SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMarcus Cousins had 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Sacramento Kings beat Israel’s Maccabi Haifa 91-59 in an exhibition game Saturday night.
Derrick Williams and Darren Collison each had 12 points for Sacramento. Ramon Sessions added 11 points and six assists and rookie Nick Sauskas had 10 points.
The Kings played without Rudy Gay, their second leading scorer last season. Gay suffered a minor ankle injury Friday in practice and was held out as a precaution.
Demontez Stitt scored 17 points and Hector Hernandez had 11 and nine rebounds for Maccabi Haifa, which shot 27.8 percent and didn’t score more than 17 points in any quarter.
The Kings were coming off a pair of losses during in China to the Brooklyn Nets. Sacramento concludes the preseason Friday night in Las Vegas against the Lakers.
Omri Casspi, who started at forward for Sacramento and had seven points and seven rebounds, joined the Kings in 2009 and was the first Israeli-born player to be drafted by an NBA team and play in the league. A five-year NBA veteran, Casspi played two seasons for Maccabi Haifa.
The Greens are on a four-team tour of the NBA. They lost by six points to Washington on Wednesday night, were trounced 121-74 Friday night in Portland, and conclude the tour Wednesday night in Toronto.
TIP-INS
The Kings: The crowd of 10,128 was rather uninspired for much of the game. The largest cheer came in the game’s closing seconds when 7-foot-5 rookie center Sim Bhulllar made a basket. … Cousins did not play in Beijing against the Nets due to an aggravated Achilles tendon. He started against Maccabi Haifa and played 26 minutes.
Maccabi Haifa: The Greens arrived in Sacramento following nearly a 10-hour bus ride from Portland. … The team plays in the Israeli Basketball Super League and is owned by U.S. businessman Jeffrey Rosen. … Maccabi Haifa won the Super League championship in the 2012-13 season, its first Israeli title since the team’s founding in 1953.
UP NEXT
The Kings will travel to San Antonio for a Monday night game.
Maccabi Haifa plays in Toronto on Wednesday night.
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