NBA News Wire
Nuggets 125, Kings 117
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Guard Ty Lawson scored a game-high 27 points to lead six Nuggets in double figures, and Denver ran past the Sacramento Kings 125-117 Sunday at Sleep Train Arena.
Lawson scored 20 points in the second half and combined with center Timofey Mozgov to score every Denver point during a 14-8 third-quarter run that gave the Nuggets the lead for good.
Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler added 20 points, and forward Kenneth Faried had 15 points and 11 rebounds as Denver (22-21) won its second straight following a three-game skid.
Guard Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points to lead the Kings, who played without their leading scorers, center DeMarcus Cousins and forward Rudy Gay, for the second consecutive game. Thomas made only seven of 21 shots but sank a 3-pointer for the 37th game in a row, the second-longest streak in Sacramento history. Thomas is two games shy of matching Mitch Richmond’s club mark set during the 1996-97 season.
Cousins (sprained left ankle) and Gay (left Achilles strain) combined to average 42 points a game since Gay’s acquisition from the Toronto Raptors in December. Coach Michael Malone said before the game that it was not decided whether the two would travel to Utah for Sacramento’s game Monday against the Jazz.
Guard Marcus Thornton scored 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting for the Kings (15-28). Thornton scored a combined 61 points the past two games after totaling 33 in his previous nine contests.
Guard Ben McLemore added 18 points for Sacramento, while forward Jason Thompson had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
NOTES: Nuggets F Darrell Arthur missed his seventh consecutive game with a strained left hip. He is day-to-day. … Kings G Carl Landry played his fourth straight game since returning from a torn left hip flexor that kept him out the first 39 contests. … The Nuggets began the night averaging 112.7 points per game in January, the best mark in the NBA. They weren’t held below 100 in any of their first 12 games during the month. … For the Kings, the contest was the first of five they will play over a seven-day stretch. They play 11 games in 18 days leading up to the All-Star break. … Denver needs to win its final two games in January to extend to six its streak of consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins in that month.
