The Toronto Raptors (17-12) fell to the Sacramento Kings (11-16) Sunday night at the Air Canada Centre in what was a one sided game. Rudy Gay scored 19 points against his former club, meanwhile, Kings point guard Rajon Rondo recorded his 13th double-double of the season as he scored 19 and dished out 13 assists.
Sacramento had six players score in double figures, including all five starters.
Toronto was led by DeMar DeRozan who put together another strong offensive game, scoring 28 points on 10-of-24 shooting from the field while grabbing seven rebounds. Patrick Patterson was very effective off the bench with 18 points (4-of-8 from behind the arc) and eight rebounds. Other Raptors with decent games included, Terrence Ross who scored 13 points and James Johnson who added 14 points.
This was a very strange game for the Toronto Raptors, as they came out in the first quarter completely flat. The Raptors allowed 37 first quarter points to the Kings and trailed by 19 points heading into the second quarter. However, Toronto would answer right before the half as they would go on a 26-11 run and trailed Sacramento 55-48 going into halftime.
At one point in the second half the Raptors were as close as four points away from tying the game after a big three from Patrick Patterson, however, the Kings were able to perform down the stretch scoring some big buckets. The Raptors probably could have used some help from their All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry, but he was ejected in the third period after getting his second technical foul as a result of arguing a foul call with a referee.
Even though Kyle Lowry was clearly frustrated with the calls tonight you can’t get yourself tossed early in the third. This team needs him way too much, and he’s got to keep himself on the court no matter how irritating the officiating. With the season Lowry has put together this year, if he was on the court down the stretch it could've been easier for the Raptors to make a comeback.
No matter who was on the court, you can't shoot 37.2 percent from the field if your the Raptors and expect to win. Especially since Sacramento finished the game shooting 52.6 percent from the field.
Toronto's play as of late has been very inconsistent, and you can tell they are missing two of their injured starters in Jonas Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll.
Once they get those two back in action, expect the Raptors to clean things up on both sides of the court. The good news is that Carroll is excepted to suit up and play this week for the Raptors after suffering a knee contusion a few weeks ago. The next game for the Toronto Raptors will be back at home against the Dallas Mavericks, while the Kings continue their road trip as they play the Washington Wizards.
Fun Facts/Notable Notes
Kyle Lowry now has seven technical fouls so far this season, tied for the league lead with Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin. Rajon Rondo has 10 or more assists in each of his last six games and is the league’s joint leader in triple-doubles with four. Rajon Rondo is one shy of tying Chris Webber's single-season Kings record from the 1999-2000 NBA season.