DeMar DeRozan has been an important player for the Kings, and he will get another chance to prove his worth on Saturday night when Sacramento faces his old team, the Toronto Raptors.
DeRozan scored 27 points and had eight rebounds on Friday night, helping the Kings win 123-115 against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Kings have won their first two games on a four-game road trip and have three straight wins overall.
Meanwhile, the Raptors have lost four games in a row, including a 131-125 defeat at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. During the game on Saturday, the Raptors will honor Hall of Famer Vince Carter by retiring his No. 15 jersey.
DeRozan joined Sacramento from the Chicago Bulls in July as part of a three-team trade. He has scored 20 or more points in each of his first five games with the Kings.
The only other players in the franchise’s history to achieve this are Chris Webber, who did it for seven straight games, and Oscar Robertson, who had six in a row.
One reason the Kings wanted DeRozan was to improve their free-throw shooting, both in attempts and success rate.
On Friday, DeRozan made 8 out of 10 free throws, and the Kings as a team shot 26 for 30 (86.7 percent). Last season, they had the lowest free-throw percentage in the league at 74.5 percent.
“DeMar has always been a good free-throw shooter,” said Kings guard Kevin Huerter, who scored 10 points on Friday. “Having him be one of the guys that gets there consistently over the course of the game helps with that.”
De’Aaron Fox was the top scorer for Sacramento with 31 points on Friday, while Domantas Sabonis added 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Atlanta fought back to tie the game at 109-109 with 5:51 remaining. DeRozan helped the Kings secure the win by making four free throws in the last 1:25.
“We were a little frantic there,” said Kings coach Mike Brown. “And we put the ball in DeMar’s hands, and you just see his rhythm, his pace. Really, really good. There’s no panic about anything he does.”
Fox remarked, “(DeRozan) just makes the game so easy. Obviously, teams don’t want to switch smaller guards on him, and then he’s able to get to the free-throw line so well. So he’s definitely a tough cover, but he’s such a willing passer that he makes the game so much easier for everybody else.”
The Raptors received 33 points and a career-high 12 assists from RJ Barrett on Friday and made a strong comeback in the second half after being down by as much as 26 points. Gradey Dick also had a career-best 31 points, while Jakob Poeltl contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds.
The Raptors were behind 43-19 after the first quarter but got within six points multiple times in the fourth quarter.
“The first quarter was definitely a problem,” said Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic. “We found the rhythm in the second quarter and found our mojo and energy, and since that point we were playing really well.”
Toronto played without Scottie Barnes (right orbital fracture), Immanuel Quickley (pelvic contusion), Bruce Brown (knee surgery), and Kelly Olynyk (back strain).
Ja’Kobe Walter, who had been sidelined with a shoulder injury, scored five points and grabbed six rebounds in 22 minutes during his NBA debut on Friday. He was selected 19th overall in this year’s draft.
“He has a really good nose for the ball,” Rajakovic said. “He’s a really good on-ball defender. He has very active hands, long arms. He’s very disruptive, and he has a very good feel to go get offensive and defensive rebounds.”
