After a thrilling upset victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings fell to the Phoenix Suns 111-101 Friday night. Sacramento continued the trend of playing big against the best teams in the NBA and then shrinking away against the league’s more mediocre squads.
The Kings struggled in the first quarter and quickly found themselves down by ten. They fought their way back and took the lead multiple times late in the fourth quarter before letting it slip away down the stretch.
George Hill in particular struggled at the end and missed two key free throws in the last few minutes. He posted 12 points but shot just 2/11 from the field.
Zach Randolph (14 points) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (13 points) both had strong games, but no King played with enough consistency to put their stamp on the game. The Sacramento bench scored just 34 points after dropping an astounding 68 points against Cleveland.
The Suns got big performances from Devin Booker and T.J. Warren, both of whom posted 26 points. Warren had a very strong game, gathering ten rebounds and shooting 12/18 from the field.
Skal Labissiere returned to the starting lineup tonight after being benched for the last two games. He posted 12 points on just 5/6 shooting, but only found the floor for 16 minutes. Coach Joerger’s usage of Labissiere continues to be one of the more confusing storylines of the season.
Garrett Temple had 12 points on 5/8 shooting, and Willie Cauley-Stein added 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Sacramento falls to 12-23 and faces off against Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzles on Sunday.
