Kings Beat the Cavs By 44 Points
By: Morgan Ragan
The Sacramento Kings won their third consecutive game for the first time this season with a 124-80 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon at Sleep Train Arena.
The last time Sacramento won three consecutive games was December of last season. The 44-point win was the largest margin of victory since a 39-point win over the Bulls in February of 2000 and the third largest in the Sacramento era.
"Very happy we won three in a row, obviously, but more importantly the way we won," head coach Michael Malone said postgame.
Sacramento held the Cavs to 39 percent from the field and 7-21 behind the arc. The Kings have held their last three opponents under 50 percent shooting.
DeMarcus Cousins finished with 16 points and 11 boards to become the first Kings player with 10 consecutive double-doubles since Chris Webber in the 2002-03 season.
Cousins was pleased with the Kings defense over the last three games of the homestand.
"The effort and the communication, just wanting to defend," Cousins said.
Sacramento shot 52 percent and outrebounded the Cavaliers 50-32. Jason Thompson had 16 rebounds for the Kings.
"Our consistency these last three games offensively and defensively has been the most impressive thing," Cousins said following the win.
The Kings have played 22 of their 35 home games this season and are starting a six-game road trip starting Tuesday when they take on the 29-7 Indiana Pacers.
Analysis:
Sacramento has won all three games since they held their players only meeting. "I really feel like that meeting helped out a lot. We've been playing good basketball since," Cousins said.
Defensively the Kings look like they are figuring out what team defense consists of. They are starting to trust the rotations and communicate more on and off the court.
Rudy Gay finished with 20 points, his 10th 20-point performance with the Kings.
You can hear Morgan with Deuce & J-Ross from 12-3 p.m. on KHTK. Follow her on Twitter: @momoragan
