The Sacramento Kings came up trumps in the third quarter to beat the Toronto Raptors 105-96 and register their second straight road victory.
DeMarcus Cousins was in an outstanding form, scoring a season-high 31 points and chipping in with 20 rebounds to match his career high.
The Kings coach Keith Smart was so pleased with his performance that he said Cousins is "the guy who makes it all work for us."
"He had the right energy to start the game, he had the right mindset of not trying to score 50 but trying to let his teammates play," Smart said. "He's in a good spot as a basketball player right now and he's only going to get better."
John Salmons added 20 points for the Kings, while Jason Thompson finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
"He's (Cousins) involved and he's understanding the game better," Salmons said. "He's understanding what it takes to win. He's trying to do to things for this team to move up in the standings and make a playoff push."
Isaiah Thomas contributed with 11 points and six assists against the Raptors.
It was Sacramento's sixth victory in eight games.
"We're playing some good team basketball," Cousins said. "It doesn't matter who's having a good night, let's feed them the rock. That's been our mindset and it's been working."
Sacramento outscored Toronto 23-22 in a tight first quarter, but the Raptors managed to match the Kings 31-31 in the fiercely fought second quarter.
For the Raptors, Kyle Lowry top scored with 24 points, while Alan Anderson had 20 points. Forward Ed Davis finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
"We did not have an answer for DeMarcus Cousins inside," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "We did not play with any zip. We were flat."
DeMar DeRozan scored 14, whereas Jose Calderon had 13.
"It's definitely tough," DeRozan said. "Cousins is someone to reckon with in the post."
Smart appreciated Cousins for his swift moves on the court and his stamina to run and control the ball. It was the third time in his career that Cousins grabbed 20 rebounds in a game.
"Twenty rebounds for him can be an every fifth game event," Smart said. "He's always going to be in the top area of rebounding because he does a great job of going after the basketball."
The third quarter was completely one sided as the Raptors made just three out of 21 attempts from the floor, to go along with six turnovers. It helped the Kings score 28 and limit Sacramento to 10 in the decisive third period to enter the last quarter with a huge 19-point lead.
In the fourth quarter the Raptors offense played better to outscore the Kings 33-23, but still lost the game by nine points.
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