Kings look to take positive vibes on the road

The Sacramento Kings downed the Toronto Raptors for their third win in a row Sunday night and now sit at a 4-7 record. The 107-101 victory was the final game of a home stand as the Kings now set out on a five-game road trip that begins in Atlanta on Wednesday and ends in Milwaukee a week later. Following the win over the Raptors, head coach George Karl and some of his players shared their thoughts on overcoming a late 10-point deficit and how important this win was leading into the long trip out east.

What Went Right

George Karl: "They didn't hurt us with the rebound, which is two of their strengths are rebounding and free throws and I think we won both of those things ... They made some shots in that fourth quarter going to the rim, but I think their forte is getting fouled and making the three and the jump shot more than actually getting to the rim. Cuz took away that and forced them into some bad possessions because of it. And then of course, I think we stopped them the last eight, maybe nine possessions, which gave us transition, which I think is our most efficient offense."

"I thought Ben [McLemore] came in and made a big hoop, but also got more defensively active on the ball ... [Rajon] Rondo and Rudy [Gay] and Ben, I think the last three minutes was really, they were confident on the ball, we made good reads, good decisions and shut down some guys who were having pretty good games."

DeMarcus Cousins: "I think we're playing some good team ball. I think our defense has been pretty good lately, I think we're moving the ball well, I think we're communicating and I think we're starting to find our chemistry. I think guys are learning each other better now and it's just resulting, it's carrying over to the floor." "We switched a lot. Switched one through the five ... pressed up more on DeMar [DeRozan] so he couldn't get to his right hand and game planned for [Kyle] Lowry as well. I think we just executed our defensive scheme pretty well tonight."

Rudy Gay: "We're playing fast, we're playing for each other, we're moving the ball and we're playing defense." "We're learning from our mistakes. I mean we make mistakes, a lot of mistakes out there; we learn from them and building on. But I think we're learning each other and we're making up for each other and that's what you have to do to be a good team."

Marco Belinelli: "We played good, we played together on offense and defense. We didn't give up the game when we was down by 10 in the last six, seven minutes ..."

Ben McLemore: "I think it was tremendous. I think we fought for 48 minutes and we competed and we played team ball, we moved the ball, everybody played for each other, sacrificed. Tonight was a great win and we needed it."

What Went Wrong

Karl: "We force; part of the gig is to get the three ball, you've got to make it, and once you make it the middle might open up. We seem to force the middle, or the short pass, the interior pass. We all do ... Quincy made the best read of the night driving one time and threw the ball to someone, I think Ben in the corner for a wide open three. We need to find that shot more ... the whole game right now is give up basket, give up three, give up basket, give up three ... we have the three ball but we force the basket a little bit too much."

Belinelli: "We've still got a couple mistakes, especially on defense, our transition defense. But we'll be better, we just need to work."

Gay: "They knocked down a lot of tough threes, but it is something we can fix for next time. There's obviously little mistakes that we can work on."

McLemore: "We've just got to limit our turnovers."

What's Next

Karl: "We haven't been on the road much, and I think we all know that it takes a little more to win on the road, but I think the momentum of winning three in a row could be a positive."

Gay: "It's going to be a long road trip. I'm glad we got these three wins going into it because we're playing some tough teams. It's something that we've got to build on."

Belinelli: "It was important for us to win these games, but I think the most important thing is going to come right now because we go on the road for I think 10 days so we're going to play against good team and we need to play better and we need to come back with wins."

McLemore: "I think being here at home for this home stretch kind of helped us prepare ourselves for this upcoming road trip."