Sacramento Kings: Winning streak starts against the Wizards

The Sacramento Kings handled the Washington Wizards 109-86 on Sunday afternoon.

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After another impressive victory, I believe we have a winning streak on our hands. Two wins in a row, and a chance to make it three on Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers.

A week ago in Washington, Sacramento was unable to produce in the second half, blowing a double digit lead; but today, it was a four quarter effort that lead to a very impressive win. Ben Mclemore, who scored 17 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers. He was key to their second half performance.

DeMarcus Cousins was very productive despite playing only 23 minutes, as he scored 20 points and added seven rebounds. In fact, it was a productive day for the Kings starting line-up as a whole, as all five starters scored in double-digits.

Derrick Williams has been productive of late, scoring in double figures in two of his last three games. Against the Wizards, Williams had eight points, three rebounds and three assists. Williams seems to fit well in Karl’s system that allows his bigs to run the floor and find space in the offense. Allowing him to go all out in 15-20 minutes, allows Williams to be more effective without hurting his efficiency will on the floor.

Three Stars

Rudy Gay

Another solid performance by Gay. He had 26 points and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes. Gay has been playing much better as of late, and not coincidentally, it has come with Gay being slid over to the power forward spot. This moves opens the floor for the Kings and strengthens the bench.

Omri Casspi

With Gay being moved to power forward, Casspi has been asked to start, and he has responded. He brings hustle and threes to the starting rotation. About those threes, Casspi has six of them in his last 4 games, and is shooting 50% from behind the arc over that stretch. Casspi, like Williams, seems to have benefited from George Karl taking over.

Ray McCallum

With his parents sitting in the crowd, McCallum responded with 13 points, six assists and two rebounds. He also played terrific defense on the Wizards all star point guard, John Wall, who was held to just nine points and eight assists. McCallum has been playing well since the injury of Darren Collison, and the consistent minutes are fantastic for his development.

The Kings next game is Tuesday, and they will get another chance at redemption against the 76ers. The Kings blew a lead against Philly during their last road trip, and they should easily handle Philadelphia and extend their winning streak to three games.

The George Karl effect is officially starting to garner results. His effect is being felt and is giving Kings fans a reason to get excited. Our recent Royal Roundtable talked about Karl’s impact thus far, check it out.