Cousins has 24 points, 15 rebounds as Kings beat Hawks 91-88

Meanwhile, the Kings will also be aiming for a fourth straight win after making light work of the Lakers in a 112-93 rout at the Staples Center last night. Cousins scored 30 or more points in seven of the last nine games.

Cousins, when asked about whether he’s the best big man in the game, was a little more humble about it.

“DeMarcus has shown at a high, high level that he’s an All-Star, ” Karl said. “Rondo and I argue a lot.”… The Kings advantage was 17-7 on the offensive boards.

Randle lands endorsement deal with Mountain Dew: The beverage that Lakers second-year forward Julius Randle has endorsed likely would not meet the approval of the team’s training staff. Avoiding such consumption also helped Randle lose about 20 pounds while rehabbing his surgically repaired right leg during his rookie season. Tonight I don’t think we flowed like we usually do.

For much of the season, the Kings have won games when they shot well, but had not found the mix of tenacity and timely execution to persevere in a game like Thursday’s.

“We can’t always rely on offense”, Cousins said.

“You can’t be chumped”, Kobe Bryant said.

Lou Williams scored 15 points for the Lakers, who have their seventh losing streak of at least four games this season.

Bryant appeared in his 36th game of the season, surpassing his 35 total appearances last season. The Hawks opened a four-game road trip Wednesday with a 104-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers as power forward Paul Millsap and small forward Kent Bazemore each scored 23 points. The third-leading scorer in National Basketball Association history seemed comfortable on his sore right Achilles tendon, and his sore right shoulder didn’t give him any obvious trouble.

I was actually leaning towards the Kings to win at home in this one, but I can’t ignore how heavily one-sided the ATS trends are in favor of the Hawks. Rondo reached double digits in assists for the ninth consecutive game, extending the Kings’ longest such streak in the Sacramento era.

Though the past 9 games included facing the last place Lakers twice, a Thunder team missing Kevin Durant and a clippers team missing Blake Griffin, the Kings are undoubtedly playing with more tenacity and skill. Lakers F Larry Nance missed his second game with a sore right knee, and he will be re-evaluated Thursday.