SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento Kings dropped another game at home on Friday night, falling to the Los Angeles Clippers by a final of 117-107. With the loss, Sacramento is now 24-33 on the season and just 14-15 at Sleep Train Arena this season.
Swish. That was the only sound the Clippers made during their incredible 20-0 run in the third quarter. Led by nine-time All-Star Chris Paul and the sharpshooting Jeff Green, Los Angeles capitalized on every Kings miss and mistake.
Paul finished the night with 40 points on 13-for-20 shooting. Once he got his numbers, Paul started dishing the rock, handing out a game-high 13 assists and adding eight rebounds in the win.
Green, acquired by the Clippers at the trade deadline last week, scored nine of his 22 points during the third quarter run. He buried three big triples as the Clippers pulled away.
Jamal Crawford continued his torment of the Kings, finishing the night with 21 points and J.J. Redick added 16 in the Clippers win.
DeMarcus Cousins looked like a man on a mission from the opening tip. With Rajon Rondo sitting the game out with a thumb issue, the offense ran through Cousins and he responded with another big night.
Sacramento’s star center put up 26 points, 15 rebounds and dished out nine assists, barely missing a triple-double. On the downside, Cousins shot just 7-for-20 form the field and turned the ball over seven times.
[WATCH: Frustrated Cousins rifles ball at Chris Paul's head, hits Clippers guard]
Seldom used Seth Curry made the most of his minutes off Karl’s bench, scoring a career-high 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting. The Kings need someone to step forward at the shooting guard position and Curry had a nice statement game. Whether it was enough to earn him minutes of Ben McLemore (five points on 2-for-4 shooting) or Marco Belinelli (two points on 1-of-4 shooting) is unknown.
With Rondo ailing, Darren Collison got the start and did his best to keep the Kings in the game. He finished the night with 18 points and five assists in 37 minutes of action.
Rudy Gay chipped in 23, but is wasn’t enough to get the Kings over the hump against a very good Clippers team.
STANDOUT PERFORMER
The stars were shining bright in Sacramento on Friday night. Vanilla Ice provided the halftime entertainment, while DeMarcus Cousins and Chris Paul dueled it out on the floor. Cousins nearly dropped in a triple-double and Paul finished with a huge 40-point, 13-assist, eight-rebound night in a wild one in Sactown.
TURNING POINT
The Kings jumped out to an eight-point lead to start the third quarter and then the Clippers caught fire. Riding the hot hands of Green and Paul, the Clippers went on a 20-0 run to take a 12-point lead.
INJURY UPDATE
Rajon Rondo missed the game with tendinitis of the right thumb. X-Rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day going forward. Rudy Gay appeared to have tweaked his right shoulder late in the game. He remained in for a few more minutes, but it’s something to watch going forward.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Kings have the weekend off before returning to their home court on Monday to take on Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
