The Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Halliburton (0) gets a hand on the ball against the Toronto Raptors power guard Fred VanVleet on Fri Jan 8, 2021 game at Golden One Center in Sacramento (AP News photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings (4-5) were back in the win column entering play on Friday night. Two days earlier the Kings beat the Chicago Bulls (4-5) on Wednesday night by a final of 128-124. It wasn’t the cleanest game this season for the Kings, but it was nonetheless a victory.

On Friday, the Kings were set to take on another opponent. The Toronto Raptors (2-6) were headed to town. The Raptors have struggled this season. They came into Sacramento with a dismal 1-6 record on the season. The Kings were looking to take advantage of this and get themselves back above the .500 mark. The game was set for 7 PM PST. It would be for not as the Raptors looked like they reverted back to their old championship days with a 144-123 crushing over the Kings.

In the the first half, the Kings played well. The Kings were able to put up 43 points on a scrambled Toronto defense. The Kings defense didn’t hold up well either as the Raptors scored 35. In the second quarter, the Kings weren’t able to score as many points putting up 31 points. The Raptors scored 35 points to shrink the King lead. The Kings led 74-71 headed into halftime. Harrison Barnes had 16 points so far the most in the game.

In the second half, the Kings were destroyed. In the third quarter the Kings were out scored 40-29. In the fourth, the Kings were out scored 33-20. That is about the story. The Kings defense fell apart and the offense couldn’t pick it up.  De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 23 points, and Fred Vanvleet led the Raptors with 34 points.

Up Next: The Kings will play a back to back as the Portland Trailblazers come to town on Saturday. The game is set for 7 PM PST.