Garrett Temple seemed like he couldn’t miss a shot, as the Sacramento Kings beat the Orlando Magic 105-99. Sacramento won the assist and turnover battle for the first time this month.
Temple came off the bench and shot 14/17 for a career high 34 points. Along with the other Kings vets, Temple has seen sporadic minutes of late and even been a healthy scratch at times. He credited his early career of playing off 10-day contract in his success tonight despite inconsistent playing time of late.
Willie Cauley-Stein had a big night as well with 21 points and nine rebounds. He’s really come into his own this season and may be the Kings’ most consistent player.
Sacramento played a very strong first half and only trailed by a point at the break. They lagged a little in the third quarter, but outscored Orlando 11 over the final 12 minutes to secure the win.
Rookie De’Aaron Fox exited the game during the first half with abdominal tightness. He said he felt the tightness prior to the game but felt he was okay to make the start. In 11 minutes of play, he had seven points.
The Magic had big nights from Evan Fournier and Elfrid Payton who scored 22 and 21 points respectively. Both Orlando guards have been subject of heavy trade rumors in recent weeks.
https://twitter.com/kings_lead/status/955985910281076738
Despite dealing with extensive trade talk over the past few days, the Kings put on a solid performance and broke their eight-game losing streak. With this win, however, the Magic overtake them for the potential top spot in the upcoming draft.
Skal Labissiere had 10 points and nine rebounds, while Buddy Hield scored 13 points off the bench. Sacramento now sits at 14-33 and travel to Miami to face off against the Heat on Thursday.
