DENVER, Jan. 12 -- Nick Van Exel scored 13 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter Friday night as the shorthanded Denver Nuggets got back on the winning track with a 106-93 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Denver played with just nine players after a six-player trade with the Toronto Raptors earlier in the day.
The Nuggets acquired Kevin Willis, Aleksandar Radojevic, Garth Joseph and a second-round draft pick for Keon Clark, Tracy Murray and rookie Mamadou N'diaye.
Voshon Lenard added 22 points, including seven in a key third-quarter stretch as the Nuggets bounced back after their five-game winning streak was snapped on Wednesday in a 92-86 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Antonio McDyess added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Doug Christie's three-pointer with 4:08 left in the third quarter pulled the Kings into a 68-68 tie. Lenard responded with a three-pointer as the Nuggets closed the period with a 10-3 run to take a 78-71 lead into the fourth quarter. The scoring was capped by Lenard's three-pointer with three seconds to play.
The Kings ran off eight straight points and closed within 84-81 with just under eight minutes remaining as Brent Barry and Scot Pollard each scored three. But Pollard's flagrant foul led to four straight points by McDyess and Sacramento came no closer than five points the rest of the way.
James Posey scored 13 points and pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds while limiting Peja Stojakovic to 10 points. Raef LaFrentz scored 14 points while Mark Strickland added 10 off the bench for Denver, which shot 44 percent.
