Kings Bury Nuggets

Chris Webber started the fourth quarter with a spurt, and that was plenty for the Sacramento Kings to pull away from the Denver Nuggets.

Webber had 32 points and 12 rebounds as the Kings broke loose Sunday night for a 126-116 victory over the Nuggets.

The game was tied at 95 after three quarters, but the Kings opened the fourth quarter with a 14-5 run to take the lead for good.

Denver made only two of its first nine shots in the fourth quarter and went on to lose its third straight road game. The Nuggets have only five road wins in the last three-plus seasons.

"We played well in spurts, but they made the big run and we weren't able to respond," Nuggets forward James Posey said.

For the second straight game, Sacramento received a huge contribution off the bench from Jon Barry, who scored 12 of his 16 points in the final quarter. Barry made all six shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and hit both free throws.

"I should have taken 25 shots tonight," joked Barry, who also had seven rebounds. "When I'm open, I'm going to take the shots."

Webber, who had 21 points in the second half, also was on target much of the evening. Scoring mostly from close range and hitting the occasional jumper, he connected on 14 of 21.

"Chris Webber is terrific, he answered the call every time and we really had good balance," Adelman said.

Nick Van Exel made six 3-pointers and finished with 26 points and seven assists for Denver.

Raef LaFrentz had 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Antonio McDyess added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Ron Mercer finished with 18 for the Nuggets, who made 13 of 27 from 3-point range.

"They picked up their game, they were moving the ball and guys were hitting their shots," said George McCloud, who gave Denver 17 points off the bench. "They create matchup problems."

Jason Williams also had 16 points for the Kings and Vlade Divac finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. In the first half, the Kings overcame a 13-point deficit to take a 63-61 lead at the break.

"Losing that big lead in the first half hurt us," Nuggets coach Dan Issel said. "We had a chance to go into halftime with a nice lead and that turned the game around."

Webber's inside basket gave the Kings a 99-97 lead early in the fourth quarter. He added a three-point play with 8:48 remaining to put Sacramento up 107-100.

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