NBA Gameday: Youth takes center stage against Suns

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UPDATE (5:26pm PT on Wednesday): Roughly 90 minutes before tip-off, the Kings announced that PG Darren Collison and SF Anthony Tolliver will miss Wednesday's game due to planned rest. SG Tyreke Evans is listed as probable with a sore left ankle.

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After dropping eight straight games, the Sacramento Kings bounced back on Monday night against the Orlando Magic, coming away with the 120-115 win at Golden 1 Center. They travel to Phoenix trying to make it two in a row Wednesday evening against the young, but erratic Suns.

Seven players scored in double-figures for the Kings against Orlando, including a team-high 19 from both Darren Collison and Anthony Tolliver. The young core of Buddy Hield, Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere all started for Sacramento and chipped in a combined 46 points and 22 rebounds in the victory.

Phoenix is buoyed by a pair of scoring guards in Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker. Bledsoe bull rushes at opposing defenses, while Booker loves the 3-ball. Each player is averaging 21.1 points per game on the season for a team that sits near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. 

LINE 

Suns by 6

WHERE THEY STAND 

Kings: 26-41, third place Pacific

Suns: 22-45, fourth place Pacific

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Skal Labissiere vs. Marquese Chriss -- Vlade Divac drew the ire of plenty of fans and NBA talking heads when he traded down from the the no. 8 spot in the 2016 NBA Draft in a deal with Phoenix that included the No. 13 and No. 28 picks plus the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic. The jury is still out on Georgios Papagiannis, the 13th overall selections, and Bogdanovic is currently playing for Fenerbahce of the Turkish league, but the 28th pick yielded Labissiere, who is quickly showing his value. 

Since the All-Star break, Labissiere is averaging 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game. Divac passed on Sacramento-native Marquese Chriss, who is averaging 8.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game on the season for Phoenix. Both of these young forwards have tremendous potential going forward and should see each other plenty of times over the next decade.

INJURY REPORT 

Kings: SG Malachi Richardson (right hamstring partial tear) out, F Rudy Gay (torn left Achilles) out for season.

Suns: C Alex Len (hip) questionable, F Dragan Bender (ankle) out.

SERIES HISTORY 

The season series between these two teams is all tied up at 1-1. Phoenix leads the all-time series 131-88 and they hold an 84-49 advantage during the Sacramento-era.

QUOTABLE

“It’s a good group and they get along and they go play hard. That’s kind of the identity that we’re hoping to have going forward. Whoever plays, this is how we do it here. We have great fans, a wonderful arena and we go out and and we play really hard.” -Dave Joerger following the win over Orlando

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