Thomas has 26 to lead Kings’ 124-80 rout of Cavs
Sacramento Kings guard Isaiah Thomas, right, drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao, of Brazil, during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, January. 12, 2014. AP
SACRAMENTO, California—Isaiah Thomas scored 26 points and the Sacramento Kings won their third straight game with this season’s biggest rout, a 124-80 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday (California time).
The Kings scored 16 straight points in the third quarter and led by 28 points heading into the fourth. The three-game winning streak is Sacramento’s first since December 2012. The 44-point victory margin was the largest in the NBA this season, according to STATS.
C.J. Miles had 14 points and Luol Deng added 12 for the Cavaliers, who had won two straight.
Cleveland went just over five minutes without a basket in the third quarter, when it shot 4 of 20 and was outscored 30-11. The Cavaliers were outscored 65-30 in the second half.
San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half as the Spurs held off the Minnesota Timberwolves 104-86 for its fourth straight win.
Tim Duncan had 15 points and Tony Parker added 14 points and 10 assists for Western Conference-leading San Antonio. Matt Bonner also scored 14 points—including 4-for-5 shooting on 3-pointers—and Marco Belinelli had 13 points and Patty Mills added 10.
Nikola Pekovic scored 22 points to lead Minnesota. Kevin Love had 14 points and Alexey Shved added 11.
Already without Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter, the Spurs lost Danny Green early in the second quarter to a sprained finger. Minus two of their top wings, Leonard took over in the second half.
At Memphis, Tennessee, Mike Conley had 21 points and 13 assists, and Zach Randolph added 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies over the Atlanta Hawks 108-101.
Paul Millsap scored 21 points to lead the Hawks, who had won two straight. It was only the Hawks’ third loss to the Grizzlies in the past 15 games.
Memphis pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Conley, who tied a career best with 31 points in a victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday. Conley had eight points in the final quarter, including two free throws that gave the Grizzlies a 102-92 lead with 2:46 left.
Mike Miller also had eight points in the fourth quarter for the Grizzlies, including two 3-pointers. He finished with 15 points.
