
The Sacramento Kings are looking to bounce back after Wednesday’s 120-111 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’ll face off against the Orlando Magic on Friday night, but do so without the services of All-Star Center DeMarcus Cousins, who is serving a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.
Sacramento is 2-7 this season without Cousins in the lineup. They’ll have to find someone to replace his 27.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game if they hope to snap their three-game losing streak.
Orlando hit the reset button at the trade deadline, dealing away veterans Tobias Harris and Channing Frye so they could turn the team over their young core. Big man Nikola Vucevic leads the way for the Magic, averaging 17.8 points and nine rebounds per game, but he will miss Friday’s game with a sore groin.
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LINE
Kings by 1.5
WHERE THEY STAND
Kings: 25-38, third place in Pacific
NBA
Magic: 27-36, last place in Southeast
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Willie Cauley-Stein vs. Aaron Gordon -- Cauley-Stein has struggled to find minutes in George Karl’s rotation, playing just 36 minutes over the Kings' last four games. But with Cousins missing the game, Karl will have little choice but to turn to the athletic 7-footer. Gordon has taken off since his incredible showing in the Slam Dunk contest at All-Star weekend. This should be a fun matchup between two of the more athletic bigs in the game today.
INJURY REPORT
Kings: C DeMarcus Cousins (suspension) out, SG Ben McLemore (right ring finger) out, G Seth Curry (right foot sprain) probable, SG Marco Belinelli (mid-back) probable, C Willie Cauley-Stein (sore right shoulder) probable.
Magic: C Nikola Vucevic (sore groin) out, PG Elfrid Payton (right elbow sprain) out.
SERIES HISTORY
Sacramento won the only other match between these two teams in November, besting the Magic 97-91 on their home floor. The Kings hold a 28-25 advantage over the Magic all-time.
QUOTABLE
“I think DeMarcus is doing very well this year, and playing really hard. This is something (where) he was emotionally overwhelmed. Something that he shouldn’t do. We (needed) to send a message about what kind of organization we’re going to build. It’s (not a) big deal.” -Vlade Divac on DeMarcus Cousins