Kings at Suns
The Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns are both spending the final month of the season building toward the future, but only one seems to be making a lot of progress. The Suns will try to continue the strides they've made since the All-Star break when they host the Kings on Wednesday.
Phoenix made a commitment to its younger players after the All-Star break, benching veteran center Tyson Chandler and veteran guard Brandon Knight in order to open up playing time for younger players like Alan Williams and Tyler Ulis, and the results have largely been positive. The Suns' most promising young player continues to be 20-year-old shooting guard Devin Booker, who is averaging 28 points over the last four games. Sacramento changed direction in a big way with the trade of center DeMarcus Cousins during All-Star weekend and is just 2-8 since the deal, though it picked up a 120-115 triumph over Orlando on Monday to snap an eight-game slide. The Kings are making their own turn toward youth in the frontcourt, where Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere are getting extended looks without Cousins eating up all the minutes.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE KINGS (26-41): Cauley-Stein has been the biggest beneficiary of the minutes opened up by Cousins' departure and is averaging 13.8 points in the last 10 games. The 23-year-old Kentucky product delivered 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting in Monday's win and added seven rebounds in a balanced effort that saw seven Kings score in double figures. Labissiere, who was barely part of the rotation prior to the All-Star break, was one of those seven with 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocks on Monday and scored in double figures five times in the last 10 contests.
ABOUT THE SUNS (22-45): Phoenix power forward Alan Williams took on a larger role when Chandler was benched and is making the most of it with seven double-doubles in the last nine games. The 24-year-old from UC Santa Barbara scored in double figures three times before the All-Star break but scored at least 10 points in each of the 10 games since the break. Ulis is taking advantage of his extra minutes as well and is averaging 10.3 points and 5.7 assists in 23.3 minutes this month.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings SG Tyreke Evans (ankle) missed Monday's win and is questionable for Wednesday.
2. Suns C Alex Len (hip) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.
3. Phoenix snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with a 105-103 win at Sacramento on Feb. 3.