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Denver nears playoff berth in win over Kings

Apr 2, 2011 - 6:00 AM Sacramento, CA (Sports Network) - Raymond Felton scored 17 points and Denver moved to the brink of clinching a playoff spot with a 99-90 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Nene chipped in 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets, who have a magic number of one to secure a postseason berth. They are currently fifth in the Western Conference, 2 1/2 games up on Portland.

Kenyon Martin scored 14 in Denver's fifth consecutive victory.

"We got a game that got kind of ugly and sloppy. I thought we were defending well," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "They were contesting our penetration. I think Raymond took on the responsibility of making plays and made the game easy. Our turnovers in the middle of the fourth quarter really hurt us. We had three or four in a row that really gave them life and one more shot at us. After that, our defense really stayed in control."

Francisco Garcia led seven Sacramento players in double figures with 17 points, but the Kings lost the home-and-home series, also falling by 14 points in Denver on Wednesday.

A jumper from Jason Thompson had the Kings within 62-59 with 7:23 left in the third quarter, but a reverse layup from Arron Afflalo started an 8-0 push for Denver. It ended on Danilo Gallinari's slam.

The Nuggets were up by as many as 15 later in the quarter before settling for a 79-67 cushion going to the fourth.

DeMarcus Cousins' layup with 5:18 to go had the visitors within 90-84, but Felton scored the game's next five points, the last during the stretch on a layup after he stole the ball.

The Kings scored 13 in a row during the first quarter for a 24-14 lead, and were up 28-21 after 12 minutes. They were up 51-48 at the half.

"It was a tough night all around. They knocked down shots, we missed a lot of free throws and transition defense," Cousins said.

Game Notes

Denver won three of the four matchups with the Kings this season and is 11-5 in the past 16 contests in this series. The Nuggets also snapped a four-game skid in Sacramento, winning there for the fourth time in the last 28 encounters...Samuel Dalembert had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings, who also got 13 points from Tyreke Evans...Sacramento went 2-of-21 from beyond the arc.