Tyreke Evans has 29 points to lead Kings over Toronto Raptors 98-91
Posted January 11, 2012 10:04 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Tyreke Evans scored a season-high 29 points and had seven rebounds as the Sacramento Kings defeated the Toronto Raptors 98-91 on Wednesday.
DeMarcus Cousins added 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting and grabbed 19 rebounds for the Kings, who snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Isaiah Thomas had 20 points with six assists and Jimmer Fredette chipped in with 10 points for Sacramento, which had not won in Toronto since Feb. 22, 2004.
It was the second loss in a row and fourth in five games for the Raptors who lost Andrea Bargnani to a strained left calf late in the third quarter.
Leandro Barbosa came off the bench to score a season-high 24 points for the Raptors while Jose Calderon had 13 points to go with 10 assists.
DeMar DeRozan also scored 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting while Bargnani had 10 points as did Linas Kleiza. Amir Johnson had nine points and six rebounds before fouling out with 37.4 seconds to play.
Bargnani left the game with 3:13 to play in the third quarter because of the calf injury and did not return. He also had 10 rebounds in just over 28 minutes of playing time.
The game was tied at 63 going into the fourth quarter but Sacramento pulled ahead with seven minutes to play when Thomas hit a three-pointer to give the Kings a 80-73 lead.
Cousins hit a pair of free throws with 1:28 to play and made a dunk 16 seconds later to put Sacramento ahead 86-77.
The lead reached 10 points but the Raptors came back and narrowed to five points on Barbosa’s jumper with 24 seconds left.
Sacramento extended its one-point half-time lead to 55-51 during the third quarter.
Down 55-51 in the third, Johnson hit his third career three-pointer and came back with a bank shot to put Toronto into a one-point lead with 3:14 to play in the quarter.
The Raptors were playing their third game in as many nights while Sacramento was playing for the second consecutive night. Both teams lost on Tuesday, Toronto at Washington and Sacramento at Philadelphia.
The concentrated schedule is a result of shortened season due prolonged labour dispute between owners and players.
“We’ve got to deal with it,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said before the game. “We have to be mature about it, the schedule is what it is.”
The Raptors scored the first eight points of the second quarter to take a 27-23 lead, but the Kings came back to take a 41-40 lead into half-time.
Barbosa led Toronto with 16 points in the first half, shooting 7-for-10 including 2-for-3 on three-point attempts. Bargnani was next with six points for Toronto and added eight rebounds.
Sacramento shot 37 per cent in the game while Toronto finished 42.5 per cent.
Toronto was in foul trouble much of the night, with 28 personal fouls compared to Sacramento’s 15.
