Isaiah Thomas Leads Sacramento Kings To Season’s Biggest Blowout, 124-80 Over Cleveland
By Phil Watson
Jan 12, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings point guard Jimmer Fredette (7) high fives shooting guard Ben McLemore (16) after the play against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Sacramento Kings scored the biggest blowout of the 2013-14 NBA season to date at Sleep Train Arena on Sunday, holding the Cleveland Cavaliers to just 48 points over the final three quarters of a 124-80 victory.
The win was Sacramento’s third in a row, led by Isaiah Thomas, who scored 26 points and also handed out six assists.
Cleveland shot 13-for-23 in the opening quarter whole opening a 32-30 lead. But the rest of the game was colored purple.
The Cavaliers were just 18-for-57 the rest of the way (31.6 percent) and scored only 18 points in the second quarter, 11 in the third and 19 in the fourth.
The Kings, meanwhile, led 59-50 at halftime, 89-61 after three quarters and were up by as much as 46 points in the fourth period.
Sacramento set its season high with eight blocked shots in the game—three by Rudy Gay and two each by Jason Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins. Thompson also had a season-high 16 rebounds as the Kings crushed Cleveland on the glass, 50-32.
Gay added 20 points for Sacramento, Cousins had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Derrick Williams and Jimmer Fredette each scored 13 points off the bench.
C.J. Miles led the Cavaliers with 14 points. Luol Deng had 12, Earl Clark 11 and Anderson Varejao 10. Kyrie Irving, one of the leaders in the All-Star voting in the Eastern Conference, was held to seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.
The Kings shot 42-for-81 (51.9 percent) overall and hit 15-of-30 from 3-point range. The 15 3-pointers were one off the franchise record for most in a game. The Kings knocked in 16 against the Warriors on Feb. 2, 1989, and tied the mark with 16 long bombs against Boston on Feb. 17, 2004.
The margin of victory matched the third-largest in franchise history. The Kansas City Kings beat the Nuggets 146-102 on Dec. 22, 1982. The franchise record margin is 58 points, set in a 139-81 win over Dallas on Dec. 29, 1992. The Kings also posted a 56-point victory, 154-98, in their very next game on Jan. 2, 1993.
Sacramento now embarks on a season-long six-game road trip, beginning Tuesday night at Indiana, when they face the Pacers for a 4 p.m. tipoff. The trip continues through Jan. 22 with visits to Minnesota, Memphis, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Houston.