By the Numbers

Steven Wilson

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By the Numbers: Peja Stojakovic

With 23 points and 10 rebounds against the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 9, 2014, Sacramento's star small forward tallied his 59th double-double of his career and his sixth in a Kings uniform.

On January 21, 2014, No. 8 poured in a career-high-tying 41 points on 16-of-25 from the field and 5-of-8 from behind the arc against the Pelicans. The last time Gay tallied that many points in a single game was against the Miami Heat on December 13, 2009, as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

On Halloween night this year against Portland, the “Great Rudini” joined Oscar Robertson as only two players in franchise history to produce the first 40-point game of an NBA season.

The Baltimore native is one of only 18 players in NBA history to amass at least 10,000 points, 3,400 rebounds, 1,200 assists and 800 steals before his 29th birthday, joining NBA greats like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett with that achievement.

Averaging 21.8 points per game this season, Gay is currently ranked 12th in the NBA in scoring. His teammate, Cousins, is sitting in ninth place with 22.5 points per outing.

Rudy ranks 11th in the League this year in free throws attempted with 7.3 per game. He also ranks eighth in free throws made per game with 6.3. Furthermore, his 86-percent shooting clip from the charity stripe is his best percentage of his career.

At Dallas on November 11, 2014, the former McDonald’s All-American handed out a career-high-tying eight assists for the third time in his career. Eight also represents Rudy’s number in Sacramento, the number of years he’s been in the league and the position at which he was selected overall in the 2006 NBA Draft.

In one of his most prolific stretches in his career, the UConn product has six 20-point outings this season, including a stretch of three-straight against Oklahoma City, Dallas and Memphis.

As a member of the Grizzlies, Gay earned Rookie of the Month honors in November 2006, and was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team for the 2006–07 season finishing third in NBA Rookie of the Year voting behind Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani and Portland’s Brandon Roy, who won the award.

Second on the team behind DeMarcus Cousins, Gay is averaging 5.1 defensive rebounds per game this season − the highest output of his career.

The son of an R&amp;B singer – Rudy Gay, Sr. of Ace Spectrum − Rudy has five siblings.

Trailing only Darren Collison in assists-per-game through 11 outings, the Kings small forward has displayed excellent court-vision this season distributing a career-high 3.6 helpers per contest.

This past summer, Gay joined teammate DeMarcus Cousins to help lead the USA Men’s National Team to a first-place finish in the 2014 FIBA World Cup tournament. En route to the gold medal, the 6-foot-8 forward amassed 54 points, 33 rebounds, 13 assists, three blocks and nine steals.

This season, Gay is off to his best start thanks to his .552 true-shooting percentage, which takes into account 2-point and 3-point field goals as well as free throws. Over his career, he owns a .528 true-shooting percentage and in 55 games with the Kings last season, he posted a .567 clip.

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Rudy Gay: By the Numbers

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Sacramento’s 105.5 points per game ranks them fourth overall through six games played, outpaced by only Boston’s 106.4 ppg, Dallas’ 106.5 ppg and Golden State’s 109.5 ppg. Much of the team’s offseason was spent addressing offensive needs, so Pete D’Alessandro and the Kings front office have to love how the team has started the season on that end of the ball.

Any time DeMarcus Cousins, Reggie Evans and Jason Thompson anchor your rebounding effort; you’re going to rank near the top of the league in rebounding. Add in Rudy Gay’s early success and you find the team ranked second overall in total rebounding and first in rebounding differential at an impressive plus-10.4.

Opponent field goal percentage is a great barometer for team success. The Kings are currently holding their opponents to a modest 41.4 percent and rank fifth in the league. The four teams ahead of Sacramento have a current combined record of 17-3. (22-4 if you add the Kings).

Maybe the early storyline of the season is the team’s incredible ability to draw fouls. Sacramento’s 39.8 free throw attempts and 32.7 free throws made per game this season lead the league by a wide margin. Although the River City takes the second fewest three-pointers per game in the league, it more than makes up for the loss of long-range shots at the charity stripe. Where the Kings are connecting at an 82-percent clip.

Following the team’s hard-fought double-overtime win in Phoenix on Friday night, fans celebrated something they hadn’t seen in 15 years. Sacramento held a 5-1 record for the first time since 1999. The historical significance didn’t stop there, the purple and black also started the season 3-0 on the road, a feat no Kings team had accomplished since the 1995-96 season.

Led by Darren Collison and DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings have utilized an aggressive defense and poised offense to jump out to the eighth best rank in team turnover differential. Almost equally as important as getting stops on the defensive end has been the ability to limit turnovers.

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