What we learned as Kings spelled revenge in comeback win against Raptors

What we learned as Kings spelled revenge in comeback win against Raptors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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SACRAMENTO – Finally, the Kings were on the right side of a late rally, escaping with a 122-107 bounceback victory against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at the Golden 1 Center.

They entered the game looking for revenge against the only team they fell to during their most recent road trip – and they got it.

Returning home from an all-over-the-place four-game road trip, the Kings began to play still looking a little tired from all the travel.

The first quarter – and really the first half – was a snoozefest in Sacramento. The Kings gave the Golden 1 Center crowd little to cheer about for most of the first 24 minutes of action.

But an all-around performance from Keegan Murray from start to finish helped keep them afloat and strong finishing performances from the big three helped them close things out.

DeMar DeRozan led the way with 27 points. De’Aaron Fox added 21 and Domantas Sabonis had a 17-point, 11-rebound, 13-assist triple-double.

It wasn’t pretty, but hey, they take it.

Here are the takeaways from the win.

Setting the tone

If there was any sign of life early for the Kings, it was Murray.

His first quarter stats alone were comparable to others’ last game statlines, contributing 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range with five rebounds (three offensive).

Murray’s influence was so pervasive that Kings coach Mike Brown couldn’t resist playing him the entire opening frame.

The 24-year-old didn’t get back into the game until the 5:08 mark of the second quarter and added two more points, two more rebounds and an assist.

He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, three assists in 35 minutes. It’s his fourth double-double of the season, matching his double-double total from his entire rookie 2022-23 season in just eight games.

The bench is still a concern

Kings players coming off the bench not named Malik Monk or Keon Ellis have been unimpressive and even unplayable at times, to put it bluntly.

It was still like that on Wednesday.

Kings coach Mike Brown has said he doesn’t want to play his starters for more than 38 minutes, but it’s clear the coach still isn’t comfortable with his rotations.

DeRozan — the oldest player on the team — played the most minutes of anyone at just over 35. Murray played 35, Sabonis and Fox played around 33 and Kevin Huerter played 23.

Meanwhile, Monk led all bench scorers with 13 points in 21 off the bench. Keon Ellis played 23 minutes. The rest of the bench played a total of 32 minutes.

Trey Lyles continues to struggle after returning to action from a groin injury.

Alex Len was impressive on the defensive end of the floor, earning the team’s Defensive Player of the Game crown after grabbing six rebounds and four blocks in 14 minutes.

Right side of late collapse

One of the biggest concerns about the Kings last season was their way of collapsing late after taking a big lead early.

That frustrating trend has carried over a bit this season – not on Wednesday.

After Wednesday morning’s pre-contest shootaround, DeRozan admitted he was looking forward to facing the Raptors again to get their revenge against the team that just defeated the Kings in overtime just four nights ago.

And DeRozan made sure to take matters into his own hands when things got ugly on Wednesday.

The six-time NBA All-Star, along with Fox and Sabonis, helped put things away as any good Big Three should.