The Cavaliers had no way to stop the Sacramento Kings inside or outside on Monday night at Sleep Train Arena.
DeMarcus Cousins handled the inside with 26 points and 14 rebounds, and the Kings hit 9 of 19 3-pointers en route to a 124-118 victory and a sweep of the two-game season series.
The Kings beat the Cavs in Cleveland, 97-94, on Jan. 2 without their second- and third-leading scorers — Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton. They were playing the second night of a back-to-back and had just one road victory to that point.
The Kings made it a little easier on themselves on Monday with a crew full of contributors. Thornton had 20 points, Evans 18 and even Jimmer Fredette chipped in 16 as Sacramento improved to 14-24 overall, 11-10 at home. The Kings shot 51 percent from the field (43 of 84), 47 percent from 3-point range and also made 29 of 33 free throws.
The Cavs kept it close, primarily because of a career-high 33 points from rookie Dion Waiters that included 16 in the fourth quarter.
“I thought he played great,” Cavs coach Byron Scott said of Waiters. “He scored, made some great decisions offensively. He didn’t turn the ball over. He did some real good things offensively, did some good things defensively. Had a couple of breakdowns on the defensive end, but other than that I thought he played well.”
But Cleveland still lost its third straight to drop to 9-31, 1-12 this season on the second night of a back-to-back. Tristan Thompson had 17 points and 15 rebounds, and C.J. Miles added 17 points. Kyrie Irving had 15 points but made just 6 of 19 shots and had six turnovers.
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