Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
If the Los Angeles Clippers‘ 112-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday was the last time the Kings will be playing in Sacramento, then it was quite a show for the road.
Marcus Thornton had one of his better nights in a while with 21 points for the Kings. He couldn’t offset the fabulous performance of teammate DeMarcus Cousins, who put on quite a show with 36 points, 22 rebounds and three blocks.
The NBA probably won’t decide until next month if the Kings will be moving to Seattle or if they’re staying in California.
More than 17,000 Kings fans packed the arena for Wednesday’s game. If they had done that with more frequency the past several years, they might not be in danger of losing their team. It’s not going to be easy keeping the kings in Sacramento when the owners realize the advantages of going back to Seattle, which obviously has more to offer. The NBA is the only pro sport in Sacramento, but Seattle being a multi-sport town definitely presents its advantages.
The Kings fans will definitely miss Thornton, who was on the court for 37 minutes and was 8-of-20 from the floor, 5-of-12 in 3-pointers and totaled 21 points and three assists. Cousins was simply out of this world with his performance in 41 minutes with 14-of-24 shooting from the floor and 8-of-11 in free throws.
For the season, Thornton was solid with 72 appearances and eight starts. He averaged 24.0 minutes. 12.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game and shot 42.9 percent from the floor and 37.2 percent in 3-pointers.
