TORONTO _ The Kings took knockout blow after knockout blow from the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night; thing was, the Kings didn't land any haymakers of their own.
The defending NBA champions slugged their way to a 124-120 win over the Kings behind 24 points from Kyle Lowry, 23 from Pascal Siakam and 21 from Serge Ibaka. Harrison Barnes had 26 points to lead the Kings while Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 22 and Buddy Hield had 21. The Kings hit 20 of 43 3-pointers to hang with the Raptors.
But the Raptors knew how to close out a win. In the fourth quarter, Lowry drained 3s and Ibaka had a thundering dunk as the Raptors never let the Kings come within a basket of the lead.
Barnes hit a 3 with a minute to go to draw the Kings within four, but they were unable to get any closer.
The Raptors were red hot in the first half, shooting at a 70% clip for much of the first 24 minutes. They also hit 17 of 19 free throws. But for the first time this season, the Kings didn't let the game get out of hand while the other team was rolling. Though they shot just 43% in the first half, the Kings trailed just 66-58. Pin that on offensive rebounds, as Sacramento nabbed seven offensive boards in the first half. Toronto, which made virtually every shot, had just two.
