SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Forty-year-old Vince Carter scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and the Sacramento Kings held off the Denver Nuggets 106-98 on Saturday night.
De’Aaron Fox had 18 points and seven assists, Willie Cauley-Stein added 17 points, and Buddy Hield had 14.
Sacramento was up 13 early in the fourth, but Denver rallied and Trey Lyles’ layup pulled the Nuggets to 92-89 with 5:22 remaining.
Cauley-Stein made back-to-back layups for the Kings and, after Will Barton made a 3-pointer for the Nuggets, Hield made a short jumper and Coleman hit a 3-pointer to help Sacramento pull away.
Lyles led Denver with 19 points, Jamal Murray added 18, and Will Barton and Gary Harris had 17 apiece.
The loss capped a frustrating night for Denver, which was playing the second half of a back-to-back. The Nuggets committed a season-high 26 turnovers, missed four consecutive free throws down the stretch and coach Mike Malone – who previously coached in Sacramento – was hit with a technical foul. Sacramento capitalized on almost every mistake Denver made and scored 40 points off turnovers.
It was a rough night all around for Malone’s club.
The Nuggets erased most of an early 12-point deficit but fell apart after going scoreless for 5½ minutes while missing their first nine shots in the second quarter. Denver’s frustrations boiled over when Malone, who spent one-plus seasons coaching in Sacramento, picked up a technical foul.
Things didn’t get much better in the third. The Nuggets, who had 15 turnovers in the first half, made another to open the second half when Cauley-Stein intercepted the inbounds pass at midcourt and drove in for a dunk.
Despite all of that, Sacramento led only 79-71 going into the fourth.
Nuggets: Denver shot 46.1 percent, slightly better than Sacramento, but never led. Barton didn’t score until 1:28 remained in the third. Kenneth Faried sat out his fourth consecutive game because of coach’s decision.
Kings: Center Zach Randolph (oral surgery) and guard George Hill (personal reasons) did not play.
Nuggets: At Golden State on Monday night.
Kings: Host San Antonio on Monday night.
