(SportsNetwork.com) - The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a funk and hope to snap out of it Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.
The Cavaliers opened a five-game western road trip with Friday's 112-94 setback at Golden State, as Stephen Curry registered 23 points and 10 assists to lead the red-hot Warriors.
Kyrie Irving was busy with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Kevin Love supplied 17 points and 14 boards for the Cavs, who have lost seven of their last eight games and have failed to score 100 points in six straight and nine of 10 games.
"We were there, just got to be better with the ball and not lose our intensity level there at the end," Cavs coach David Blatt said.
Cleveland gave up 60 first-half points and received a game-high 27 points from newcomer J.R. Smith. Big man Timofey Mozgov made his Cleveland debut Friday and recorded nine points and eight rebounds.
Cavs superstar LeBron James has missed the last seven games with a sore knee and the Cavs are 1-6 in that stretch. Shawn Marion (hip) is questionable against the Kings and did not play Friday.
Irving has scored 23 or more points seven times in the past eight games, posting an average of 25.5 points in that time.
The Cavaliers are 8-9 away from home and will also visit Phoenix and both Los Angeles teams on this trek. They are 4-9 against Western foes (1-5 on road).
Sacramento is 1-1 on its six-game homestand and dropped a 118-108 decision to the Denver Nuggets Friday night. Kings stud center DeMarcus Cousins pumped in 32 points on 12-of-25 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Cousins has 20 double-doubles on the season, with 16 coming in the last 18 games he has appeared in. Cousins missed time before with a virus and has posted 20-plus points 14 times in his previous 17 contests.
Rudy Gay scored 22 points and Darren Collison added 15 and seven assists for the Kings, who were coming off a win over Oklahoma City and lost for the 11th time in the last 15 tries. The Kings shot 48.8 percent from the floor, but made only 6-of-19 3-pointers.
The Nuggets opened the second half on a 22-4 run for a 76-64 lead and later extended the cushion to as many as 19 points in the third quarter.
"We settled for jump shots and didn't make them and they were running," Kings coach Tyrone Corbin said.
The Kings will also welcome Dallas, Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers to town on this residency, and are 9-11 at home.
Sacramento and Cleveland will play the first of two matchups this season and are scheduled to meet Jan. 30 in the Forest City. The two teams split a pair of games in 2013-14, while the Kings are 3-1 in the last four meetings.
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