The Sacramento Kings played to “the standard” that coach Doug Christie keeps calling for in the first half of Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, but they completely fell apart in the second half.
Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes scored 23 points apiece to lead the Raptors to a 122-109 victory over the Kings before a crowd of 16,182 at Golden 1 Center.
Sandro Mamukelashvilli had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors (27-19). Immanuel Quickley had 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
Russell Westbrook scored 23 points to lead the Kings (12-33). Zach LaVine had 19 points. Malik Monk came off the bench to score 17 points and Dennis Schroder added 16.
The Raptors staged a 12-0 run to go up by nine early in the first quarter. The Kings led 30-26 at the end of the opening period after Monk banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Sacramento went up by 12 in the second quarter after getting a spark from Monk, who went 5 of 5 from the field and 3 of 3 from 3-point range for 13 points in his first 11 minutes off the bench. The Kings led 61-52 at the halftime break. They shot 47.8% in the opening half while holding the Raptors to 36.5%.
Toronto took control early in the second half. The Raptors made 10 of their first 13 shots while outscoring the Kings 32-16 over the first 8:15 to take an 84-77 lead with 3:45 to play in the third quarter.
“It was a tough third quarter,” said Kings rookie Dylan Cardwell, who had a career-high 13 rebounds. “That’s a great team. They play fast. They play downhill. ... In four seconds or less they get down the court and they’re scoring.”
The Raptors led 95-82 at the end of the third period. They went up by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter.
The Kings rallied to cut the deficit to eight on a driving layup by LaVine with 3:27 remaining, but they couldn’t get any closer.
Third-quarter collapse
Toronto dominated the third quarter in every way, outscoring Sacramento 43-21.
The Raptors went 14 of 19 from the field, shooting 73.7%, while making 4 of 6 from 3-point range and 11 of 12 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Kings went 8 of 21 (.381) from the field, 2 of 8 (.250) from beyond the arc and 3 of 5 (.600) at the foul line.
The Raptors capitalized on six Sacramento turnovers to outscore the Kings 11-2 on points off turnovers.
Sabonis ruled out
Three-time All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis was ruled out for Wednesday’s game due to left knee injury management.
Sabonis missed 27 games with a partially torn meniscus that sidelined him for two months. He has appeared in three games since returning from the injury, averaging 9.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
Sabonis came off the bench in all three games, averaging 19.3 minutes per contest, well below his season average of 31.2 minutes per game.
Honoring Russell Westbrook
Westbrook recently passed Oscar Robertson as the highest-scoring point guard in NBA history. The Kings honored Westbrook with a series of video montages during Wednesday’s game.
Westbrook is 15th among all players on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 26,883 points. He needs 64 points to pass Hakeem Olajuwon for 14th.
Up next
The Kings will start a six-game road trip when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday at Rocket Arena.
The Cavaliers (25-20) are led by Donovan Mitchell, a six-time All-Star who is having a career year. Mitchell is averaging a career-high 29.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.5 steals. He is shooting 48.5% from the field and 38.45 from 3-point range.
Darius Garland, who averages 18.0 points and 6.9 assists, has missed the past three games with a sprained toe. Evan Mobley (17.8 ppg), De’Andre Hunter (14.1 ppg), Sam Merrill (13.8 ppg), Jaylon Tyson (13.5 ppg) and Jarrett Allen (13.5 ppg) are also scoring in double figures for Cleveland.