Rookie guard Devin Carter had a career night to give the Kings the spark they needed to pull off one of the biggest wins of the season.
Carter came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points with five rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 123-119 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The former Providence Friars star went on the biggest scoring spree of his career to give the Kings a chance to win in the second half. When it was over, he sat upon the thrown with a crown on his head after earning defensive player of the game honors for the first time.
Interim Kings coach Doug Christie praised Carter’s performance in glowing terms after the game.
“Devin Carter, welcome to the damn NBA,” Christie said. “Big time, big time, big time. So excited and proud of him.”
Carter threw down one of the most spectacular dunks of the season on a behind-the-back pass from Malik Monk after Monk came up with a deflection and a steal early in the second quarter.
“Yeah, appreciate Malik for the pass,” Carter said. “I was kind of like chirping that I was behind him. It was a good pass, and I just jumped.”
Carter checked in with his team trailing 72-68 with 5:47 to go in the third quarter. He immediately hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one. That basket ignited a 17-2 run with Carter scoring 10 points in a span of 2:11 as Sacramento surged ahead to take an 85-74 lead.
The Kings led 90-88 at the end of the third quarter. The Cavaliers went up 107-102 midway through the fourth, but the Kings staged a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead on a breakaway dunk by Carter.
DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk took it from there to help the Kings close out another big win following Monday’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Kings needed Carter’s contributions with Domantas Sabonis (ankle), Zach LaVine (personal reasons) and Jake LaRavia (illness) out.
“He’s been good,” Kings forward Keegan Murray said when asked about Carter. “I think he’s had spurts this year, like in Boston he was pretty good. Obviously, he’s a rookie and he goes through ups and downs. I went through them, too, but he was able to capitalize on his opportunity tonight when guys were down.”