SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Tyreke Evans scored 23 points and the Sacramento Kings rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Toronto Raptors 111-108 on Monday night.
The Kings, who won three of their first four games for the first time since the 2003-04 season, have won their last five home openers. Beno Udrih scored 17 points, rookie DeMarcus Cousins had 16 points, and Omri Casspi had 14 for the Kings, who rallied from an 18-point deficit to pick up a road win Saturday in Cleveland.
Andrea Bargnani scored 28 points for the Raptors and DeMar DeRozan had 24. Linas Kleiza had 18 points, Jose Calderon scored 13 and Reggie Evans collected 19 rebounds.
DeRozan drove the baseline for a dunk with 13.3 seconds left, pulling the Raptors to within 109-108. Udrih made two free throws for a three-point lead and Toronto missed two shots from close range in the closing seconds.
Tyreke Evans scored on an acrobatic layup off the break and Cousins followed with a put back, giving the Kings a 102-98 lead with 3:46 remaining. A three-pointer by Casspi put Sacramento on top 107-99 with 1:46 left, capping a 11-1 run.
The Raptors dominated the first half when they never trailed and had a 16-point advantage in the third quarter. A high-arching three-pointer by Casspi gave the Kings their first lead at 96-95 with 5:59 remaining in the game.
Cousins, who turned 20 in August, demonstrated his youthfulness in the opening quarter, picking up two fouls in two minutes and heading to the bench. But he had a strong second half and made some key baskets in the fourth quarter.
West Coast road trips have not been kind to the Raptors over the past six years. Toronto, which has remaining road games against Utah, the Lakers and Portland over the next five days, has lost 45 of its last 53 games on the West Coast.
It's a different Raptors team this year with longtime standout Chris Bosh signing with Miami as a free agent in the off-season and Hedo Turkoglu getting traded to Phoenix.
It didn't help the Kings that Evans didn't come out of the locker-room at intermission due to an upset stomach after scoring 16 first-half points. He came in at the 7:05 mark and promptly handed off an assist and helped Sacramento its deficit to 86-78 entering the fourth.
Bargnani had his way with the Kings' post players in the opening half, scoring 17 points, while DeRozan had 15. The Raptors shot 58 per cent and led 62-51 at the half. They outscored the Kings 33-16 in the first quarter.
Notes: An animated Kings coach Paul Westphal got a technical foul early in the second quarter for arguing an offensive foul against Kings reserve forward Darnell Jackson. ... The biggest roar of the night came when the San Francisco Giants were shown winning Game 5 and winning their first World Series since 1954.
