THE Kings of Sacramento are looking to bounce back from one of their most surprising defeats of the season when they visit the Magic of Orlando SATURDAY.
Orlando (42-28) is riding a five-game winning streak and has won 18 of its last 23 games to move into fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 12 games remaining.
The Magic continue their eight-game home season against a Sacramento team that lost 109-102 Thursday to the Washington Wizards, who have the worst record in the league at 12-58.
Kyle Kuzma scored 31 points to pace the Wizards, while De’Aaron Fox had 25 and Malik Monk added 20 to lead Sacramento (40-29). The loss dropped the Kings to eighth place in the tight Western Conference playoff race.
“A tough loss, especially where we are right now in our race for a playoff spot,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “But you have to give the Wizards credit, their coaching staff, a lot of credit. They basically took him from us. Kuzma was a handful. We had no answers for him tonight. We got sometimes tried to double him and he still found a way to hit big shots.”
Fox is averaging 25.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals in his last 10 games for Sacramento, which will likely be without guard Kevin Huerter for the remainder of the season.
Huerter suffered a dislocated left shoulder and torn labral during Monday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He averaged 10.2 points in 64 games.
Brown said guards Keon Ellis and Chris Duarte will likely see increased playing time during Huerter’s absence. The two combined for five points on 2-of-11 shooting in the loss to Washington.
“We talk to guys all year and say, ‘Hey, be ready because anything can happen at any time,’” Brown said. “And whether you have two minutes, 20 minutes or 20 seconds, you’ve got to make the most of it. We’re pretty diligent about trying to get that message across whether the guys are in or out.”
Sacramento looks to sweep Orlando this season after winning 138-135 in double overtime on January 3. Magic forward Paolo Banchero scored a career-high 43 points in the loss.
Banchero recorded his second career triple-double on Thursday, finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 121-106 victory over the visiting New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.
Orlando trailed by 12 in the first quarter before taking control late in the game. Jalen Suggs scored 22 points in the win, while Franz Wagner added 18.
“I think it was more about staying in balance than adjustments,” Banchero said. “I think we got a lot of clean looks to start the game. They just didn’t go down. We were just coming together, telling ourselves not to panic, not to worry. We’ll get what we get. We want to defend so much. That was the goal: to make sure we defended and got stops.
Banchero finished strong against New Orleans after missing his first 10 shots.
“Teams take charge of him, defend him in different ways. He makes the right plays, the right pass, without forcing the play,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “He reads what the defense is doing, adjusts as the game goes on and then finds time to attack. That’s what an All-Star does.”
–Field level media
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