Kings Win 103-88, Leave Bulls Seeing Red

In a game filled with runs, down the stretch it was just too much DeMarcus Cousins and too much Sacramento Kings (7-5) that left the Chicago Bulls (8-4) seeing red, as the Kings would get the win 103-88. Cousins finished with a stat-stuffing 22 points, 14 rebounds and four assists as M-V-P chants blasted from the Sacramento crowd in a sold-out arena for the Kings’ second nationally televised game of the season.

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Rudy Gay contributed 20 points on an efficient 11 shots and Darren Collison, who had 17 points, 12 assists (only one turnover) and six rebounds, showed leadership-like traits as he and the rest of the team held the Bulls at bay as they were forced to leave Sacramento with their first road loss of the season (now 6-1 away from home). The Kings shot 51% from the field while holding the Bulls to 42%.

The Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose-less Bulls came into Sleep Train Arena shooting, and making. The Bulls and Kings traded blows early in the first quarter, but the Bulls pulled out to a ten point lead towards the back-end of the quarter, largely due to their three-point shooting (Bulls shot 5 for 11 in the opening quarter). The Kings trailed by seven at the end of the first.

A quick run to open the second quarter, fueled by defense, primarily four forced turnovers in the first six minutes, and led by the almost-forgotten Derrick Williams, put the Kings three points behind. D-Will had 10 points in his first 10 minutes in the game.

And by the time the resting Cousins had re-entered the game, the Kings trailed by two. Rudy Gay and Cousins would exchange buckets and by the end of the quarter, Rudy would have 13 points, 10 in the second. The Kings stretched the lead to eight at one point before the Bulls dropped the deficit to five at half.

The Kings held the Bulls to 38% shooting in the second quarter as the Kings outscored the Bulls 30-18 in the Q. And there would be no second half decline on this night.

In the third quarter, the Kings would press on, increasing their lead to 12 at 61-49 after six straight points from the big-man, or as I like to call it: some Boogie magic; as well as a trey by Ben McLemore, which was his third of the game. But after two quick buckets from the Bulls to bring them within seven, Coach Mike Malone called a timeout to calm his team.

And after four more points by DMC, in which he looked like the Superman, a few matched buckets, and a Joakim Noah meltdown, the Kings had pushed their lead to 13. By the end of the third, the Kings had an 80-68 lead.

The Bulls made a key decision to start Noah in the fourth quarter, while the Kings left Cousins, who had four fouls, on the bench. After a Noah bucket, DeMarcus returned, however, Boogie’s appearance was short-lived as he’d pick up his fifth foul on an iffy offensive-foul call.

With Cousins sitting anxiously on the bench, the Bulls trimmed Sac’s lead to eight. But, almost like a Bat-signal for Batman (yes, DeMarcus is two super heroes in one recap), Boogie checked in. The Kings then stretched the lead to thirteen with less than four minutes to play.

Responding to a Taj Gibson basket, Cousins all but sealed the game on a lay-in, as the Kings got back into the win column, bouncing back from a tough loss on Tuesday. The Kings now head to the road for a four-game trip, which starts in Minnesota on Saturday.

NOTES:

The Kings had a season-high 26 assists.

After going 5 for 11 in the first quarter from the three-point-line, the Bulls went 0 for 8, to finish 5 for 19 from beyond the arc.

The Kings had six players scoring in double figures on the night.