Previewing Spurs-Kings: Rudy Gay reveals why he's playing 'terribly'
With their current homestand consistently producing tough opposition, the Sacramento Kings badly need DeMarcus Cousins back on the floor.
The Kings have lost five straight and 24 of 26 meetings with San Antonio, though they hope to have Cousins back Monday night against the Spurs.
Sacramento (1-6) has dropped all four games without Cousins, who averages 22.0 points and 11.0 rebounds and has been out with a strained right Achilles. He is targeting a return for this contest, which marks the third on a six-game stay at Sleep Train Arena.
Rudy Gay, who averages 17.1 points, is shooting 37.1 percent in the games Cousins has missed compared to 45.1 when the star big man has been on the court.
"I would love to have DeMarcus back. That's my running mate," Gay said. "We need him back. That's reason why I've been playing terribly."
The Kings were blown out in their first two games without Cousins before starting this homestand by losing 116-110 to Houston and 103-94 the next night to Golden State.
"I don't think anybody's happy about where we are," coach George Karl said. "We also know the last two games we've moved in a good direction and it's time to stay positive, it's time to grow, come together. I think it's very easy to see that and now we've got another great competition coming up with San Antonio."
The Spurs (4-2) come to town after shooting a season-high 55.6 percent in Saturday's 114-94 rout of Charlotte. Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points, Patty Mills added 15 off the bench and San Antonio finished with a season-high 35 assists.
"It was good, we came out of the game with 35 assists, you know it seemed like our offense was clicking today," Leonard said.
The Spurs are among the best in the NBA with a 48.1 shooting percentage even though they are mixing in newcomers LaMarcus Aldridge and David West.
"We're all learning each other and it's good to know that when we have glimpses like that," Mills said. "It makes for an exciting sort of time, to know that if we can pull it all together and be more consistent with it, we'll be all right."
Tony Parker has logged more than 30 minutes just once and will match up at point guard with Rajon Rondo, who had 14 points along with season highs of 15 assists and 12 rebounds for his first triple-double Saturday in 44 minutes.
Rondo was forced to shoulder a heavy load since Darren Collison will be sidelined indefinitely by a strained left hamstring. Collison gave the Kings a big lift off the bench, averaging 15.8 points and 5.2 assists through the first six games.
The Kings will look for offense from Marco Belinelli, who scored a season-high 22 on Saturday. Belinelli will face the Spurs for the first time after playing for them the last two seasons.
"He's a guy that can get hot, he's a guy that can take over a quarter coming off the bench," Karl said.
Sacramento is also hoping that backup guard Seth Curry can return from a one-game absence due to an injured ankle.
