SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Center DeMarcus Cousins established himself down low in the lane, at mid-range outside the lane and even beyond the 3-point arc on Saturday.

When that's happening, the Sacramento Kings usually have happy times.

When the opponents' big man heads to the shower in the second half, as Phoenix Suns center Tyson Chandler did, then those happy times bring laughter

The Kings received a much-needed does of both.

Cousins scored 32 points from an array of places, and the Kings enjoyed a rare laugher in an even rarer afternoon game, blitzing the Phoenix Suns after Chandler's third-quarter ejection for a 142-119 victory at Sleep Train Arena.

"We had two great days of practices, and DC had the effort," Kings coach George Karl said of Cousins. "I'm not sure if it was pretty. But it was just effort."

Cousins made 11-of-15 shots from the field, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range. He also grabbed nine rebounds and had two steals, as the Kings (13-20) ended a three-game losing streak with their highest-scoring game of the season.

With the steals, Cousins tied Lionel Simmons for sixth on Sacramento's all-time list with 514.

The performance came in Sacramento's first game since a 115-110 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers (3-32) on Dec. 30. After that game, Cousins said a "dark cloud" hovered above the team.

But he scored 10 points during a 23-2 Kings surge during the first quarter that built a 31-14 lead, then added nine more during a season-high 44-point third quarter

"I'm an old-school guy, and for me, it's effort," Karl said. "Effort energizes a team, and effort unifies a team."

The victory gave Karl 1,155 victories in 27 seasons as an NBA coach, tying Phil Jackson for fifth on the NBA's all-time list. Next up is Pat Riley with 1,210.

"That's good, it's awesome for him," Kings guard Darren Collison said. "He's one of the best coaches this league has to offer. It's good for George. He deserves it."

Guard Brandon Knight scored 23 points for Phoenix (12-24), which saw its longest losing streak of the season grow to eight. The Suns overcame that early 17-point deficit to lead 71-67 in the third quarter.

But Sacramento scored the next eight points, and Chandler received the heave-ho from official J.T. Orr after complaining vociferously about a foul called against him with 6:03 left in the third quarter.

The Kings outscored Phoenix 28-16 the rest of the quarter to take a 103-87 lead into the final quarter. The lead grew to as many as 26 over the final 12 minutes.

"A couple of turnovers, a couple of easy buckets, then Tyson gets kicked out," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "After that, we lost our composure a little bit."

Guard Devin Booker scored 21 points and forward T.J. Warren added 19 for the Suns.

Guard Rajon Rondo scored 15 points and added 15 assists to his league-leading total for Sacramento, which surpassed its 132-point output in an Oct. 30 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Guard Marco Belinelli scored 19 points, forward Rudy Gay had 16 and forward Omri Casspi chipped in 13 for the Kings.

"Our guys battled, but we couldn't find a way to neutralize Cousins," Hornacek said. "After that, they got whatever they wanted."

The Kings also set season-highs by making 53 field goals and converting 60.9 percent of their shots from the field. They also dished out 30 assists, the third time this season that they've done that.

"We were moving the ball," Rondo said. "When you move the ball, you get into a flow, and you can see what can happen."

Phoenix blitzed Sacramento 33-19 to start the second period to go ahead with 49-48 with 3:19 to go. The 35-17 blitz over a 9:36 stretch bridging both periods put the Suns ahead for the first time.

Kings rookie center Willie-Cauley Stein returned to the floor after missing 12 games because of a dislocated right thumb and scored four points.

NOTES: Suns G Ronnie Price (right big toe) returned to the floor after missing two games and made his 500th career appearance, and F Jon Leuer (left ankle sprain) was back after missing one game. ... Phoenix C Tyson Chandler remained in the starting lineup for the second straight game, following a four-game run of coming off the bench. ... Kings G Rajon Rondo, averaging a league-best 11.2 assists per game is on pace to become the first Sacramento player to lead the league in that category and the first King to do so since Nate "Tiny" Archibald averaged 11.4 assists in 1971-72 when the team was based in Kansas City. ... In Phoenix's first three games without leading scorer Eric Bledsoe (season-ending knee surgery), Suns F T.J. Warren scored 63 points. Bledsoe led the Suns in scoring at 20.4 points per game when he was injured. ... Kings C DeMarcus Cousins, brought in a homecourt scoring average of 27.9 points in the 14 of the 18 home games he played, the second-best mark in the league. But he was shooting only 43.6 percent from the field.