The Kings showed signs of life in their loss to Dallas Tuesday, getting off to a hot start and putting forth a meaningful defensive effort for the first time in the seeding games. They just couldn’t score enough to edge past the Mavericks.
The hot start and the defensive intensity carried over against New Orleans Thursday, and Bogdan Bogdanovic provided the requisite scoring push to put Sacramento in the win column. Bogdanovic had a career-high 35 points, hitting his seven shots to give the Kings an early lead en route to a 140-125 victory.