DENVER — DeMarcus Cousins had another big night against Denver with 39 points and nine rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings held off a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Nuggets 114-110 on Tuesday.
Forward Rudy Gay had 16 points and 10 rebounds and forward Omri Casspi scored 14 for the Kings (24-31).
This road win had a little more meaning for Sacramento coach George Karl. Karl coached the Nuggets for 8 1/2 years and despite leading the team to a franchise-record 57 wins in 2012-13, he was fired after a first-round exit in 2013.
He took over the Kings late last season and lost his first trip back to Denver on April 12, 2015.
Guard Will Barton scored 18 points, forward Danilo Gallinari had 17 and center Nikola Jokic had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Denver (22-35), which has lost three straight.
Cousins had a big role in two of those losses. The 6-foot-11 center had 37 points and 20 rebounds in Friday’s home victory over Denver, and he was dominant again Tuesday. He went 14 for 24 from the field and came up with three big plays after Gallinari had tied the game at 107 with 1:27 left.
First, Cousins stole the ball from guard D.J. Augustin, who fouled him with 48.3 seconds left to put Cousins at the line. He hit both to put the Kings ahead, and after Augustin missed a 3-pointer at the other end Cousins scored off his own miss to make it 111-107 with 14.6 seconds left.
Jokic hit a 3-pointer with 10.6 seconds left to cut it to one, and after guard Darren Collinson split a pair of free throws, Cousins stripped forward Darrell Arthur under the Kings’ basket to seal the win.
Cousins was strong all game. He had 15 points in the third quarter helped the Kings build a 17-point lead.
Barton scored 11 points early in the fourth as Denver went on a 14-2 run to get within one. Augustin’s 3-pointer with 4:06 left gave Denver a 104-103 lead, its first since early in the game.
NOTES: Sacramento Fs Marco Belinelli and Omri Casspi were both back in action Tuesday after missing a game Friday. Both players had a tooth extracted and were unavailable in the Kings’ 116-110 win over the Nuggets. … New Nuggets F JaKarr Sampson was in uniform a day after the team signed him. Sampson, who was waived by Philadelphia, signed a multi-year deal with Denver. … Sacramento PG Rajon Rondo is playing with turf toe on his right foot. It hasn’t hindered him much; he has missed just four games this season. … Nuggets F Kenneth Faried played Tuesday after leaving Sunday’s game with an illness. Faried didn’t attempt a shot in 13 minutes and had only one rebound Sunday.