Led by a season-high 24 points from Vince Carter, the Sacramento Kings defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight by a score of 109-95. The Kings have now extended their season record to 12-22.
After a poor outing last night in Los Angeles, the Kings took down the defending Eastern Conference champions in the Cavaliers. The Kings actually started poorly from the field as they shot 1/6 from the floor before they turned it on to close the quarter with a 28-27 lead.
The momentum carried over for the Kings as their second unit pushed the score 45-38 after the Cavs tied it at 38. Buoyed by a 57% clip from the field, the Kings went into the locker-room up 62-55. Bogdan Bogdanovic paced the Kings with 11 points and four assists while shooting 4-4 in the first half.
In the third quarter, the Cavs opened with a 12-4 run which took away the momentum the Kings had in the first half. Unfortunately, for LeBron James and company, the Kings were able to regroup to take an 85-80 lead into the final period.
Once the fourth quarter was in session, Sacramento blew it open. They opened on an 11-3 run and never looked back as Vince Carter put on a show to ice the game. Even at the age of 40, Carter can still do amazing things on the hardwood. Specifically tonight, the inevitable Hall-of-Famer finished the game with 24 points on 10-12 shooting. Seven of his points came in the fourth quarter.
Notes:
- Bogdan Bogdanovic had a career-high eight assists to go with 16 points on 6-9 shooting. He also hit 50% of his three-pointers (3/6).
- Frank Mason III and Malachi Richardson both got their first career NBA starts tonight. Mason III finished with four points, two rebounds, and an assist on 2/3 shooting while Richardson posted the same line on just 1/5 shooting.
- According to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee, Dave Joerger had some words about Skal Labissiere’s playing time saying that both Justin Jackson and Malachi Richardson were getting Skal’s minutes. Skal received his third consecutive healthy scratch tonight.
- Zach Randolph’s shooting slump continues as tonight was his third consecutive game shooting 46% (4-13) or worse from the field.
- With his 24 points tonight, Vince Carter set an NBA record for the most points off the bench by an NBA player who is 40+ years old.