Kings Beat Suns In 2OT For Best Start Since '99-00
PHOENIX (AP) - Playing through flu-like symptoms, Rudy Gay made a big shot at a key moment for the streaking Sacramento Kings.
Gay hit a go-ahead turnaround jumper with 1:07 left in the second overtime, and Sacramento beat the Phoenix Suns 114-112 on Friday night for its fifth consecutive victory.
"It was tough. Super tough," said Gay, who scored 11 points on 5-of-22 shooting from the floor. "You have to keep fighting. The coach kept calling my number and no matter what he had faith in me and I kept fighting."
Kings center DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and a season-high 18 rebounds before fouling out on an illegal screen with 34.7 seconds left in regulation. Darren Collison scored 16 and Ben McLemore added 15 points.
"It was two crazy overtimes but we got the win," McLemore said.
Eric Bledsoe had 23 points and eight assists for the Suns, who were outscored 22-11 in the fourth quarter.
"I don't know if we were tired and out of shape or what," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "These guys in the fourth quarter were walking it up and we were getting caught with the shot clock. We would run a normal play and by the time we got to the second option there was five seconds on the shot clock."
Bledsoe gave the Suns a 112-108 lead when he was fouled on a driving layup with 2:08 left. But he was unable to complete the three-point play.
McLemore then made a 3-pointer for Sacramento with 1:49 to go, making it 112-111 and setting the stage for Gay's clutch jumper. Collison then went 1 for 2 at the line with 15.1 seconds left.
"It shows you how our team is coming together," Cousins said. "Even through the tough times and adversity, even when things aren't going our way, we found a way."
The Kings, led by Cousins and Collison, rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Cousins had five points, including a pair of free throws that tied it at 94 with 4:57 left. Collison had four points in the key stretch.
Cousins converted a three-point play with 1:37 to go, lifting Sacramento its first lead since early in the game. Bledsoe had a tying layup with 38.9 seconds remaining, and Phoenix guard Isaiah Thomas missed a potential winning 3-pointer at the buzzer against his former team.
P.J. Tucker scored five points in a 7-0 Suns run to begin the first overtime, but the Kings, led by Collison, fought back to a 106-106 tie with 42.3 seconds left.
"It was like a roller-coaster ride the whole game all the way through the two overtimes," Tucker said. "At some point we had to get a couple of stops and we didn't."
TIP-INS
Kings: At 5-1, Sacramento is off to its best six-game start since the 1999-2000 season. That club opened the season 9-1. ... The Kings have won five straight for the first time since 2006-07 and three straight road games for the time since 1995-96. . Gay entered the game averaging 24.4 points.
Suns: Goran Dragic scored 10 of his 22 points in the first quarter on 4-of-5 shooting, including his first 3-pointer of the year after an 0-for-11 start. ... Thomas made his first appearance against the franchise that drafted him, but scored only three points in 17-plus minutes. ... The Suns lost for only the second time in 10 games under Hornacek following a double-digit defeat. . Phoenix had won 25 of its last 26 when scoring at least 110 points.
UP NEXT
Kings: Visit Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Suns: Host Golden State on Sunday.
NO PANIC
Phoenix ran out to a 36-25 lead after the first quarter, shooting 68.2 percent from the floor along the way, but the Kings didn't panic. "There was no 'What are we going to now,'" Kings coach Michael Malone said. "In the first quarter we weren't ready to play. But the amazing stat was by the end of the game we get it down to 42 percent and in the fourth quarter and both overtimes, we held that team to 26 percent."
ON THE MEND
Suns rookie forward T.J. Warren, who has yet to play this season because a small crack in a bone in his left thumb, participated in the team shootaround on Friday. Warren, the 14th overall pick out of North Carolina State, will practice on Saturday and is expected to be active Sunday against Golden State.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
