The Sacramento Kings hit the road tonight and shocked former teammate Isaiah Thomas and his Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. DeMarcus Cousins led the way with 25 points and 18 rebounds before fouling out during a wild fourth quarter. Rudy Gay shot just 5-for-22 from the field, but the upstart Kings found a way to pull out the 114-112 double overtime victory and improve to 5-1 on the season.
Solid defense and timely stops helped the Kings come back twice in the two overtime sessions, as they pick up their fifth consecutive win and improve to 3-0 on the road in this early portion of the season.
Join James Ham and Rui Thomas for the Road Reaction Postgame Show on Google+ after the game. The show can be watched on the video player embedded below. You can also join the discussion of tonight’s game by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj1H0MfejYU]Music Credit: Ronald Jenkees – Guitar Sound
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What to watch
1. A clash of philosophies
The Suns outsprint their competition (ranking second in the NBA in fast break points according to teamrankings.com) and set up 3’s. The Kings favor operating in the halfcourt, shooting within the arc (29th in 3-point attempts) and bodying up defenders (first in the league in free throw attempts with 40 per game). It will be crucial how either team adapts to the play style of the other.
2. Slowing the little engine
Isaiah Thomas, is currently averaging 18.6 points per game on 52.3 percent shooting from the floor and 40.9 percent from behind the arc, and he has a score to settle with his former employer. The ex-King will come off the bench early, and the entire backcourt rotation will be tasked with defending the ultra-quick spark plug.
3. Five wins in a row?
The last time the Kings won five regular season games in a row, they did so playing a team which doesn’t exist today. On February 10, 2007, a starting lineup of Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin, Ron Artest, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kenny Thomas defeated Ray Allen’s SuperSonics in Seattle 114-93. The Suns are the Kings’ first of four opponents on their week-long road trip, so a fifth straight win would go a long way.
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