Collison, Kings end Celtics' win streak
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Darren Collison scored 26 points and proved to be better than the man he replaced Wednesday in leading the Sacramento Kings past Isaiah Thomas and the Boston Celtics 108-92 at the Golden 1 Center.
The Kings (21-32) snapped Boston's seven-game winning streak and earned only their third win in their past 11 home games despite playing without leading scorer and rebounder DeMarcus Cousins.
Collison, who replaced Thomas as the Kings' point guard three seasons ago, had much to do with it. He made 12 of 21 shots from the field and added five assists, including a blind, over-the-shoulder alley-oop to teammate Willie Cauley-Stein for a ferocious dunk that nearly brought down the house in the fourth quarter.
Cousins sat out due to an automatic suspension after picking up his 16th technical foul of the season Wednesday in the Kings' home loss against the Chicago Bulls. He is eligible to return for the Friday home contest against the Atlanta Hawks.
Sacramento also lost guard Ty Lawson to a strained left hamstring with 5:48 left in the first half. Lawson walked straight to the locker room after taking a jumper, and television cameras showed him in the tunnel clutching his hamstring.
His status for the Friday game will be evaluated Thursday.
Ben McLemore added 17 points off the bench for Sacramento, while Cauley-Stein and Matt Barnes each scored 14. Barnes and Kosta Koufos added 11 rebounds apiece for the Kings.
Sacramento used a 16-1 spurt in the fourth quarter to go up 96-79 and enjoyed a rare easy romp to the finish line.
Thomas, the NBA's second-leading scorer and former Kings draft pick, scored 26 points and added seven assists. He has scored at least 20 points in 36 consecutive games, four games shy of John Havlicek's team record.
Avery Johnson added 14 points for Boston, which opened a four-game Western Conference road trip by having its longest winning streak since February 2013 snapped. Boston, which made an average 13.4 3-pointers during the winning streak, made 10 of 32 attempts against Sacramento.
NOTES: Kings F DeMarcus Cousins was fined $25,000 by the league for making an obscene gesture toward a fan during a Feb. 4 win over the Warriors, and the Sacramento Bee reported that he has now been fined $150,000 for various infractions this season -- $50,000 of it for technical fouls. Cousins also missed a game check for his one-game suspension Wednesday, reported by the Bee to be $192,152. ... Cousins will be suspended for one game for every second technical foul he receives the rest of this season. The Kings have 29 games left. ... Celtics G Isaiah Thomas averaged 15.3 points and 4.8 assists in 216 games over three seasons with Sacramento before the Kings dealt him to Phoenix for F Alex Oriakhi in June 2014. Oriakhi, currently playing professionally in Mexico, hasn't suited up in the NBA. ... Celtics G Avery Bradley (Achilles strain) will not return until after the All-Star break.