Kings beat Raptors 124-123

De’Aaron Fox scored 27 points in Sacramento Kings’ 124-123 win on Wednesday toronto raptorsthe first three-game losing streak this season.

Fred VanVleet scored a season-high 39 points for the Raptors (13-15) in their fourth loss at Scotiabank Arena. Scotty Barnes had 27 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Pascal Siakam had 19 points and Gary Trent Jr. had 11 for Toronto without OG Anunoby.

Malik Monk scored 24 points and former Raptor Terrence Davis had 19 for Sacramento (15-12) in a tight game that saw the Kings without coach Mike Brown for much of the second half .

Anunoby, who is having a career year on the defensive end, missed his first game of the season with a left hip strain in Sunday’s 111-99 loss to Orlando, which is expected to keep him out for at least a week. . With Thaddeus Young starting in place of Anunoby, the Raptors are using a league-leading 15th different lineup this season.

After a two-game loss in Orlando, the Raptors led by as many as 16 points in the first half, thanks in part to their ball protection — they had zero turnovers, just the second time in franchise history that they had no turnovers in a half .

Brown was ejected with 9:09 left in the third quarter when he angrily charged at an official after the whistle. Several players and assistant coaches stopped him. Fox was also called for a technical foul. VanVleet scored on all three technicals and then made two free throws to make it 73-64.

Deputy head coach Jordi Fernandez managed the remainder of the game.

The Raptors led the fourth quarter 93-88, but the Kings, after losing 123-103 to Philadelphia the night before, closed the gap and took the lead on a 3-pointer by Monk with 7:44 left. . Trailing by four, Barnes hit a 3-pointer in front of the Kings bench to tie the game.

Down five again in a free-throw-laden final minute, VanVleet scored twice in the final 47 seconds to bring Toronto within two. Fox made a single free throw with 5.9 left, and then Van Vleet’s three-pointer bounced off the basket.

Before Wednesday, the inconsistent Raptors hadn’t won more than two games in a row this season.

Davis, who was signed by Toronto during Summer League in 2019 and traded to the Kings nearly two years later, made three 3-pointers in the first quarter. But VanVleet’s fingers were rolling with less than a second to go at the end of the game, as the Raptors ended the period on a 12-4 run and Toronto took a 31-23 second-quarter lead.

The Raptors extended their lead to 16 points in the second quarter, but the Kings led by one on a Keegan Murray 3-pointer with 1:17 left in the half. The Raptors entered halftime with a 62-59 lead.