Tar Heels in NBA: Harrison Barnes leads Kings to victory over Raptors

Former Tar Heels superstar Harrison Barnes guides Kings past Raptors in thrilling 126-124 victory on Friday night

Harrison Barnes scored a team-high 26 points for the Sacramento Kings on Friday night in a 126-124 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Barnes scored seven points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with just 7.6 seconds remaining in the game that pushed the Kings’ lead to 123-119.

He connected on 8-of-13 shots for the game, including 4-of-7 from three-point range and 6-of-6 at the free throw line. He also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out five assists in 37 minutes of play. His performance helped the Kings withstand a game-high 32 points from Toronto’s Pascal Siakam, and another 26 from veteran guard Fred VanVleet.

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1355323914985951239

For Barnes, it marked his third consecutive game with at least 21 points, and seventh such game this season. He’s also recorded double-digit scoring performances in 16-of-18 games this season, along with having at least five rebounds in all but three contests. He’s recording career-high assist numbers as well, averaging 3.5 per game overall, and dishing out at least three dimes on 10 occasions this season. In addition to that, Barnes is knocking down a career-best 41.7 percent of his three-point attempts, along with a career-high 50 percent shooting overall.

For the season, he’s averaging 16.8 points and 6.3 rebounds, while logging a team-high 35.2 minutes per game. He’s also got a team-best 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, the best of his 10-year professional career since leaving the University of North Carolina in 2012.

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