National Basketball Association
Phoenix 104, Sacramento 99
When: 10:30 PM ET, Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Where: Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, California
Officials:
#11 Derrick Collins, #15 Bennett Salvatore, #34 Kevin Cutler
Attendance:
17317
By SportsDirect Inc.
Suns 104, Kings 99: Rookie Archie Goodwin went 11-for-13 from the field and scored a career-high 29 points off the bench as visiting Phoenix downed Sacramento to end a three-game losing streak.
Marcus Morris tied a season high with 22 points while Markieff Morris added 15 for the Suns (48-34), who completed the best turnaround of the NBA season by posting 23 more victories than they did a season ago. Gerald Green tallied 12 points and was the only other Phoenix player to finish in double figures.
Rookie Ben McLemore erupted for a career-high 31 points for the Kings, who managed to go 28-54 for the second straight season. Travis Outlaw tallied 15 points and Ray McCallum poured in 13 while Aaron Gray (13 rebounds) and Jason Thompson (11 boards) helped Sacramento enjoy a 54-40 advantage on the boards despite the absence of suspended center DeMarcus Cousins.
McLemore came up two points shy of his previous career-high point total in the first half alone as Sacramento played Phoenix to a 47-all draw at the break. The Kings controlled most of the third quarter and matched their biggest lead of the game at 78-71 early in the final stanza before Marcus Morris bookended an 8-0 spurt with a 3-pointer and mid-range jumper to put Phoenix ahead by one.
Gray put Sacramento back in front on the other end – converting on his fourth try at the basket – but Goodwin answered with a jumper and the Morris twins scored the next six Suns points to preserve the tenuous advantage. Quincy Acy’s three-point play evened it at 94 with just over four minutes left, but Goodwin drained a short jumper and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to seal it.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Goodwin, who had logged only one minute in April prior to Wednesday, reached double figures for the fourth time in 52 games. … Cousins, who finished third in the NBA with 53 double-doubles, served a one-game suspension on Wednesday after picking up his 16th technical foul in Sunday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. … Phoenix became the fourth team in league history to miss the playoffs after posting at least 48 wins.
Top Game Performances
Phoenix |
|
Sacramento |
Archie Goodwin 29 |
Scoring |
Ben McLemore 31 |
Ish Smith 8 |
Assists |
Ben McLemore 5 |
Marcus Morris 6 |
Rebounds |
Aaron Gray 13 |
Archie Goodwin 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Ben McLemore 10 |
Archie Goodwin 2 |
Steals |
Aaron Gray 2 |
Alex Len 1 |
Blocks |
Isaiah Thomas 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Phoenix
|
104 |
46.5 |
8-20 |
16-22 |
16 |
40 |
5 |
9 |
11 |
Sacramento
|
99 |
43.0 |
4-19 |
21-30 |
19 |
54 |
3 |
8 |
17 |