Kings at Magic
The Sacramento Kings seek their fourth consecutive victory when they visit the struggling Orlando Magic on Tuesday. Sacramento opened a four-game road excursion in stellar fashion while recording a 123-113 triumph over the Miami Heat on Monday.
The Kings are above .500 after seven games for just the second time in 12 seasons, the other time being a 5-2 start in 2014-15. Sacramento will look to control the interior against the Magic in the same way it did against the Heat, holding a 68-38 edge in points in the paint while also possessing an 18-8 margin in fast-break points. Orlando has dropped back-to-back games behind a suspect defense -- the Magic allowed 120.5 points in the two losses -- and has lost four of its last five contests. "We're getting crushed -- two games in a row, here -- by the good (but not great) players," Orlando coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "I'm not saying that it's easy, but if we're not going to be able to guard the good players, then we're not going to be able to play defense."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), FS Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE KINGS (4-3): Center Willie Cauley-Stein had another big game with 26 points and 13 rebounds against the Heat and he has recorded three consecutive double-doubles. Cauley-Stein was 11-of-17 shooting to raise his percentage to 58.1 and he has scored in double digits in all seven games, including three outings of 20 or more points. Shooting guard Buddy Hield has topped the 20-point mark in each game of the winning streak and he was 4-of-6 from 3-point range versus Miami while matching his season high of 23 points.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (2-4): Orlando took a franchise-record 43 3-point shots in Saturday's 113-91 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks but managed to make just 10. "It is part of our game plan to have a lot of us shooting 3s and space the floor," center Nikola Vucevic told reporters. "Our 3s (against the Bucks) weren't exactly good ones. You can't just shoot any shot. You've got to make sure you work for the right one." The Magic are shooting just 31.6 percent behind the arc with the struggling players including Jonathon Simmons (18.8), Evan Fournier (29.3), Terrence Ross (30.3) and Aaron Gordon (30.8).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Kings have won the past three meetings.
2. Sacramento backup PF-C Kosta Koufos (hamstring) had six points and four rebounds in 12 minutes in his season debut.
3. Gordon had just nine points on 3-of-15 shooting against Milwaukee and missed all six 3-point attempts.