Kings 97, Magic 91

He did, however, deliver 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists.

Cousins finished with a team high 29 points and Rondo flirted with a triple-double in the Kings 97-91 victory.

The two teams battled back and fourth for a few more minutes in the 3rd quarter before the Magic found themselves up 65-61 after an 18 foot jumper by Nikola Vucevic.

The Orlando Magic ran into something of a buzzsaw as the Sacramento Kings locked down defensively and made life hard for the inconsistent Magic.

Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) goes up to shoot between Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon, left, and forward Jason Smith during an NBA basketball game in Orlando, Fla., Saturday, November 21, 2015. Marco Belinelli chipped in 13 points off the bench.

The Kings effort was consistent throughout the game, with the lead either marginally growing or being maintained for most of the first half of action. McLemore and Collison both had poor shooting nights; McLemore had eight points and four turnovers on 3-12 shooting and Collison had nine points and four turnovers on 2-11 shooting. The Kings led, 53-47, at intermission, riding the 15 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots by Cousins.

He was back in the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for hitting Atlanta’s Al Horford with a forearm to the head on Wednesday.

“We came apart when the ball was thrown up tonight”, Magic coach Skiles said. “We just couldn’t find a way to stabilize ourselves”. Those five turnovers led to eight Kings points. Orlando also had just eight free throw attempts for the game, compared to 31 for Sacramento.

Omri Casspi recorded his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Orlando held the Kings to just 14 fourth quarter points, but by then the damage was done as the Magic were unable to erase a 16-point deficit heading into the final quarter. He continues to perform at a high level despite the strife in the organization that includes tension between Cousins and coach George Karl. “Sometimes it gets to him maybe in a negative way, but he cares, he wants to win and he lashes out sometimes in maybe a disruptive way”. They allowed opponents to shoot 46.3 percent from the field last season, but entered Saturday allowing opponents to shoot 42.3 percent this season.