Kings 104, Raptors 94
TORONTO -- Guard Rajon Rondo scored 19 points and dished out 13 assists and the Sacramento Kings defeated the Toronto Raptors 104-94 on Sunday.
The Kings (11-16) also had 19 points from forward Rudy Gay, who grabbed nine rebounds.
Forward Omri Casspi added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, with center DeMarcus Cousins scoring 15 points and taking nine rebounds and guards Ben McLemore and Darren Collison contributing 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Raptors, who trailed by as many as 22 points in the first quarter, cut the lead to four points early in the fourth quarter with the rally fizzled.
Guard DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors (17-12) with 28 points.
Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry had 13 points, four assists and five rebounds before he was ejected during the third quarter after picking up two technical fouls.
Forward Patrick Patterson added 18 points for Toronto, forward James Johnson had 14 and forward Terrence Ross 13. Center Bismack Biyombo had two points and 13 rebounds for Toronto.
The Kings led by as many as 22 points before ending the first quarter with a 37-18 lead. Casspi led the way for the Kings with 10 points as the Raptors allowed the most points in an opening quarter this season.
The Raptors chipped away. After Patterson came up with a steal and completed it with a running dunk with 28.9 seconds left in the first half, the Kings took a 55-48 lead in the intermission.
DeRozan had 18 first-half points for Toronto and Lowry had 13. Gay led the Kings with 12 first-half points.
The Raptors trimmed the lead to five points early in the third quarter. The Kings went up by nine points with 7:22 to play in the third when Lowry was charged with two technical fouls and, as a result, was ejected. Gay made both shots on the technical fouls to give the Kings a 63-54 lead. The Kings led 78-70 after three quarters.
A steal and a running dunk by Johnson early in the fourth quarter cut the Kings' lead to 82-78.
The Kings pulled ahead by nine points before Johnson made a driving layup with 5:05 to play to cut the lead to five points. After Cousins increased the lead to seven with a layup, Patterson's 3-pointer reduced the lead to four. But Gay hit a 3-pointer and Casspi made a layup for a nine-point Sacramento lead.
DeRozan's two free throws left Sacramento with a 99-92 lead with 3:15 to play. Collison made a 3-pointer that gave the Kings a 10-point lead. Collison added a layup with 1:10 to play and Sacramento led 104-92.
NOTES: The Raptors assigned F Anthony Bennett to their NBA Development League affiliate, Raptors 905, for their game Sunday afternoon and recalled him for the Sunday night game against Sacramento. ... The Raptors also recalled F Delon Wright, F Bruno Caboclo and G Norman Powell. ... C Willie Cauley-Stein (dislocated right index finger) and F Eric Moreland (fractured left foot) remained out of the Kings' lineup. ... C Jonas Valanciunas (fractured left hand) and F DeMarre Carroll (right knee contusion) were still out for the Raptors. ... In their first meeting this season, the Kings defeated the Raptors 107-101 on Nov. 15 at Sacramento with C DeMarcus Cousins scoring 36 points. ...The Raptors play their next game Tuesday at home against the Dallas Mavericks. ... The Kings travel to Washington for a game against the Wizards on Monday.