The outstanding Vezenkov prevailed, a comfortable win for the Kings

Sasha Vezhenkov feels more comfortable with the Kings again. A few days after returning to the rotation against the Thunder, the Bulgarian forward got even more playing time against the Cavaliers, making the most of every minute he was on the field and contributing to the Kings’ comfortable 132-120 win.

Vezhenkov was the first big man to come off the bench and immediately went to work. He ended up scoring 11 points on 1/1 2-point shots, 3/5 3-point shots and 2 rebounds in 17 minutes of play, making it his best performance of the year.

The fact that he always had either Sabonis or Fox on his side worked to his advantage, as the Kings had more threats on the court – and therefore more space for him – which led to what was probably his most significant performance of the year Mike Brown led adoringly after the game and Sasha experienced the first “Light the Beam” in his presence in Sacramento.

DeAaron Fox with 28 points and Domantas Sabonis with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists led the Kings, with Keegan Murray adding 25 points and Kevin Herter 20 points as Sacramento earned an easy victory (their third in a row, tying their record 5 improved). -4) and finished the game with 20/42 3-point shots.

For the Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell had 22 points (but on 7/21) and Cary LeVert had 21 points.

Sasha Vezenkov’s report

Sasha Vezhenkov came on as early as the 6th minute in place of the disappointing Harrison Barnes to improve the Kings’ spacing, staying on the floor with Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray at Sacramento’s high line. He started with a defensive rebound and hit a three-pointer with about three minutes left in the first periodpoint, so after an assist from Sabonis the score was 23:21.

A new defense followedTic rebound and another 3-pointer in the next period – after an assist from Alex Len – made it 26-21, punishing the Cavaliers’ zone defense, while shortly afterwards he scored a layup in the. after an assist from De’Aaron Fox Transition hit. Vezhenkov started normally with the back five in the second period – only Fox was on the field from the so-called “starters” and added another rebound to his statistics before retiring midway through the second period.

Vezhenkov took the field again midway through the third period – again in place of the negative Barnes – and added another three-pointer to his tally about five minutes later (again on an assist from Fox) before passing for Duarte with three seconds left Bank was set. for the end of the twelve minutes.

He returned to the court at the start of the 4th quarter, with the 2022-23 EuroLeague MVP making one more attempt (a missed 3-pointer) before leaving the park with 8 minutes and 51 seconds left in the game left and never returned. on the parquet.

• 11 points
• 1/1 two points
• 3/5 threesomes
• 2 rebounds (2 defensive)
• 1 foul
• +7 to +/-
• in 17 minutes and 13 seconds

THE DODECALEPTA: 33-25, 68-60, 110-89, 132-120

SACRAMENTO KINGS (Mike Brown): Sabonis 23 (1 3-pointer, 9 rebounds, 10 assists), Barnes 4 (5 rebounds), Murray 25 (5/8 3-pointers, 8 rebounds), Fox 28 (2/ 6 3-pointers). , 6 assists), Herter , 20 (6/9 three-pointers), Vezhenkov 11 (3/5 three-pointers), Edwards, McGee 2, Len, Monk 13 (3/5 three-pointers, 5 rebounds), Duarte 2, Ford, Jones, Ellis 2

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (JB Bickerstaff): Mobley 16 (11 rebounds), Allen 12 (9 rebounds), Garland 16 (5/14 shooting, 3/8 3-pointers, 6 assists), Mitchell 22 (7/21 shooting, 4/9 3 -Pointers, 5 assists), Struss 19 (5/9 3-pointers, 5 rebounds), Wade, Niang 12 (2), Thompson 2, LeVert 21 (2), Merrill, Porter