Kings 116, Nuggets 110
SACRAMENTO -- DeMarcus Cousins delivered another dominant double-double, scoring 37 points and grabbing 20 rebounds, as the host Sacramento Kings defeated the Denver Nuggets 116-110 on Friday to build some much-needed momentum in their first game coming out of the All-Star Break.
The Kings (23-31) led by as much as 13 points early in the fourth quarter before the Nuggets (22-33) would get as close as 105-100 with 2:30 left. Sacramento held on with some key defensive stops and big plays from guards Darren Collison and Rajon Rondo.
Rondo had an exceptional all-around game, missing out on a triple double by one assist. He finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and scored six points inside the final two minutes.
Denver was led by sharp-shooting forward Danilo Gallinari with 27 points. Joffrey Lauvergne came off the bench to score 22 points in a little more than 24 minutes. The loss spoiled Denver coach Mark Malone's first trip back to Sacramento since being fired by the Kings in December 2014.
It wasn't a perfect night for Sacramento, who surrendered 22 turnovers, but the team did just enough defensively to overcome it. Denver's 100 points was the least the Kings have allowed since defeating Indiana 108-97 on Jan. 23.
Sacramento shot the ball exceptionally well in the first half. Led by Cousins' 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting, the Kings shot 59.5 percent from the floor and were especially accurate from behind the arc. Rudy Gay, who finished 24 points, hit on all four of his 3-point attempts in the opening half. Rondo also hit four as the team shot a sparkling 10 of 13 from distance. They didn't hit a 3-pointer in the second half, finishing 10 of 21.
The encouraging defensive effort for the Kings was noticeable early. The Nuggets' 24 points in the first quarter was the least allowed by Sacramento in an opening frame since holding visiting Charlotte to 16 points on Jan. 25. It ended a span of nine games in which opponents scored at least 30 points in their first 12 minutes against the Kings.
Denver's hope of blanketing Cousins with big men was dashed rather early when 6-foot-10 Nikola Jokic and 7-foot Jusuf Nurkic had each earned two fouls eight-plus minutes into the game. Both had four fouls before the four-minute mark of the third quarter.
NOTES: Kings All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins has double-doubles with at least 30 points in each of his last three games against Denver. ... Sacramento PG Rajon Rondo, who is averaging a league-best 11.9 assists, entered Friday's contest having compiled at least 15 in four straight contests. ... The Kings were without the services of Fs Omri Casspi and Marco Belinelli, both of which had wisdom tooth abstractions. ... Nuggets G Will Barton entered the contest ranked ninth in the league in fourth quarter scoring, averaging 6.3 points. He's scored 15 points in the fourth quarter four times on the season. ... Denver entered the All-Star Break having won five of eight games with all three losses coming by an average of three points. ... Sacramento unveiled a new Flashback Friday court trimmed in the team's original powder blue colors with a retro logo at center court.