Attacking the paint also allowed the Kings to get to the line a bunch, shooting 32 attempts. Alas, they missed 11 of those in an off-night from the line. DeMarcus was the only one who really shot poorly, going only 5 of 10 at the line.

Sacramento controlled this game pretty much the entire way through after a slow first couple of minutes that saw Memphis start out on a 7-2 run. Marcus Thornton came out on fire, scoring 16 points in the first quarter alone. Isaiah Thomas also chipped in 9 of his points in the quarter as the Kings scored 37 in the first period and stretched the lead out thanks to a strong finish.

Finishing quarters strong has been a weakness of this Kings' team all year long but they did a great job of it tonight. The second quarter especially was notable, as Memphis managed to claw their way back into the game, going on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to two with just over two minutes left in the half. Sacramento answered back with a 10-2 run of their own to end the half, started off by this ferocious jam by DeMarcus Cousins:

and capped off by a Marcus Thornton steal that led to an excellent fastbreak sequence, giving the Kings a 10 point lead going into halftime.

Coming out of the half, both teams essentially traded baskets for a while, with the Kings not able to get Memphis out of the 8-12 point range, and Memphis not being able to get it any lower. That changed in the 4th quarter though as the Grizzlies went on a 6-0 run that cut the lead to 95-92 with 9:41 left. Tyreke Evans came back and scored four straight points in response, both off of off-ball cuts to the paint.

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