The Sacramento Kings aim to carry some momentum on the road Thursday night against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Sacramento secured a 120-111 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night, breaking a recent slump. The Kings were 1-6 in their previous seven games before that contest and used solid team play to earn their first home win of December.
Malik Monk was particularly effective, scoring 17 points and dishing out a game-high 12 assists. Domantas Sabonis led the team with 27 points, while De’Aaron Fox contributed 22 points and seven assists.
The Grizzlies saw their six-game win streak come to an end on Tuesday with a loss to the Mavericks on the road.
Dallas rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final quarter to secure a 121-116 win. Memphis led 111-103 after a Ja Morant three-pointer at the 3:31 mark, but the Mavericks closed the game on an 18-5 run to seal the NBA Cup game.
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins expressed frustration after the game that the Mavericks were awarded 26 free throws in the fourth quarter compared to only three for the Grizzlies, who play an attacking style.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, this disparity was the largest in a quarter in an NBA game since 2015.
Despite their overall win streak being snapped, Memphis will have another streak on the line Thursday night as the Grizzlies have won five consecutive games at FedEx Forum.
There is reason for optimism in Memphis despite the loss to Dallas. Ja Morant scored a team-high 31 points against the Mavericks and appears to have recovered from a November hip injury. Desmond Bane, who had missed several games with a strained oblique, snapped out of a shooting slump to finish the game with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
Rookie big man Zach Edey seems close to returning from an ankle injury, and fellow rookie Jaylen Wells continues to outperform expectations for a first-year player.
Wells was named NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month for October and November. A second-round pick out of Washington State, Wells averaged 12.2 points and shot 45.4 percent in 20 games, 15 of which he started. He leads all Western Conference rookies in scoring.
