FINAL
Nuggets 120, Kings 113
The Kings' defense fell apart in the second half and allowed the Nuggets to pull away and hand the Kings their eighth loss in nine games.
The Nuggets (40-22) scored 70 points in the second half. The effort was led by Ty Lawson (24 points, seven assists) and Danilo Gallinari (23 points).
Marcus Thornton led the Kings (21-41) with 32 points. Isaiah Thomas had 23 points and eight assists.
DeMarcus shot 1-for-12 in scoring just eight points to go with 13 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots.
THIRD QUARTER
Nuggets 86, Kings 79
Denver opened the third quarter with seven unanswered points as part of a 20-7 run and shot 57 percent in the quarter.
The Kings were 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) with DeMarcus Cousins missing five of his six shots. The Kings stayed within range of the Nuggets by going 13-for-16 on free throws.
Ty Lawson scored 12 of his 20 points in the third. Kosta Koufos had nine of his 14 points in the quarter while Danilo Gallinari his up to 16 points after eight in the third.
Marcus Thornton scored 10 in the third and has a game-high 22 points. It's the fourth time in five games Thornton has scored at least 20 points. Isaiah Thomas has 17 points and five assists.
Cousins 1-for-11 tonight, but has 13 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots.
HALFTIME
Kings 50, Nuggets 50
Jason Thompson (14 points) and Marcus Thornton (12 points) have the Kings even with the Nuggets. Thornton, again, is providing a spark off the bench while Thompson's scoring helped make up for DeMarcus Cousins going scoreless in the first half.
The Nuggets have dominated points in the paint in two previous meetings, but the Kings hold a 30-26 advantage at halftime. The Kings also have a 25-21 rebounding advantage.
The Kings might want to work for closer looks in the second half. Of Sacramento's 47 shots, 15 were three pointers with only four makes.
Kenneth Faried has 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Nuggets. Ty Lawson had eight points and four assists.
While Cousins didn't score, he did have seven rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.
FIRST QUARTER
Nuggets 24, Kings 22
Neither team is shooting extremely well but the Nuggets are ahead even though they are shooting 36 percent (9 of 25). The Kings are shooting 43.5 percent (10 of 23) but only had DeMarcus Cousins for seven minutes before he picked up his second foul.
Jason Thompson led the Kings with 12 points. Cousins blocked three shots to match his season high to go with five rebounds.
Kenneth Faried led the Nuggets with eight points and five rebounds.
The Nuggets had four assists, all by Ty Lawson. Isaiah Thomas had three of the Kings' seven assists.
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