Kings Beat the Mavericks 112-97 and Acquire Rudy Gay Monday
By: Morgan Ragan
Monday was a good day for The Sacramento Kings.
They acquired Rudy Gay in a seven-player trade and got a 112-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at Sleep Train Arena.
Sacramento's new acquisitions, which also include Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy, were unable to participate in Monday night's game due to physicals still needing to be cleared. Gay, Gray and Acy plan on being active Wednesday night for the Kings when they take on the Utah Jazz.
The Kings only had 10 men on the roster on Monday night. Starting point guard Grevis Vasquez was part of the trade along with Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes who will all play for the Toronto Raptors.
"My Challenge to the guys this morning was, I don't care if we have 10 players or 15 players. We have enough talent and enough bodies to win this game," head coach Michael Malone said following the win.
"We're not going to use the fact that we had a trade today as an excuse or a distraction."
The new starting point guard Isaiah Thomas scored 10 points in the first quarter and finished the game with 24 points and a career-high 12 assists in his 38 minutes of playing time.
"Isaiah has been a starter for us even when he wasn't starting," Malone said postgame. "Now he's our starter, he's our starting point guard for the rest of the season."
Derrick Williams was 12-16 from the field in Monday night's game finishing with a career-high 31 points, five steals and five rebounds for Sacramento.
After the game Williams talked about the difference for his shot.
"Just seeing the ball go through the net, I think that's what ever player wants is that first shot to fall and tonight a lot of them fell."
Analysis:
The Kings are becoming a more entertaining team to watch and a better product on the floor for the fans and should be even more fun to watch with the additions of Rudy Gay and Quincy Acy.
DeMarcus Cousins had his ninth double-double against the Mavericks, scoring 32 points and grabbing 19 boards. Cousins also had a season high of nine turnovers.
You can hear Morgan with Deuce & J-Ross from 12-3 p.m. on KHTK. Follow her on Twitter: @momoragan
