It has simply been a tough season for the Sacramento Kings. Heading into the year there was plenty of optimism with this veteran group, but the club was unable to come together under head coach Doug Christie.
What we saw on Wednesday evening at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, north of the border into Canada, was an impressive performance by the Kings in a spoiler role. Sacramento came through with a 123-115 win over the Toronto Raptors as a 13.5 point underdog.
Five Kings players reached double digits in points. Ironically, it was two former Raptors who carried Sacramento. Power forward DeMar DeRozan of Compton, California and center Precious Achiuwa of Port Harcourt, Nigeria had 28 points each. Achiuwa had a strong defensive presence too as he had 19 rebounds. According to the Canadian Press, that was the second most rebounds that Achiuwa had in a single game. He had 22 rebounds in a 98-90 Toronto win over the Miami Heat on October 24, 2022.
The other three Kings players to reach double digits in scoring were shooting guard Malik Monk of Jonesboro, Arkansas (18 points), point guard Devin Carter of West Palm Beach, Florida (13 points), and shooting guard Daeqwon Plowden of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (11 points). Monk and Plowden came off the bench and were not in a starting role.
This was a significant loss for the Raptors in their attempt to avoid the play-in tournament. They dropped to a record of 42 wins and 33 losses, and find themselves in a sixth place tie with the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference.
