Grizzlies at Kings
The Sacramento Kings are suddenly having trouble getting stops and not generating enough points to overcome the defensive mistakes. The Kings will try to bounce back when they host the struggling Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
Sacramento surrendered 132 points in back-to-back losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder to fall into the team's first losing streak this month. The Kings opened a three-game homestand on Wednesday by allowing the Thunder to shoot 50 percent from the floor and race out to a 19-point lead at the half before falling 132-113. The Grizzlies are losers of four straight and six of the last seven games and failed to reach 100 points in any of those seven contests. "We've got to get it done - it's that simple," Memphis coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters after a 99-92 loss at Portland on Wednesday. "We can come up with schemes and tricks and all that, but on the offensive end of the floor we've gotta take the shots that are available to us."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS South (Memphis), NBCS California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (16-15): Memphis center Marc Gasol went 4-of-13 from the floor in Wednesday's loss and is averaging 11.8 points on 36.1 percent shooting in 10 games this month while insisting the team is still holding together. "Of course, we have urgency," Gasol told reporters. "Of course, I mean, it's not working out the way we wish but everyone in this locker room and from the coaching staff is on the same page and we want to win, and just (when the team goes) through rough patches, that's when you hold onto each other even more." Point guard Mike Conley (hamstring) returned from a one-game absence on Wednesday and scored 23 points on 7-of-19 shooting.
ABOUT THE KINGS (16-15): Sacramento remains one of the surprise teams of the first two months of the season and got strong efforts from its backcourt in Wednesday's setback. Shooting guard Buddy Hield, 25, scored a career-high 37 points while knocking down 7-of-14 from beyond the arc and scored at least 20 points in each of the last five games to push his season average to a team-leading 19.9. Point guard De'Aaron Fox, 20, went for 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting on Wednesday while handing out 12 assists and is averaging 18.2 points and 7.4 assists.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings SG Bogdan Bogdanovic (foot) sat out Wednesday and is day-to-day.
2. Memphis SF Omri Casspi (illness) sat out Wednesday and is questionable for Friday.
3. The teams split the first two meetings, with Sacramento earning a 97-92 home win on Oct. 24.