DeMar DeRozan has made a significant impact on the Kings, and he’ll have another chance to prove his worth on Saturday night when Sacramento visits his former team, the Toronto Raptors.
On Friday night, DeRozan scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds, leading the Kings to a 123-115 road victory over the Atlanta Hawks. This victory marks the Kings’ third consecutive win and the first two games of their four-game road trip.
The Raptors, on the other hand, have lost four in a row, including a 131-125 defeat at home to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. The Raptors will also retire Hall of Famer Vince Carter’s No. 15 jersey in a ceremony during the game on Saturday.
DeRozan, acquired by Sacramento from the Chicago Bulls in July as part of a three-team trade, has scored 20 or more points in each of his first five games with the Kings. The only other players to achieve that with the franchise were Chris Webber (seven straight) and Oscar Robertson (six in a row).
One key reason the Kings brought in DeRozan was to improve their free-throw attempts and accuracy. DeRozan went 8-for-10 at the foul line on Friday, and the Kings were 26-for-30 (86.7 percent) for the game. Last season, they were last in the league in free-throw percentage at 74.5 percent.
De’Aaron Fox led Sacramento with 31 points on Friday, while Domantas Sabonis contributed 15 points and 14 rebounds. Atlanta rallied to tie the game at 109-109 with 5:51 left, but DeRozan helped hold off the Hawks by sinking four free throws in the final 1:25.
The Raptors got 33 points and a career-best 12 assists from RJ Barrett on Friday, rallying in the second half after trailing by as many as 26 points. Gradey Dick added a career-best 31 points, and Jakob Poeltl had 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Toronto trailed 43-19 after one quarter but closed the gap to within six multiple times in the fourth quarter.
The Raptors were without Scottie Barnes (right orbital fracture), Immanuel Quickley (pelvic contusion), Bruce Brown (knee surgery), and Kelly Olynyk (back strain). Ja’Kobe Walter, who had been out with a shoulder injury, made his NBA debut on Friday, scoring five points and grabbing six rebounds in 22 minutes. Walter was drafted 19th overall this year.
