Evans, Kings rally to stun Spurs

KINGS 88, SPURS 86

SAN ANTONIO — In an already tumultuous season for the Sacramento Kings, road trips have been especially brutal.

They finally caught a break away from home, in perhaps the most unlikely place.

Former University of Memphis star Tyreke Evans had 23 points and 11 rebounds, including a 22-foot jumper with 47.2 seconds left to put the Kings ahead for good in a surprising 88-86 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.

The Spurs had been 9-0 at home, best in the NBA. Sacramento, meanwhile, had been blown out by an average of 23 points in its seven road losses.

“It just shows you the type of team we’ve got. We’ve got all the pieces to this puzzle,” Evans said. “We’ve got big men, we’ve got guards. We just have to play hard for all 48 minutes. It shows the type of team we can be.”

Demarcus Cousins had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Marcus Thornton also scored 17 points in Sacramento’s second road victory of the season.

The Kings are still trying to sort themselves out after coach Paul Westphal was fired this month following his escalating feud with Cousins.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 24 points. San Antonio led 84-78 with 4 minutes to go but missed its last five shots, including Danny Green’s badly missing a short shot as time expired.

The Kings play the Grizzlies tonight at 7 in Fedexforum. Former Sixer Willie Green scored 14 points and Jeff Teague had 12 for the Hawks, who had a four-game winning streak end.