Nuggets 120, Kings 113: Ty Lawson scored 24 points and Kenneth Faried added 19 and 12 rebounds as visiting Denver held off Sacramento.

Danilo Gallinari had 23 points and Andre Miller collected 16 points and seven assists off the bench for the Nuggets, who pushed their winning streak to six games. Denver has won three straight on the road to improve to 14-19 away from the Mile High City.

Marcus Thornton exploded for 32 points off the bench and Isaiah Thomas scored 23 as the Kings missed out on back-to-back wins.

The Kings tied it at 50 heading into halftime but did not make their first field goal of the third quarter until the 6:15 mark as the Nuggets pulled ahead. Kosta Koufos scored nine points and Lawson hit a deep 3-pointer during the 21-7 run that opened the third.

Thornton scored 10 points over the final 6:15 of the third to cut it to 86-79 heading into the fourth, and Sacramento would creep to within 101-97 with 5:35 left before Denver pulled away. Gallinari’s 3-pointer with 1:07 left pushed it to 120-109 and the Nuggets held on in the final minute.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Sacramento C DeMarcus Cousins pulled down 13 rebounds but was held to eight points on 1-of-12 shooting. … The Kings have allowed an average of 120.3 points in their last eight losses and own the worst scoring defense in the NBA. … The Nuggets went 8-for-16 from 3-point range, led by Gallinari’s 5-of-6 effort.