SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Kyle Kuzma scored 32 points and the Washington Wizards beat the Sacramento Kings 125-111 on Friday night to end a six-game trip.
鈥淲e got it done tonight,鈥� Kuzma said. 鈥淲e played good tonight. 鈥� I put my heart out there every night. I come ready to play. I have something to prove to myself every single night."
The Wizards had lost 10 of their last 11. They snapped a 10-game losing streak with a victory at Phoenix on Tuesday night, then fall at Utah on Thursday night.
鈥淚t was our defense,鈥� Wizards coach Wes Unsend Jr. said. 鈥淚t allowed us to get out there and run. It鈥檚 one of the things we preached all year. If we get stops, we have the freedom to push.鈥�
Bradley Beal added 24 points for Washington (13-21) and Rui Hachimura had 21.
鈥淚f we think we鈥檙e just going to show up and go through the motions because our record is what it is, we鈥檙e going to be in for a rude awakening,鈥� Kings coach Mike Brown said.
Domantas Sabonis had his second consecutive triple-double for Sacramento (17-14) with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. De鈥橝aron Fox scored 26 points, and Malik Monk had 16.
鈥淲e just had too many possessions where one or two people touched the ball," Monk said. 鈥淯s playing terrible on defense made bad shots happen. We just played terrible tonight.鈥�
Washington opened the second quarter on a 28-9 run and led by 30. The Wizards outscored the Kings 70-50 in the paint.
鈥淭he Kings aren鈥檛 the greatest defensive team and we knew that we could get into the paint and exploit a little bit, especially playing big," Kuzma said. "It really allowed us to have some different mismatches out there and really attack their paint.鈥�
TIP-INS
Wizards: F Deni Avdija was ruled out because of lower back soreness. 鈥� G Delon Wright made his first appearance since Oct. 25 after dealing with a hamstring sprain.
Kings: Sabonis left the game with three minutes left and was holding his hand. He went to the locker room and didn't return.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Host Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
Kings: Host Denver on Tuesday night.
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Cameron Salerno, The Associated Press
