Kings hang on to beat Suns 116-109 in regular-season finale

Published Apr. 11, 2022 12:07 a.m. ET

Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Justin Holiday, Damian Jones and Donte DiVincenzo each scored 19 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Phoenix Suns 116-109 on Sunday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.

At 64-18, Phoenix finished with the best mark in franchise history and had eight more victories than other team in the NBA. Sacramento was 30-52 for it's 16th straight losing season.

The Suns rested most of their top players in preparation for the playoffs, including Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder. Coach Monty Williams said his major goal against the Kings was helping some of the backups gain confidence heading into the postseason.

Mikal Bridges started but played just six minutes. He extended his games streak to 309 games, which is every possible regular-season game since he came into the league four seasons ago. It is the longest active streak in the NBA.

Landry Shamet led the Suns with 27 points. JaVale McGee had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Down for most of the game, the Suns pulled within three points late, but Sacramento's Davion Mitchell hit two free throws with eight seconds left to seal it.

The Kings also had several of their top players out, including leading scorer De'Aaron Fox.

The Kings dominated in the first half, shooting 60% and jumping out to a 67-51 lead by halftime. Holiday had 16 points before the break while Mitchell added 10. Shamet had 12 points for the Suns.

TIP-INS

Kings: Terence Davis II (right wrist), Fox (right hand soreness), Richaun Holmes (personal), Alex Len (back soreness) and Domantas Sabonis (left knee contusion) were all out. ... The Kings have missed the playoffs 16 seasons in the row. They last made it in

Suns: Converted F Ish Wainright's deal from a two-way contract to a standard NBA contract. The 27-year-old has appeared in 44 games this season and averaged 2.1 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. ... Bridges won the team's Majerle Hustle Award for the third time in his four seasons. The award's namesake Dan Majerle virtually presented Bridges with the award.

UP NEXT

The Suns get ready to host Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs.

___

More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports