Sacramento Kings to improve their stats against Toronto Raptors on Monday
The game is the first road game for Toronto Raptors this season and they are willing to take on Sacramento Kings by storm on the court.
Raptors are going in with a 101-81 point victory against Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night. Andrea Bargnani scored 20 points while Linas Kleiza scored another 19 for the Raptors, who earlier lost their season opener to New York
Knicks.
Reggie Evans played his parts with 14 rebounds as Raptors made 47.6 percent of their shots against the Cavaliers. Kings split the home series with Raptors a year back while the Raptors have won 5 of their last seven meetings with
Kings. The only thing not favouring the Raptors is that their win-loss ratio at ARCO Arena is 1-11 in past 12 trips.
Kings lost to New Jersey Nets earlier this season and regained their confidence in Saturday’s boosting win against the Cavaliers. Reigning Rookie of the year Tyreke Evans’ is the brightest of Kings’ players on the court while DeMarcus
Cousins is the promising lad this year.
Kings finished last in the Pacific Division for the last couple of seasons winning a total of 42 games on the way. The incredible opening campaign by Evans is the reason behind King’s confidence as they enter this season with victory
written all over their minds. Evans is not only the reigning Rookie of the year but he was the fourth overall pick in 2009 draft and averaged a charming 20.1 points, 5.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds in the last season. In his first couple of games this season,
he has scored a total of 39 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds which is an astonishing average to start with.
Kings have a lot of faith in Cousins as well, who was the fifth overall pick in the draft this season. Cousins, certainly has got the potential and he displayed that in the first two games this season. Averaging 13.3 points and
7.3 rebounds per game, Cousins scored 14 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s 107-104 win against Cleveland. Even Kings’ coach Paul Westphal has a lot of confidence in young Cousins. "He made some big plays," the coach said. "I love his spirit and his enthusiasm
and his skill."
The earlier loss to New Jersey Nets came down as a disappointing one for Sacramento since their 6 points lead was blown away by the Nets in a 106-100 points win. The 16 points lead against the Cavaliers came as a pleasant surprise
for Kings’ fans as Evans scored 21 points with Beno Udrih helping him out with his 12 points and 11 assists.
Toronto Raptors have begun their season 1-1 in their home games. A comeback from the 98-93 points’ loss to Knicks, to a 101-81 points’ victory against Cleveland was just too exciting for the Raptors.
Cleveland and Raptors had something in common in that game; both the teams were missing their superstars, who surprisingly took their talents to South Beach together forming the Miami Heat’s “Big Three”. These stars were of course
LeBron James for the Cavaliers and Chris Bosh for the Raptors. Bosh was Raptors’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder; however, Reggie Evans is trying his best to fill the gap left by Bosh and so far he has been very productive with a total of 30 rebounds
so far in the season.
Evans stated that it was the defence that saved the day for them.
"I think our defence kind of sustained throughout the whole game and it really showed and carried on to the offense," Evans said. "We got some easy transition buckets. It was a good feeling; the defensive end really won the game
for us."
The test of road games will not only be an early one for the Raptors but it will also be a tough one, since they have to meet Los Angeles Lakers on the way.
A Kings’ player that Raptors should watch out for is Omri Casspi, who added 20 points in their win against the Cavaliers. Kings are the favourites for the night due to their record while Raptors are no less of a talented team and
are capable of turning the tables as well.
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