By Jason Jones
jejones@sacbee.com
FINAL
Nuggets 104, Kings 90
DENVER - Ty Lawson led a second-half comeback to give the Nuggets their 10th win in a row at home while ending the Kings (21-53) winning streak at four games.
Marcus Thronton led the Kings with 27 points. Tyreke evans had 22 points and seven assists. Beno Udrih added 12 points and 10 assists.
Lawson led the Nuggets (45-29) with 20 points. Danilo Gallinari had 17 points, 13 coming in the second half. The Nuggets outscored the Kings 63-39 after hafltime.
THIRD QUARTER
Nuggets 74, Kings 71
DENVER - The Kings had their worst defensive quarter of the game and predictably lost their lead with it. The Nuggets scored 33 points in the third quarter, just eight short of their first-half total. Ty Lawson had eight of his 18 points in the third quarter. Al Harrington, playing for Kenyon Martin (flu) has 13 points off the bench.
*The Kings continue to receive good play from the backcourt. Marcus Thornton has 18 points. Beno Udrih has 10 points and eight assists. Tyreke Evans has 16 points and eight assists. The frontcourt hasn't given the Kings as much as it has in previous games. DeMarcus Cousins has nine points and three rebounds. Samuel Dalembert has two points and six rebounds. Jason Thompson has been solid off the bench with eight points and five rebounds.
*The Kings had eight turnovers in the third quarter to give them 17 for the game. That's a big reason the Nuggets took the lead. Denver scored 12 points off turnovers in the third quarter. The Nuggets had only two turnovers in the quarter.
HALFTIME
Kings 51, Nuggets 41
DENVER - The top-3 guards for the Kings are leading the way in what has been a good first half for the Kings. Marcus Thornton has 16 points. Beno Udrih has nine points and seven assists. Tyreke Evans has 12 points and four assists off the bench.
*The Nuggets opened the second quarter on an 11-4 run to make the score 32-31 in favor of the Kings but got no closer. The Kings were able to take advantage of sloppy play by Denver. The Nuggets had six more turnovers in the second quarter and are up to 12 for the game.
*The Nuggets are shooting just 36.6 percent while the Kings remain steady at 47.6 percent. After attempting no three pointers in the first quarter, the Nuggets attempted nine in the second and made three.
*Ty Lawson leads Denver with 10 points. The Nuggets struggles shooting are evident by their assist total. Denver has just seven assists for the game. The Kings have 14 assists on 20 made field goals.
FIRST QUARTER
Kings 28, Nuggets 20
DENVER - To start this game, the Kings don't look tired or to be bothered by the altitude. The Kings have led by as many as 11 points and haven't trailed. Marcus Thornton is hot for the Kings. He's made three of four threes and has 11 points.
*The Kings forced six turnovers but only scored two points off them. As usual the Kings are giving up more off turnovers. Sacramento has five turnovers that have led to eight points for the Nuggets.
*Samuel Dalembert (bruised ribs) started but picked up three fouls in 3:47 on the court. Jason Thompson finished the quarter out for Dalembert.
*Denver hasn't attempted a three pointer yet. I don't expect that to last much longer.
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