The Sacramento Kings were overrun by the Toronto Raptors in a Sunday matinee, losing 118-112 in an offensive firefight. The Raptors shot 58 percent from the floor as Andrea Bargnani scored 30 points and DeMar DeRozan racked up 28. Leandro Barbosa added 18 off the bench. The Kings, missing Tyreke Evans (ankle), shot just 44 percent, but stayed in the game thanks to wonderful offensive rebounding, a solid job drawing fouls and few turnovers.
DeMarcus Cousins hit for 18 points on 8-14 shooting with 10 rebounds and two blocks, but struggled with foul trouble and played 28 minutes. Beno Udrih scored 25, and shot 3-4 on three-pointers. The rest of the Kings shot 2-12 from downtown; Francisco Garcia was 1-6 from behind the arc and Omri Casspi was 1-5. Carl Landry had 22 points off the bench. He had three offensive rebounds, and each of DMC and Jason Thompson had four.
Toronto is a decent offensive team, especially at home. But the Kings made them look like the Lakers. Bargnani had no problem getting whatever shot he wanted, and Jose Calderon (nine assists) basically did whatever he pleased. The Raptors are simply awful on defense, and many of the missed threes by Garcia and Casspi were open enough to be good shots. Had a couple gone down, this would have been a different game. But they didn't, and those shooting struggles by the team's two small forwards who get minutes combined with Evans' absence were too much to overcome. (Jermaine Taylor, who replaced Evans in the starting five, scored 4 points on 2-8 shooting.)
The Kings play Tuesday at Washington. Hassan Whiteside will be with the team, and Evans is expected to play.