The Sacramento Kings continued their strong play Saturday night in Charlotte. They used a big performance from DeMarcus Cousins and plenty of help from the rest of the team to come away with a 109-106 over the Hornets.
Charlotte threw plenty of looks at DeMarcus Cousins and none of them worked. The three-time All-Star went to work against a bevy of bigs and still managed to post 35 points on 13-for-22 shooting. He added 18 rebounds and four assists, but he picked up his 13th technical of the season while jawing with Spencer Hawes.
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Darren Collison got it going in the second half. The veteran point guard finished the night with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
The Hornets left Anthony Tolliver open and the Kings’ forward made them pay. Tolliver dropped in 4-for-8 from long range on his way to 14 points and he added seven rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
Willie Cauley-Stein ran to the rim and Sacramento’s guards found him in stride for plenty of easy looks. The second-year big scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Arron Afflalo hit for 13 points and Ty Lawson orchestrated the offense to come away with a team-high nine assists.
NBA
Kemba Walker got off to a slow start, but the shifty point guard scored 20 of his team-high 26 points in the third quarter.
Nic Batum stuffed the stat sheet for head coach Steve Clifford. The veteran wing scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out seven assists.
Marvin Williams dropped in 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting and Spencer Hawes scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss.
STANDOUT PERFORMER
Cousins was a star. The Kings’ big man dominated the Hornets from start to finish and found a way to win it in crunch time.
TURNING POINT
With 14.3 seconds remaining, Cousins took the Hornets to the hole and got the bounce to give Sacramento the two point lead. On the other end, Kaminsky airballed a 3-pointer for the win and Cousins grabbed the rebound to finish the game off.
INJURY UPDATE
Omri Casspi missed his eighth straight contest with right a plantaris tendon strain. Rudy Gay is out for the season with a torn left Achilles.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Kings finish off their season-long eight-game road trip with a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday. First up on the docket are the Philadelphia 76ers, followed by the Houston Rockets.