Coming off a season low 69-point outing in Memphis last night, the Sacramento Kings looked to bounce back against the Charlotte Bobcats for the second game of their three-game road trip on Saturday night.
While the Kings continued to search for their fourth road win, the Bobcats would try to avoid losing their 14th-straight game at home.
After Charlotte split the first free throws for the first point of the game, the Kings went on a 10-0 run en route to a 25-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.
James Johnson came off the bench for nine points and four rebound for the Kings, but the Kings couldn't get any more separation from the home team, leading 51-46 at the half.
The Bobcats put the pressure on the Kings in the second half as they tried to end their losing streak that has lasted since Nov. 23.
Sacramento would get in foul trouble early in the fourth quarter after going into the penalty with 9:20 left in the game. However, the Bobcats struggled from the free throw line throughout the game.
The Bobcats finally gained their first lead since the first half, leading 90-88 with 3:34 left in the game. From there Tyreke Evans scored six-straight points for the Kings.
Going down to the wire, Kemba Walker shot an air ball for the Bobcats and Isaiah Thomas split a pair of free throws to seal a 97-93 victory for the Kings to end the first half of the season.
DeMarcus Cousins finished with his 10th double-double in the last 13 games with game-highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists.
Thomas had 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals, Marcus Thornton scored 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting off the bench and Evans scored 16 points.
Walker had 14 points and a game-high 10 assists, Ramon Sessions a team-high 16 points off the bench and Gerald Henderson finished with 15 points and five rebounds.
The Kings (16-25) got their third road win all-time in nine tries against the Bobcats (10-30) and their fourth road win of the season. After the Kings notched 24 assists, coach Keith Smart will take that win:
"Anytime you get a win on the road, it's always good no matter what. ... Our assists, when we have our team plays and we have 20 assists plus, we always thought we're going to be in a pretty good chance winning a basketball game."
Johnson, who finished with nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks, helped the Kings late in the game with his defense. He talked about the team's mindset going into close games on the road:
"I know the guys on our team and none of us would like to lose. We know that we have had bad road win success (4-15) early this year and the previous season. They know all of this and we have nothing to lose.
"We just want to come out, finish strong and get educated how to finish games and as soon as we do that and learn how to win on the road like how we do it at home I think we're going to be a lot more successful this year."
The Kings will finish their road trip against the revitalized New Orleans Hornets on Monday at 10 a.m. PST.
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