillespie was at the scorer’s table ready to check in as Denver’s sixth man five minutes into the game.

Gordon was the one Nugget who was getting shots to fall, all by sheer force of will. He amassed a gritty 25 points and 15 rebounds, shooting 8 of 15 from the field and 8 of 8 at the free throw line.

Jokic had his worst shooting game in more than a month (6 of 17, 15 points) and had to be saved from an ejection by an intervening Michael Malone in the third quarter. Michael Porter Jr.’s 19 points came on 17 attempts. Jackson was a huge boost as a facilitator — nine assists — but an inefficient scorer.

The Nuggets’ two-way toughness off the bench gave them a welcome 35–20 advantage in the second quarter. Zeke Nnaji made the most of his time as the backup center, scoring twice with superb post moves and once as a roller. He finished the All-Star break having scored eight points and grabbing two rebounds.

The Kings scored ten straight points to pull within 35-30 on a night of erratic runs and rhythms, but they were scoreless for the next three and a half minutes. The Nuggets limited their visitors to 0-for-6 shooting and two turnovers during that time. By halftime, Sacramento had coughed it up eleven times.

Aided by the cold shooting and carelessness of Sacramento, which shot 34.8% from the field and had 11 turnovers in the first half, the Nuggets stormed out to a 62-46 lead in the third quarter. The lead was down to three by the end of the period and Sabonis’ layup with 4:56 remaining in the game gave the Kings took their first lead of the night.

Denver was without starting guards Jamal Murray (tibia inflammation) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (hamstring tendinosis). Murray is the team´s second-leading scorer at 20.5 points per game and the team´s top 3-point shooter, making 41.1% of his shots from beyond the arc this season.