Magic 106, Kings 102
Jameer Nelson scored 26 points and hit the go-ahead basket to help the Orlando Magic to a 106-102 victory over the host Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
Nelson’s layup with two minutes left gave Orlando (41-24) a 100-99 lead. He added an 18-footer 41 seconds later as the Magic held off the Kings (15-47), who were vying for a season sweep of Orlando.
DeMarcus Cousins scored a career-high 29 points and Marcus Thornton tallied 22 for Sacramento, which lost its fourth straight game.
Sacramento’s Luther Head missed a game-tying 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left. Hedu Turkoglu hit 1 of 2 free throws with 2.8 seconds left to make it a two-possession game.
Jason Richardson scored 19 points and Dwight Howard had 16 and 15 rebounds before fouling out for the Magic, who began a five-game road trip by snapping a two-game slide.
Sacramento led for most of the fourth quarter after Cousins hit two free throws for an 83-81 lead with 11:02 remaining.
The lead reached 95-89 on Omri Casspi’s 3-pointer with 5:18 remaining. But Orlando responded with a 9-2 run and took a 98-97 advantage on Richardson’s 3-pointer with 2:44 left.
Jason Thompson added 16 points for Sacramento.