Peja Stojakovic scored 29 points and Doug Christie added 12 of his 21 in the fourth quarter as the Kings extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 112-107 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Mainly due to its success at Arco Arena, Sacramento is in the midst of its longest winning streak since the 1963-64 season, when the franchise resided in Cincinnati.
Eight wins during the streak have come at home, but the Kings won for the second time in six road games and swept the season series in Denver for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
 Chris Webber finished just one assist shy of his second triple-double of the season. Brian Bahr /NBAE/Getty Images |
Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson and Hedo Turkoglu each sank a pair of free throws in the final 40 seconds of the period to pull Sacramento within 86-83.
"We wanted to stay close and put heat on them," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "Denver had the lead going into the fourth quarter and we took over."
Stojakovic opened the fourth period with a 3-pointer to tie it and Jackson made a layup. After a layup by Denver's James Posey, Chris Webber gave the Sacramento the lead for good, 90-88, on a hook shot with 9:35 remaining.
Christie followed with consecutive 3-pointers and added three free throws, a dunk and a reverse layup as Sacramento pulled away. He also collected two of his seven steals in the final seven minutes.
"Christie was the difference in the fourth," Adelman said. "He made all his shots and made a few steals and he was unbelievable."
Webber collected 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, falling just shy of his second triple-double of the season.
Jackson finished with 12 points off the bench and Mike Bibby added 10 for the Kings, who shot 53 percent (42-of-80) and made 7-of-9 3-pointers.
We played well enough to win the game and have to keep on winning," Adelman said. "We have a chance to be a good team at the end of this season but we have to just get better."
Denver's Raef LaFrentz picked up the slack for Van Exel with a season-high 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting. He made a career-high six 3-pointers and recorded 10 rebounds and six blocks.
"We knew we were going to have to get big efforts from other guys with Van Exel out," LaFrentz said. "I was hot, it felt good coming out of my hand, even the ones I missed."
Avery Johnson started in place of Van Exel and had a season-high 23 points and 12 assists. Posey added 19 points and eight rebounds for Denver, which has lost 12 of its last 14 games, including six by five points or less.
"We keep finding a way to compete but we are still struggling for a win," Nuggets coach Mike Evans said. "Sacramento is one of the best teams in the league and we played hard against them. They know how to win and thats how we want to learn how to play."
LaFrentz scored 12 points in the opening 12 minutes and Denver had a 30-25 lead. But the Kings made of 11-of-18 shots in the second quarter and took a 55-54 edge into the locker room.
LaFrentz also scored 12 points in the third quarter but took only one shot in the final period and missed it.
"They didn't give too many open looks in the fourth quarter," he said. "We were running the same offense, they were just recognizing the shooters and the ball ended up elsewhere."
"Raef was really the one that was hurting them tonight," Evans said. "But they finally put someone on him and he struggled to hit shots."
With the Los Angeles Lakers home loss to the Heat, the Kings take over first place in the Pacific Division, atop the Western Conference Standings.