The Sacramento Kings looked like they were on their way to another very bad loss against the Indiana Pacers. So Keith Smart mixed it up and tried a zone defense in the fourth quarter.
Surprisingly, it worked.
Befuddling Indiana's offense, which had trouble attacking the zone and getting to the middle of the floor, the defensive scheme forced Indiana to single digit scoring in the fourth quarter, and Sacramento managed to pull out a big 92-88 victory at home. It wasn't at all convincing, but it did snap a three game losing streak and improve them to 5-10 on the season.
DeMarcus Cousins had a solid night; despite only scoring 13 points, he also notched 19 rebounds. Marcus Thornton added in 17 points, Francisco Garcia notched 16 and Isiah Thomas had 8 points off the bench, which played a key role in the zone schemes that flustered Indiana in the crucial fourth quarter.
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