Maxime Raynaud's rookie brilliance wasn't enough as Suns depth and shooting overwhelmed the Kings.
The Sacramento Kings failed to spoil Devin Booker's return from a 4-game hiatus due to a hip strain, as they were defeated by the Phoenix Suns 114-103 on Tuesday night.
Maxime Raynaud collected his 13th double-double (most among rookies) with a dominant 22-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist, 2-steal outing on 10-for-12 shooting from the floor.
Sacramento's surging second-round pick displayed even more flash on the boards and as a play-maker, but it wasn't enough to make for fellow rookie Nique Clifford's rougher outing. Clifford scored 10 points paired with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals on 5-for-13 from the field.
DeMar DeRozan poured in an inefficient 17 points on 33.3% shooting, and Russell Westbrook's 16 points and 7 assists came with an aggressive defensive display against the superstar scorer Booker.
Precious Achiuwa continued his stretch of solid play with 18 points and 9 rebounds, doing plenty to raise his stock before hitting unrestricted free agency this offseason.
In the end, it was the latter's squad who got the last laugh, as Phoenix's well-rounded offensive attack proved to be too much for the Kings' perimeter defenders.
The Suns connected on 12 more threes (19-to-7) and won the bench points battle 44-20. Their deep rotation of consistent spot-up shooters came to play, as Grayson Allen and Collin Gillespie shot a combined 9-for-20 from three-point range.
Jalen Green led the Suns in scoring with 20 points, though the Kings forced him to commit 7 turnovers.
Booker himself struggled from a shot-making perspective with only 17 points on 19 shots in his return to action, but second-year power forward Oso Ighodaro stepped up to power Phoenix's bench unit.
Ighodaro finished with a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double on 70% shooting in 25 minutes of action.
Depth ultimately won out in this battle, and the Suns simply had more real, rotational players making contributions than the Kings' mix of prospects and veterans.
Sacramento led 30-22 after the first quarter of play, but the tide changed when Phoenix won both the second and third frames by a combined 23 points.
Towards the close of the third, Suns rookie Rasheer Fleming changed the complexion of the contest with a loud personal 8-0 run, consisting of back-to-back three-point hits and an alley-oop slam that gave Allen his 5th assist. Fleming would not score again for the rest of the night.
Fleming's finish at the rim was a product of the Kings' especially poor semi-transition defense, as ball-handlers were not picked up early enough in halfcourt possessions on several occasions.
Sacramento falls to 14-49 after the Suns' season sweep, but another round of the 'Tank Super Bowl' will commence Thursday night when the Kings host the New Orleans Pelicans.
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