SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- DeMarcus Cousins and Jason Thompson put the perfect capper on a celebratory opening to a new era of basketball in Sacramento. Cousins had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Thompson scored the game-winner on a putback in the final minute to give Sacramento fans plenty more to cheer about than just having a team as the Kings won their season-opener 90-88 over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. "Its a sense of relief," coach Mike Malone said after winning his debut. "Opening night and there was so much hoopla going into this game, rightfully so for our fans, for our mayor, for our owner. It was a great way to celebrate. To win on this night was great for the fans most importantly and for our players." Greivis Vasquez added 17 points and Isaiah Thomas had 16 off the bench as the Kings snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Nuggets in the first game of the new regime headed by owner Vivek Ranadive and Malone. "Thats the old Kings," Cousins said. "Were not really worried about the past. This is the first game." Ty Lawson scored 20 points but missed a potential tying shot in the closing seconds for the Nuggets, who started off Brian Shaws tenure with a loss. Shaw took over for last seasons coach of the year George Karl, who was fired after a first-round playoff loss to Golden State despite winning 57 games in the regular season. "It was a raucous atmosphere but we played through it," Shaw said. "It was a crazy atmosphere tonight." The Kings are building their franchise around Cousins, giving him a $62 million, four-year contract extension before the season and giving him a tutor in new minority owner Shaquille ONeal, who sat court side for the opener. "He was coaching me through the game a lot," Cousins said. "He sent me a text at halftime. Im glad he came and supported us. Hopefully well see him around more often." Cousins backed that support up with a strong performance in the opener. Cousins made an emphatic dunk off his own miss to give the Kings an 86-82 with just under 4 minutes left and then drew an offensive foul on Lawson. Thomas followed with a bank shot and the Kings appeared in control. "He is much more than a one-way player," Malone said of Cousins. "He has to be a guy who defends at a high level for us and I thought he did a decent job of that for us tonight." But the Nuggets answered with six straight points to tie the game at 88 on J.J. Hicksons drive with 1:37 to play. Cousins came up with a blocked shot and a deflection on the defensive end for force a shot-clock violation and the Kings went back ahead when Jason Thompson followed Cousins miss with a jam with 41.5 seconds to go for his only basket of the game. "I just made an aggressive energy play and it just happened to be the game-winner," Thompson said. Lawson missed a difficult reverse over Thompson with about 1 second left. The Nuggets got the ball out of bounds with 0.9 seconds left but Randy Foye missed an off-balance jumper at the buzzer. "I got hit in the face and didnt even know what happened," Lawson said. "Someone had to tell me afterward it rolled off the rim. Ive got to make that shot." It was a party atmosphere in Sacramento with a loud crowd dressed in purple "Long Live the Sacramento Kings" T-shirts. They even cheered ONeal, their longtime antagonist who once referred to the team as "the Queens" when he played for the Lakers. The loudest cheers were for Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who was integral in keeping the Kings here and Ranadive who put up the money to accomplish it. Ranadive proclaimed "This is your team and its here to stay!" The two also thanked commissioner David Stern for his help in keeping the Kings here and gave him a key to the city and a hard hat to symbolize the upcoming project to build a new arena. The Kings fed off the energy from the crowd to get off to a fast start. Thomas scored seven points during a 12-2 run starting late in the first quarter to give Sacramento an 11-point lead. But Denver used a three-guard lineup to protect the ball better and fought back to tie the game late in the half before Travis Outlaws 3-pointer from the corner in the closing seconds gave Sacramento a 48-45 lead at the break. NOTES: Nuggets F Wilson Chandler sat out with a strained left hamstring and was replaced in the starting lineup with Anthony Randolph. ... The Kings have won the last 13 times they have opened the season at home, the longest streak in NBA history. cheap nfl jerseys .cas 2013 Play of the Year Showdown continues with our first player versus goalie entry of the showdown. nfl jerseys china . But watching Leafs goalie James Reimer go down Thursday night after taking a blow to the head brought back painful memories of something more serious. http://www.wholesalejerseychinastore.com/ . Theyre ready for a "street fight," if thats the route to the NBA finals. James came up big down the stretch to finish with 29 points, Dwyane Wade scored 24 and Miami beat the Chicago Bulls 85-75 Wednesday night to tie the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece. wholesale jerseys . The unrestricted free agent blueliner played last season for the Winnipeg Jets. The move came one day after the Hurricanes learned that defenceman Joni Pitkanen will be out for the season with a broken heel. cheap jerseys . Scrivens stopped 34 shots for his first career shutout, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs past the injury-ravaged Ottawa Senators 3-0. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Edoardo Molinari and Craig Lee share the halfway lead at the Joburg Open on 11 under par, while David Horsey charged into contention with a 63 to sit a shot off the pace on Friday. Englands Horsey went 8 under through his second round with eight birdies and no dropped shots on the par-71 West Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington to be in contention for a first European Tour title in three years. Ahead of him, Molinari and Lee held onto their overnight advantage. Molinari had a 4-under 68 on the longer, tougher East Course and Lee a 67 on the West after a run of four birdies on the front nine. South African George Coetzee (68) is alongside Horsey a shot back. Finlands Roope Kakko matched Horsey for best round of the day with his 8-under 64 on the East to move to 9 under after racing through the front nine with seven birdies. Kakko slowed on the back nine, and dropped shots at Nos. 10 and 16, but had done enough by then to be within striking distance of the top. Charl Schwartzel made an inconsistent 70, with seven birdies and six bogeys, to sit in a tie for 55th on 4 under -- flirting with the cut. Players at the Joburg Open arent only chasing the $280,000 winners check. Threee places in the British Open are available for the highest-placed finishers in the top 10 who have not already qualified.dddddddddddd The highest player in Johannesburg already with a place at the Open was Frenchman Gregory Bourdy in a tie for 12th, leaving a bunch of players to battle it out for the qualifying spots. While Italys Molinari and Scotlands Lee hold the edge ahead of the two final rounds on the East Course, Horseys performance on Friday started with six birdies in his first nine and was capped by a 30-foot putt for his eighth birdie on No. 16 to put him in sight of the title, and also a place at his home major. "Its (the British Open) at the back of my mind at the moment, but its certainly a bonus to consider near the end of the week," Horsey said. Molinari has looked like the player of 2010 -- when he won both the Ryder Cup and his last tour title -- over the opening two days in South Africa with his 64 and then a 68. "Im very happy with pretty much everything. I am very happy with my position and my game right now," he said. Lee is hanging in there to share the lead with Molinari. Kakkos impressive 64 put him in a seven-way tie for fifth, two shots off the leaders. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '