The road trip can’t end quickly enough for the Sacramento Kings. After dropping Monday’s game in Atlanta and falling in Miami to the Heat on Tuesday, the Kings made it three straight losses in Orlando on Thursday night, falling to the Magic 102-94.
Evan Fournier found the Kings defensive middle soft all night long. When the Frenchman wasn’t attacking the rim, he was knocking down triples from the perimeter on his way to a 29 point night for coach Frank Vogel.
Serge Ibaka struggled with his defensive assignment, but he still managed to add 17 points in 32 minutes. Jeff Green torched the Kings for 15 on 3-of-4 shooting from downtown and Aaron Gordon chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic.
Orlando threw different looks at DeMarcus Cousins all night long to no avail. The Kings All-Star big ran roughshod over the Magic’s frontline, finishing the night with 33 points on 12-for-20 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists.
Rudy Gay is making a statement to every team in the league. The veteran dropped in 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, but struggled to fill the stat sheet on other categories.
Sports
Ty Lawson aggressively attacked Orlando’s defense, scoring 11 points and handing out five assists in 35 minutes. Be McLemore continued his strong early season play with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Omri Casspi has found it difficult to find time in Dave Joerger’s rotation, but he came out firing against the Magic. Casspi hit 5-for-13 from the field for 12 points and added five rebounds in the loss.
STANDOUT PERFORMER -- Fournier lit the Kings up all night long. Sacramento had no answer for the slashing wing.
TURNING POINT -- The Kings stuck around for most of the fourth quarter, but were never able to get over the hump.
INJURY UPDATE -- Darren Collison missed his sixth straight game due to suspension. He is expected back next Tuesday when the Kings return home to face the Pelicans. Omri Casspi missed the previous two games due to illness. He returned to action Thursday night, playing 23 minutes of the bench for coach Joerger.
WHAT'S NEXT -- Sacramento finishes off their five game road trip with back-to-back contests over the weekend, starting with the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday followed by a trip up north to face the Raptors on Sunday.
