TORONTO -- The Sacramento Kings talked about the importance of more efficient starts to games.

They put that talk into action Sunday, opening up a 22-point lead during the first quarter and never relinquishing the advantage in defeating the Toronto Raptors 104-94.

"We moved the ball around and played great defense," said Kings forward Rudy Gay, a former Raptor, who scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. "We made it difficult for them to defend us, and on defense, we made it hard for them to score. That's the key to everything.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey said, "It's terrible. I mean it's totally unacceptable the way we performed tonight. Again, I'll take the blame. I guess I didn't tell them before the game how hard this was going to be."

Kings point guard Rajon Rondo, who scored 19 points and dished out 13 assists, said, "It was our defensive intensity."

It was only the third win in 12 road games this season by Sacramento (11-16).

Kings forward Omri Casspi added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Center DeMarcus Cousins scored 15 points and nabbed nine rebounds, and guards Ben McLemore and Darren Collison contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.

"Complete turn around," Cousins said. "It just shows the potential of this team. We have to find a way to do this on a consistent basis."

The Raptors did cut the lead to four points early in the fourth quarter, but the rally fizzled without point guard Kyle Lowry, who was ejected during the third quarter after receiving his second technical foul.

"Very seldom do you have a 10-point lead the whole game on the road," Kings coach George Karl said. "It just doesn't happen unless you have one of those freak games. ... I thought our guys, for the most part, from a focus of the game plan, were really good tonight."

Guard DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors (17-12) with 28 points.

Lowry had 13 points, four assists and five rebounds before his ejection with 7:22 to play in the third quarter.

Forward Patrick Patterson added 18 points off the bench for Toronto, forward James Johnson had 14 and forward Terrence Ross 13. Center Bismack Biyombo chipped in with two points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors.

After building a 22-point lead, the first quarter ended with Sacramento leading 37-18. It was the most points Toronto allowed in the first quarter this season.

The Raptors chipped away. After Patterson came up with a steal and completed it with a running dunk with 28.9 seconds left in the first half, the Kings took a 55-48 lead in the intermission.

The Raptors trimmed the lead to five points early in the third quarter. The Kings went up by nine points with 7:22 to play in the third when Lowry was charged with two technical fouls and, as a result, was ejected. Gay made both shots on the technical fouls to give the Kings a 63-54 lead.

Sacramento led 78-70 after three quarters.

"I guess I was trying to explain myself, trying to understand what I got the first one for," Lowry said. "I guess it just happened that I was there too long."

A steal and a running dunk by Johnson early in the fourth quarter cut the Kings' lead to 82-78.

Sacramento pulled ahead by nine points before Johnson made a driving layup with 5:05 to play to cut the lead to five points. After Cousins increased the lead to seven with a layup, Patterson's 3-pointer reduced the lead to four. But Gay hit a 3-pointer and Casspi made a layup for a nine-point Sacramento lead.

DeRozan's two free throws left Sacramento with a 99-92 lead with 3:15 to play. Collison made a 3-pointer that gave the Kings a 10-point edge. Collison added a layup with 1:10 to play, and Sacramento led 104-92.

"It was terrible," DeRozan said. "We gave them too much confidence, we gave them too many easy shots in transition, threes, and they took advantage of it. We found ourselves in a hole."

NOTES: The Raptors assigned F Anthony Bennett to their affiliate, Raptors 905, for the NBA Development League game Sunday afternoon and recalled him for the Sunday night game against Sacramento. Bennett didn't play Sunday night. ... The Raptors also recalled F Delon Wright, F Bruno Caboclo and G Norman Powell. ... C Willie Cauley-Stein (dislocated right index finger) and F Eric Moreland (fractured left foot) remained out of the Kings' lineup. ... C Jonas Valanciunas (fractured left hand) and F DeMarre Carroll (right knee contusion) were still out for the Raptors. ... In their first meeting this season, the Kings defeated the Raptors 107-101 on Nov. 15 at Sacramento with C DeMarcus Cousins scoring 36 points. ...The Raptors play their next game Tuesday at home against the Dallas Mavericks. ... The Kings travel to Washington for a game against the Wizards on Monday.