Kings at Hawks
The Sacramento Kings are on an impressive roll and they look to improve their winning streak to five straight games when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday. Sacramento began the streak with home wins over Memphis and Washington and continued it with victories in Miami and Orlando to open a four-game road trip.
The Kings are averaging 116.5 points while quickening their pace and their confidence is growing due to the strong start. "We've never been in this situation before, but it's fun," guard Buddy Hield told reporters after Tuesday's 107-99 victory over the Magic. "... This franchise has been down for a long time, so we've got to try to build it back up." Atlanta has lost three consecutive games and was lambasted 136-114 by the previously winless Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The Hawks committed 22 turnovers and have lost back-to-back games by more than 20 points -- including a 21-point setback against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), FS Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE KINGS (5-3): Hield, who is averaging a team-best 18.9 points, scored 25 points against Orlando for his fourth straight 20-point effort and also collected a career-high 11 rebounds. Point guard De'Aaron Fox (17.5 points, 6.9 assists) and center Willie Cauley-Stein (17.4 points, nine rebounds per game) are also thriving under the faster tempo. "Teams want to set their defense up and we're trying not to let teams be able to set their defense," Fox told reporters. "In the NBA, scoring against a set defense is probably the hardest thing to do."
ABOUT THE HAWKS (2-5): Rookie guard Trae Young scored 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting against Cleveland for this third 20-point outing of the season. Young is averaging 19.1 points but is shooting just 34 percent from 3-point range and he was stunned with how bad the team's defense was while allowing 78 second-half points against the Cavaliers. "Tale of two halves," Young told reporters. "Started out the game, matched their effort, matched their intensity. We had a really good first half and then they made adjustments. We weren't ready to play and couldn't finish it out."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Kings have dropped 11 straight games in Atlanta.
2. Cauley-Stein has recorded a double-double in all four games of Sacramento's winning streak.
3. Atlanta C Alex Len scored a season-high 22 points on 9-of-9 shooting against Cleveland.