by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings eight game losing streak came an end in Indiana on Saturday night as they beat the Pacers 99-94. Rudy Gay (31), DeMarcus Cousins (20) and Darren Collison (23) combined for 74 of the Kings 99 point total.

“What really helped set the tone was the main three primary guys … and guys kind of took our lead. Once we did it – everybody got into the flow,” said DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins had a tough night shooting going six for 24 from the field, but the Kings’ big man had a perfect night from the free throw line going eight for eight. Cousins grabbed 19 rebounds to record his 28th double-double of the season. He also had three assists and three steals.

When asked how he felt about ending the losing streak Cousins said, “It’s not a good feeling being on a losing streak like that. Come out and get a win – get some relief. Now hopefully we can build off the win.”

Rudy Gay led the Kings in scoring with 31 points including going 11 for 11 from the free throw stripe.

“Especially at time like this, you have to get the ball in the hoop someway, somehow, and I figured (out) a way to do it today,” Rudy Gay said after the game.

Darren Collison put up 23 points shooting nine for 15 from the field including going three for six from 3-Point range. The Kings point guard pulled down five rebounds, dished out five assists and one steal. Collison turned the ball over just once in the game.

Collison said, “We were able to move the ball, get better shots. I thought we got off to a good start.” He scored 12 of his 23 points in the first quarter.

The Kings big three played big minutes on Saturday night. Gay played 43:57, Collison 39:43 and Cousins logged 38:46. Carl Landry was the only player to come off the bench and play double digit minutes (25:32).

The bench was not a factor for the Kings against the Pacers. The Kings bench scored just 11 points compared to the Indiana bench that scored 56 points.

Sacramento shot 42.5-percent (34 for 80) for the game. They were five for 15 (33.3-percent) from beyond the 3-Point line. The Kings shot 88.7-percent (26 for 29) from the free throw line.

The Kings took better care of the basket versus the Pacers. They turned the ball over just 12 times and had 16 assists. They needed to record more assists but the turnover total was in the acceptable range.

Sacramento out-rebounded Indiana 46 to 40.

The Kings defense also showed up on Saturday night. They held the Pacers to just 41.3-percent (33 for 80) shooting. Indiana shot just 20.0-percent (5 for 25) from beyond the 3-Point arc. The Pacers average 32.6-percent for 3-Point shooting this season.

After the game Kings Head Coach Tyrone Corbin said, “It feels good. We needed to get a win – a tough road win. We had to stick it out there at the end to get it. Through it all we hung together and persevered – was able to get a win that we needed. We stopped the slide.”

David West and CJ Miles led the Pacers in scoring with 17 points each.

The Kings flew home to Sacramento after the game.

Coming Up

The Kings come home and will have three of their next four games at Sleep Train Arena.

Tuesday the Kings host the Golden State Warriors. This will be the final meeting of the teams for the season.