Raptors at Kings
General manager Vlade Divac came out this week and told reporters that coach George Karl’s job was not in jeopardy, and the team hasn’t lost since. The Kings will try to make it three in a row when they host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
Karl was presumed to be on the way out the door after star center DeMarcus Cousins launched a profanity-laced tirade at his coach and Divac reportedly blocked a two-game suspension for the star in response. Instead, Cousins has put together two of his best games of the season and Sacramento followed its star to wins over the Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets. Cousins could have a little more trouble scoring points against the Raptors, who held the starting frontcourt of Omer Asik, Ryan Anderson and Alonzo Gee to a total of seven points in a 100-81 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. Defensive stalwart DeMarre Carroll (heel) returned from a three-game absence in the win and scored 11 points in 33 minutes.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TSN2 (Toronto), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (7-3): Toronto appears fully recovered from a three-game losing streak that included a loss on Tuesday in which it allowed the New York Knicks to score 111 points. The Raptors recovered with a 119-103 win at Philadelphia the next night and really turned up the defense in the second half of Friday’s triumph. The 81 points given up marked the fewest allowed this season for Toronto, which entered the weekend tied for fifth in the NBA in scoring defense.
ABOUT THE KINGS (3-7): Cousins scored 21 points in the third quarter on Friday, including 19 in a row, after a sub-par first half and ended up going 12-of-17 from the field after the break. “I didn’t realize I was shooting that much,” Cousins told reporters. “I didn’t realize what was happening until I came out. But you have nights like that.” Cousins’ two highest-scoring games of the season have been the last two, which came on the heels of a 5-of-20 performance on Monday that led to his infamous rant.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Sacramento PG Rajon Rondo posted a triple-double in three of the last four games.
2. Raptors C Jonas Valanciunas is 26-of-39 from the floor over the last four games.
3. Toronto has taken three straight in the series by an average of 12.3 points.