Cousins, Kings cruise past Suns
PHOENIX -- Sacramento forward DeMarcus Cousins scored 24 points, and the Kings opened the season with a strong 113-94 win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
Forward Rudy Gay added 22 points for the Kings, who ended the first quarter on a 16-1 run and never led by less than 10 points the rest of the way.
Forward Matt Barnes had 14 points and guard Garrett Temple contributed 12 for the Kings, who won only 33 games last year.
Guard Devin Booker led Phoenix with 18 points but struggled with foul trouble.
Guard Eric Bledsoe had 16 points and forward T.J. Warren added 14 points for the Suns, who showed little life in their home opener until a trio of players making their NBA debuts -- guards Marquese Chriss and Tyler Ulis and forward Dragan Bender -- helped cut a 26-point deficit to 10 in the second half.
The Suns missed 11 of 19 shots in the first period as an early 18-14 lead disappeared quickly. The Kings ended the first quarter on a 16-1 run, six of the points by guard Ben McLemore. The Sacramento bench outscored the Suns 20-1 over the final 2:54, with Temple's floating jumper with two seconds left giving the Kings a 30-19 lead after one quarter.
Phoenix never got closer in the second quarter, committing six turnovers.
Booker scored eight points in the first half and committed his third foul with 1:08 left.
Gay had nine points in the second quarter and increased the Kings' lead to 50-32 on a three-point play. Temple's 17-foot with 2.8 seconds left increased the Sacramento lead to 57-38 at the half. Gay was the only player from either team to reach double figures in the first half.
The Kings extended their lead to as many as 26 points in the third quarter. Cousins had 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting, and his two free throws made it 80-54 with 3:21 left.
Then the youngsters showed some lift for Phoenix. Bender and Ulis had seven points during a 9-2 Suns run to end the third quarter and started the fourth with another run. Chriss scored following a 3-pointer by Bender to cut the Sacramento lead to 86-76 with nine minutes left.
Bender had 10 points in 12 minutes.
But that was it for Phoenix. Gay answered with a dunk and followed a 3-pointer by Barnes with one of his own to make it 94-77 Kings, and Sacramento rolled from there.
NOTES: Kings G Darren Collison began his eight-game NBA suspension, leaving starting G Ty Lawson as the only true point guard on the opening-night roster. ... Suns coach Earl Watson said F P.J. Tucker, recovering from back surgery last month, would be limited to cameo appearances of 10-12 minutes for the first few games. Tucker was scoreless in six minutes Wednesday. ... The Suns' opening-night roster included four teenagers: G Devin Booker turns 20 on Sunday, F Marquese Chriss and F Derrick Jones Jr. are 19, and F Dragan Bender is 18. ... The Suns and Kings are in the same division but faced each other to open the season for just the second time. The other was a 107-89 Sacramento win on Nov. 4, 1994 behind 20 points from Mitch Richmond. ... New Kings coach Dave Joerger on how he would view his team from the outside: "We're an interesting group. You never know. That's the scary part. If you are on the other side, you just don't know."