SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento Kings return to their home court Monday night looking to extend their season-long five-game winning streak. They will face the Charlotte Hornets who have won two straight and three out of four despite a bevy of injuries.
Led by DeMarcus Cousins’ breakout month, the Kings are 8-3 in January and squarely in the playoff race for the first time in a decade. Cousins is fresh off a career-high 48-point, 13 rebound game on Saturday night and he’s posted 10 straight double-doubles.
With half of his team showing up on the injury report, Kemba Walker has stepped up his scoring in the month of January. The 25-year-old guard is averaging 24.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.2 rebounds in the month as his usage percentage has skyrocketed to 30.3 percent.
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LINE
Kings by 6.5
MATCHUP TO WATCH
DeMarcus Cousins vs. Kemba Walker -- No, these two won’t face off head-to-head, but they will provide the bulk of the scoring for their respective teams. Cousins is running away with the Western Conference Player of the Month award, leading the league in scoring since the turn of the new year. Walker’s team hasn’t had the same success that the Kings have had, but he’s playing as well as any guard in the league over the last few weeks.
NBA
WHERE THEY STAND
Kings: 20-23, third place in Pacific
Hornets: 21-23, fourth place in Southeast
INJURY REPORT
Kings: F Rudy Gay (heel) is probable, F Eric Moreland (foot surgery) out, F Duje Dukan (lower leg) out.
Hornets: C Al Jefferson (knee) out, F Nic Batum (sore big toe) questionable, G Jeremy Lamb (toe) questionable, C Cody Zeller (shoulder) out, F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (shoulder) out.
SERIES HISTORY
The Hornets overcame a 17-point fourth quarter deficit and held on to defeat the Kings in overtime on Nov. 23. With that victory, Charlotte holds a 12-10 lead in the all-time series between the two clubs.
QUOTABLE
“It feels good knowing the stuff that we had to endure this year as a team. It definitely feels good that we’re hitting our stride right now but it’s still a long season. We’ve got to stay humble, we’ve got to stay grounded, we can’t let our guard down and we’ve got to keep plugging away.” -- Darren Collison