Kings at Suns
The Sacramento Kings have put some distance between themselves and the bottom of the Western Conference recently, leaving the basement to the Phoenix Suns. The Suns will try to climb out of that hole when they host the Kings on Thursday. Sacramento secured a rare road win at Golden State on Wednesday and will be looking to take back-to-back road contests for the second time this season. Phoenix will try to avoid a fifth straight loss.
The Suns have dropped eight of their last nine and trail the New Orleans Hornets by two games for the right to not finish last in the West, with the Kings a game ahead of Hornets. Phoenix has been experimenting with new lineups in the final month of the regular season and even went as far as to sit Goran Dragic on Wednesday to give rookie Kendall Marshall the start at point guard. Whoever gets the nod at point for the Suns on Thursday will have to deal with Sacramento guard Isaiah Thomas, who has been strong of late.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet California (Sacramento), Fox Sports Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE KINGS (26-46): Thomas hit a career-high seven 3-pointers en route to 31 points on Wednesday and has scored 24 or more points in four of the last six games. The second-year guard has hit 48.5 percent of his 3-point attempts in the last four contests and had the ball in his hands for the clinching free throws on Wednesday. Thomas and the Sacramento offense had one of its best games of the season at home against the Suns on March 8, when he was one of four Kings players to go over 20 points in a 121-112 triumph. Sacramento shot 55 percent in that contest and Thomas, Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton combined to go 13-for-18 from 3-point range. The Kings require that sort of offensive explosion in order to overcome their defense, which sits last in the NBA in average points allowed.
ABOUT THE SUNS (23-49): Dragic was coming off a 31-point, 12-assist performance when he was curiously left out of Wednesday’s game, though Phoenix is certainly in evaluation mode with all of its players the rest of the way. The lengthy look at Marshall revealed a strong passer who turned in 13 assists in the 103-88 loss at Utah. The Suns have also moved Wesley Johnson into the starting lineup and have spread the floor with a smaller unit. Phoenix took the first two meetings from the Kings this season and had won four straight in the series before falling earlier this month. The Suns will get four of their next five at home as they attempt to avoid last place.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Phoenix C Jermaine O’Neal returned from a two-game absence due to a calf injury on Wednesday but struggled to three points in 16 minutes off the bench.
2. Kings C DeMarcus Cousins has averaged 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in nine career games against the Suns
3. Dragic has averaged 12.3 points and 11.3 assists in the three meetings with Sacramento this season.