Kings 90, Nuggets 88: Jason Thompson had the go-ahead dunk on a putback with 41 seconds remaining to give Sacramento a season-opening victory over Denver in front of a frenzied home crowd.

DeMarcus Cousins had 30 points on 13-of-26 shooting and 14 rebounds for the Kings in their first game under new coach Mike Malone and a new ownership group that kept the team in Sacramento. New point guard Greivis Vasquez added 17 points and four assists, and backup Isaiah Thomas had 16 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Kings, who managed to win despite shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 69.6 percent from the free-throw line.

Ty Lawson shook off a groin injury to score a team-high 20 points for the Nuggets, playing their first game under coach Brian Shaw. Offseason acquisitions J.J. Hickson and Randy Foye scored 12 points apiece, and Andre Miller also had 12 points for Denver, which had been 10-1 against the Kings over the past three seasons.

The Kings opened the fourth on a 9-0 run on the strength of back-to-back 3-pointers by Thomas to take a seven-point lead, but the Nuggets rallied to tie the game on Hickson’s layup with 1:37 remaining. After Thompson’s dunk gave Sacramento the lead, Lawson missed a shot from short range with less than a second left and Foye couldn’t hit a desperation 3-pointer as time expired.

Sacramento held a 48-45 halftime lead after Denver rallied to cut a 13-point deficit with five minutes remaining in the second quarter. Cousins and Vasquez combined for 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting in the half, but the rest of the Kings were just 8-of-27.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Sacramento Mayor - and former All-Star point guard - Kevin Johnson gave outgoing NBA Commissioner David Stern a key to the city during a ceremony in the first quarter. … Nuggets G Nate Robinson didn’t score in 18 minutes in his first game with the team. … Kings G Ben McLemore, the seventh overall pick in the NBA Draft, scored four points on 1-of-7 shooting in his pro debut.