Sacramento at Denver

[Real Deal]

TIME: 9:00 PM ET

TV: NBALP

[Real Deal]

DENVER -- The Denver Nuggets showed they can start fast and finish strong.

 

Ty Lawson scored 26 points, Andre Iguodala had 20 and the Nuggets used a dominant first three quarters to rout the Sacramento Kings 121-93 on Saturday night.

 

Danilo Gallinari added 14 points for the Nuggets, who led 71-49 at intermission to set a season high for points in a half. They shot 62 percent in the first two quarters and had three players in double figures.

 

"This was a good one for us, knowing we can take care of business," Iguodala said. "We've got to stay on each other and hold each other accountable."

 

The Nuggets have struggled with slow starts during this home-heavy schedule in January. It cost them against Minnesota and Washington but they made sure the Kings, coming off a 10-point loss to Oklahoma City, were never in this one.

 

"We knew if we could take the heart early they wouldn't want to play too much or have too much fight, especially at altitude," Lawson said.

 

They led by as many as 35 in the second half and were up 101-69 heading into the fourth period when most of the regular players watched the rest of the game.

 

"We talked about how they run the floor. We just couldn't stop it," Sacramento guard Tyreke Evans said. "They run the floor, they got rebounds, they got steals, one pass and layup dunk. We knew what they wanted to do. We just didn't stop it."

 

Aaron Brooks scored 16 points off the bench and Evans had 15 for the Kings, who have lost four straight. DeMarcus Cousins was held to three points. It's the first time in his past 17 games he failed to score in double figures.

http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400278369