Kings look to bounce back in Toronto

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KINGS (3-7) vs.
TORONTO (4-6)

The Sacramento Kings are still seeking their first road win of the season.Toronto may not be the easiest place for them to get it.The Kings attempt to bounce back from one of their worst performances of the season and beat the Raptors on the road for the first time in nearly eight years Wednesday night.Sacramento (3-7) has lost all four of its road games, averaging 85.8 points while surrendering 109.0 per game. It was more of the same for the Kings in the opener of their five-game trip Tuesday at Philadelphia, as they shot 39.5 percent from the floor en route to a 112-85 rout.
REWIND: Kings routed by 76ers 112-85
A visit to Toronto (4-6) wouldn't appear to be the ideal way to end the road skid since Sacramento hasn't won there since Feb. 22, 2004. The Kings have dropped seven straight at Air Canada Centre since, giving up a whopping average of 111.9 points.They lost 118-112 in their last visit to Canada on Jan. 9, 2011.Making the task tougher for Sacramento, leading scorer Marcus Thornton (18.7 ppg) may miss a second consecutive game due to a thigh injury. Former BYU star Jimmer Fredette got his first career start Tuesday in Thornton's place, finishing with seven points, three assists and three turnovers."We didn't have our regular rotation so the other guys had to make adjustments," coach Keith Smart said.Sacramento may have at least some reason for optimism after the Raptors fell 93-78 at Washington on Tuesday, losing to what had been the last remaining winless team in the NBA.They missed 16 of 20 3-point attempts against the Wizards and committed a season-high 23 turnovers - nine more than their previous average."Our disposition wasn't good coming out of the locker room to begin the game," said Toronto coach Dwane Casey, whose team must now play its third game in as many days. "You start turning the ball over and you can't recover from that and you can't get set up in your defense."
Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 22 points and continues to be one of the few bright spots for Toronto, averaging a team-high 23.5 points - nearly nine more than DeMar DeRozan - the team's second-highest scorer.
Bargnani has come up big in the Raptors; two home victories, scoring 31 points each time while totaling 16 boards.He's averaging 25.3 points and 7.7 rebounds in Toronto's last three home meetings with the Kings, including 30 points while shooting 12 of 19 in last season's victory.DeRozan had 28 points in that contest. He's totaled just 31 in his last four games after scoring 11 and missing 12 of 16 shots Tuesday.

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