Month: November 2014

Streak now stands at 16

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By Jeremy Kahn

Sooner or later, the Oakland Raiders will put an end to their long losing streak, but as of now it stands at 16 games.

Philip Rivers found Malcom Floyd on the third play from scrimmage, as the San Diego Chargers defeated the Raiders 13-6 at Qualcomm Stadium.

Rivers touchdown pass to Floyd came just two plays after the Raiders fumbled on their initial play from scrimmage to begin the game.

On the afternoon, Rivers went 22-for-34 for 193 yards and that one touchdown to Floyd that proved to be the winning margin.

Rookie Derek Carr went 16-for-34 for 172 yards, as the Raiders fall to 0-10 on the season and have lost their last 16 games in a row, with their last win coming on November 17, 2013 against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium.

Sebastian Janikowski got the Raiders within seven points with four minutes to play, but after the Raiders held the Chargers to a punt, they got the ball back with no timeouts.

Unfortunately, Carr’s last second desperation pass to James Jones fell short of the end zone and the Silver and Black limped to the locker with yet another loss under their belts.

The Raiders were only able to cross into Chargers twice, as they also got into Chargers territory on their third series and settled for a Janikowski 42-yard field goal.

Rookie Khalil Mack picked up his first sack of his NFL career.

49ers hang on to beat the Giants, Brooks benched, DEA investigates after the game

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By Morris Phillips

(EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.)–49ers’ rookie Aaron Lynch had two goals, which seemed light for a guy engulfed in a Sunday afternoon maelstrom, the likes of which you solely find in the NFL.

“Play football and have fun,” Lynch said.

Lynch, the team’s first of two fifth-round picks in 2014 NFL Draft was actually the 8th of 12 guys the 49ers selected.  All 12 remain with the team, a healthy portion on the practice squad or injured reserve.  In part due to the size of the draft haul, the 49ers were universally lauded as having the best draft this off-season.  More and more, it appears the immediate assessment has wings, due to the play of two of the 12: Lynch and linebacker Chris Borland.

The pair were a big factor in the 49ers’ superior defensive effort that masked another subpar offensive performance in the 49ers’ cardiac 16-10 win over the Giants in New Jersey.

Borland continued to look like the guy he’s replacing, Patrick Willis in his All-Pro rookie season.  The Wisconsin product has only done it for three games, unlike Willis, who was a Day 1 starter, but what a three games.  Borland had 13 tackles and two interceptions on Sunday, the second which came with a 1:09 remaining on a deflection at the 49ers’ two-yard line and the team trying to defend a potential game-winning drive by Eli Manning and the Giants.  Impressively, Borland has 48 tackles in his three-game run.

Lynch figured to play less Sunday with Aldon Smith set to return from a nine-game suspension.  Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio promoted Lynch to a situational role in Week 4 against the Eagles because he wanted someone to give the defense the quickness and big-play potential that was missing without Smith. But with Ahmad Brooks failing to meet the standard he set as a long-time starter at outside linebacker, Lynch played in Brooks’ place with Smith in his familiar spot outside opposite the rookie.

That the move happened during the game, in the second quarter, and the game ended with Brooks sitting away from his teammates without his helmet nearby, makes it a story.  Also, Brooks is one the team’s longest tenured players, and favorite of his teammates, and a first time Pro-Bowler last season.  After the game, Coach Jim Harbaugh was tight-lipped about the whole thing, which at least for the moment increased the tension.

“We have something we are working through,” Harbaugh said when asked about Brooks’ absence.  The coach then refused to elaborate.

Afterwards Brooks didn’t seem like talking either.  When told that Harbaugh said ‘Working through,” Brooks said “Yeah, working through something” too.

What couldn’t be denied was the end result worked, with Smith having a quiet debut, Lynch giving the defense pressure from both ends, and Borland playing out of his mind.  Forgotten in the mix, is Michael Wilhoite, who in his second year, is merely replacing almost NFL defensive player of the last year, NaVorro Bowman.

“The standard that Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman have set for inside linebacker play is at the highest level,” Harbaugh said.  “Chris Borland, Michael Wilhoite, they are playing great, with a capital G, and rising to that level.”

Complicit in the mix on Sunday was Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning who is suffering through another, turnover-riddled season that has two-time Super Bowl champion and his coach, Tom Coughlin, on the verge of being run out of town.  Manning was picked five times against the 49ers and each of the recipients, Chris Culliver, Eric Reid, Wilhoite and Borland (twice) surely got a healthy dose of reassurance that they belong in the lineup with their interceptions.

The Giants scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game, then went the rest of the way with just a third-quarter field goal to show for their frustration.  Manning admitted afterwards that the 49ers made his offense one-dimensional, a tough concession for such a decorated player.

“They weren’t giving us great looks to run the ball,” Manning said.  “We needed to throw it.  We had some good looks, they hit some plays and we just didn’t do it.”

It’s not every day two-time championship quarterbacks get thrown off their game by rookies and first-time starters like Wilhoite, Borland and Lynch.

Offensively, the 49ers struggled again.  Sunday was the sixth time the 49ers have scored once or not at all in a game this season in the second half.  This time, Michael Crabtree came to life on 48-yard catch, run and impressive broken tackle to put the team up 16-7 minutes into the second half.  That was after Colin Kaepernick and crew could only muster three field goals in the first half.  Over the final 26 minutes, the team had to hold on, a tough way to survive over any stretch of games.

After the game, the medical staffs of the 49ers as well as the Seahawks in Kansas City and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Atlanta were investigated in regards to alleged improprieties in the dispensing of controlled substances, primarily prescription pain killers from the medical staffs to the players.  The allegations arose in a lawsuit against the league by former players who said their team’s medical staffs routinely distributed pain killers to injured players.

Team spokesman Bob Lange said of the surprise DEA inspections that “what we were told was they are random checks of team physicians as they travel to see if anyone is transporting controlled substances across state lines.  The 49ers’ medical staff complied and the team departed the stadium as scheduled.”

Seattle lose to the Chiefs on Sunday, putting both the 49ers and Seahawks at 6-4 with two of their final six games against each other.  This season, the best two NFC teams from 2013 appear to be fighting for the No. 6 slot as things stand after 11 weeks of the season.

The 49ers host the downtrodden Redskins at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday at 1:25pm.

Cal starts strong, routs Kennesaw St

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By Robert Steward

BERKELEY–The Cal Bears Men’s Basketball Team jumped out quickly against the Kennesaw St Owls and never looked back, en route to a 93-59 victory in the 2nd round of the 2K Classic, which benefits the Wounded Warrior Project. In the first-ever meeting between both programs, the Owls, from the Atlantic Sun Conference, were no match for the Bears, as Cal jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Kennesaw St scored their first points at the 15:10 mark. It should be noted that Kennesaw St played at Syracuse on Friday night before having to travel all day on Saturday to the west coast.

After the quick start, head coach for the Bears, Cuonzo Martin, felt the Bears were a bit stagnant and were leading 20-9 after an official timeout with 7:08 left in the first half. Coming out of the timeout, the Bears’ Tyrone Wallace hit one of two free throws, Kennesaw St missed a shot and Cal’s Jabari Bird hit a jumper. After a missed 3-pointer by the Owls, the Bears’ Kingsley Okoroh finished a dunk with an assist from Dwight Tarwater. Another miss by the Owls and Tarwater hit a three at the other end to finish a quick 8-0 run in 90 seconds, forcing Kennesaw St to call a timeout at 5:36. Cal finished the first half on a 21-6 run to lead 41-15 at halftime. The Bears shot 55% from the floor in the first half while holding the Owls to 24% shooting and forced 10 turnovers. They also held an 18-9 advantage on the boards.

Coming out to start the second half, both teams pushed the tempo more, with Cal hitting their first 7 shots, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Jordan Mathews and Tarwater, to open up a 55-20 lead at the 16:24 mark. While Kennesaw St was more competitive in the second half, Cal continued its torrid shooting pace and lead, 79-43, with 6:32 left in the game. Shortly afterwards, Wallace threw a high lob to Roger Moute a Bidias for a resounding dunk with 5:58 to go and Cal leading 81-46. Cal extended its biggest lead to 87-50 with 3:52 to go.

The Bears finished the game shooting 60% from the floor, including 7 for 12 from 3-point range. They also outrebounded the Owls, 43-25. Coach Martin, while pleased with the effort, pointed out that Cal turned the ball over 15 times, something they will need to cut down on when the competition gets stiffer. The Bears had a balanced scoring attack with 4 players in double figures led by Mathews, who finished with 18 points on 7 of 10 from the floor along with 7 rebounds. Wallace added 16 points to go with 9 rebounds and 7 assists with Bird chipping in with 15 points on 7 of 10 from the floor along with 7 rebounds. Tarwater came off the bench to score 10. The Owls were lead by Nigel Pruitt with 16 points and Delbert Love, off the bench with 11.

Cal improved to 2-0, while Kennesaw St dropped to 0-2. Up next for the Bears will be Syracuse, as they travel to Madison Square Garden in New York for a semifinal game in the 2K Classic on Thursday, November 20th, at 6pm.

The Return of Rosco Allen Keys Cardinal to 84-73 Win Over South Dakota

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

STANFORD, Calif. – The Stanford Cardinal continued it’s early undefeated season, topping the University of South Dakota 84-73 in the second game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Maples Pavilion Sunday. The Cardinal (2-0) also beat the Wofford Terriers 74-59 Friday night to open the season.

The Cardinal open this season missing two-thirds of its lethal front court, with standouts Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell leaving the Farm for the professional ranks after last season’s surprising run to the Sweet 16. They’ll be counting on returning fifth-year senior Stefan Nastic and the front court tandem of Anthony Brown and Chasson Randle to shoulder the load offensively.

Friday, Nastic took major strides in revving the offense, scoring a career-high 26 points. Sunday against the Coyotes proved much the same, as the Six-foot-Eleven center scored 14 points despite battling foul trouble late. Nastic’s goal for the season as Stanford’s lone returning big man is to avoid finding himself on the bench late in games to protect from fouling out.

“He’s one of the best big men in the country,” said Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins. “I think that’s evidenced by how he’s been playing, not just now but the end of last year. Of course we want him as much as we can possibly have him.”

Randle pitched in with game-high 23 points on 5 of 11 shooting against South Dakote (0-2), but the real star offensively was someone both familiar and unfamiliar to Cardinal fans; Rosco Allen.

“He gave us a lift,” said Randle. “He came out ready to go from the gates. That’s something we need him to do going forward. He’s a great player, a lot of potential. He’s our x-factor. He can do that night in and night out if he wants to.”

The junior Allen scored a career-high 17 points in just his second game since suffering a shin injury last October that caused him to miss all but one game last season. The Hungarian-born forward averaged 3.2 points a game, playing 391 minutes his freshman season of 2012-13.

“I’m so happy,” said Allen when asked how it felt to be back on the court. “I loved being a part of the team last year, see those guys go so far. It’s a different feeling to be out on the court instead of on the sidelines.”

After South Dakota hit one of two free throws for the first point of the game, the Cardinal never trailed. The Cardinal led its visitors 40-26 by the half, but failed to put the game entirely out of reach over the final 20 minutes.

“I give South Dakota a ton of credit,” said Dawkins. “They came in to compete. They made it a 40 minute game.”

“They played great as a team for 40 minutes,” echoed Randle. “You have to give them credit. They really locked in at times offensively and defensively. Offensively, they got into a rhythm, made shots and got offensive rebounds.”

The Coyotes cut the Cardinal lead as close as six points with 12:34 to play, thanks largely in part to Stanford’s inability to stop South Dakota defensively in the second half. The Coyotes hit 46.9 percent of their second half field goal attempts, but sent Stanford to the free throw line 26 times. Stanford hit 22 second-half attempts from the charity stripe to keep distance from its opponents. In total, the Cardinal went 38 for 46 from behind the charity stripe.

“We shoot free throws relatively well in practice,” said Dawkins. “We talked about it before. Some of our guys who haven’t had as much experience in game situations are getting that experience now in front of our eyes. They’re growing up, they’re playing those roles now. I have all the confidence in the world that they’re going to be very good free throw shooters. I think it’s evident by how we shot it tonight.”

Next up for the Cardinal is a high profile match-up against UNLV in another Coaches vs. Cancer classic match-up. This time, play moves to the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, a site familiar to the Cardinal after a pair of stops there last season.

“The Pizza,” replied Randle with a smile when asked what he’s most looking forward to on the road trip. “Really, I’m just looking forward to an opportunity to play against UNLV. We’ve watched film on them, we know they’re a pretty good team.”

Troy Grosenick Steals One for the Sharks

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By Mary Walsh

Sunday’s 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes was one of the more compelling games the Sharks have played this season. It was not high-scoring and the Sharks did not outplay their opponent, except in goal. It was Troy Grosenick who made the 2-0 win exciting. He finished his NHL debut with a 45 save shut out. He even had to make one of those saves with Tyler Kennedy’s stick. He was a man on a mission.

After the game, Grosenick said:

It’s kind of a dream come true. It’s kind of like… just like you write it up when you’re a little kid. The guys played great in front of me, I saw so many pucks, not too many difficult ones.

At the other end, Anton Khudobin only faced 19 shots. It was an unusual way to welcome a goalie to the NHL, unless letting him steal a game was the Sharks’ plan. From Todd McLellan’s post game comments, no, that was not their plan:

A lot of guys score in their first games. Did we expect a shutout and 45 shots? No but he played extremely well and we certainly believed he could do that. So to get a young man like that to come in and steal us a game, when we didn’t have our A game yet, I thought as the night wore on we wanted to do it more and more for him and we improved.

All’s well that ends well.

Grosenick was called up last week when Alex Stalock had a knee procedure that will keep him out at least for a few games, but it was not assumed he would start a game.

The Carolina Hurricanes presented a different kind of challenge for the Sharks. They had a very poor start to the season, and suffered a lot of injuries to key players early. Their record so far is lousy but their recent record is much better. Their roster is getting healthy and they are playing well. So they might have looked like an underpowered opponent but they are more capable than that. With the backup to their backup in net, Matt Nieto and Scott Hannan out, the Sharks had some pressure from within if the Hurricanes did not offer enough inspiration.

None of that seemed to help much, as the Sharks started as slowly as ever. Their rookie goaltender had to keep the Sharks in it while his team was outshot 12-3 through the first 15 minutes. Part of that time was spent on the penalty kill but the Sharks did not look much better at even strength.

That penalty was a hooking call to Joe Pavelski at 18:03. It gave Grosenick a chance to get in the game, as he had to make a few saves in quick succession. He looked confident and composed. The Sharks had to kill another penalty, this one to Jason Demers in the last four minutes of the period. The Sharks’ penalty kill featured two different short-handed chances, one from Adam Burish and one from Patrick Marleau backed up by Mirco Mueller.

The pressure they started to generate on that kill outlasted the penalty, when Tomas Hertl gave the Sharks the lead. He took advantage of a miscue by the Hurricanes in the Sharks’ zone, escaping into the neutral zone with the puck. Hertl went in two on one with Joe Thornton with only Carolina’s Andrej Sekera back. Hertl tried to get the puck to Thornton but it hit Sekera. The puck came back within Hertl’s reach as all three skaters converged at the blue paint, so Hertl poked it under goalie Anton Khudobin. The assist went to Barclay Goodrow.

The shots by the end of the first were 16-5 for the Hurricanes.

At 12:08 of the second, the Sharks went on the power play after Barclay Goodrow drew a hooking penalty from Brad Malone. Despite a couple of good chances, the Sharks only got a few shots through the Carolina penalty kill. Khudobin stopped those.

At the end of the period, Grosenick had a chance to really show off when the Sharks got trapped in their zone and several shots came at the Sharks goaltender, rapid fire through traffic. The last shot was at a nearly empty net but Grosenick got across with just enough of his glove to stop it. (Click on that link to see the video of that sequence)

The period ended with the Hurricanes still leading in shots 31-14, 15-9 for the period.

The Hurricanes did not let up during the third period, and the Sharks only managed five more shots. No penalties were called, few stoppages gave relief to the tired teams. Until Joe Thornton broke away in the final seconds to shoot at the empty net, the shutout looked very uncertain.

Six Sharks got credit for two shots, none had more. Marc-Edouard Vlasic led the team in ice time with 23:22, while Justin Braun led the team with six hits. The Sharks power play was 0/1 while their penalty kill was 2/2.

Nathan Gerbe led the Hurricanes (and all skaters) with seven shots. Three Hurricanes got credit for three hits each, John-Michael Liles, Elias Lindholm and Brett Bellemore. Andrej Sekera led his team in ice time with 27:07.

In the faceoff circle, the Hurricanes beat the Sharks 34-24.

The Sharks next games is against the Sabres in Buffalo, on Tuesday at 4:30 PT.

Sac Kings commentary: Cousins no doubt the biggest reason for Kings success

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by Jeff Hall

SACRAMENTO–The Kings were coming off two heartbreaking games on the road that they lost. There was the one game in Dallas which they blew a 24 point lead and then the next game against the Grizzlies where they had a 26 point lead and ended up losing that game as well. It was big for the Kings to come home after losing three straight on the road after that four game road trip.

They got back to Sleep Train Arena and responded in a good way and a lot of it has to do with their bench who are playing a lot better. The Kings DeMarcus Cousins got into foul trouble and that’s what the Kings are going to need their going to need a team effort. It can’t just be a one or two guy show.

Its not only been about Cousins and Rudy Gay who are two key players for the organization and that’s where a lot of the high scoring is coming from especially early in the game before Cousins gets into foul trouble. The Kings were able to hang with such teams in their last three losses with the likes of Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Memphis.

As long as the defense plays four quarters of basketball the Kings are confident they can beat any team in the NBA that’s how Mike Malone and the Kings feel right now. The Kings confidence is starting to build, their 6-4 and after ten games nobody would have believed the Kings would be performing this well.

It is a long season and we are talking right now about only ten games in but it’s 82 games for a whole season in the NBA it can really be tough and you have to be careful about being over confident especially early in the season. Despite the three game loses this last road trip the Kings are playing much better on the road in the NBA that’s very tough to do for any team.

The Kings are playing with confidence and a lot of that is coming from Cousins whose showing leadership like he’s never shown before. Malone talked about that Saturday night after the game and said that Cousins is becoming a real leader. He’s grown a lot this season and he’s growing a lot every game. He’s really a leader that the Kings didn’t have before.

The players look up to Cousins and he’s a big part of the Kings success and he’s been helpful with tips for the younger players. A good example of that is when the Kings were in the game to the very end against Memphis and they lost to them by one point. Malone and the players have alluded to Cousins being a big influence for leadership in making these games close.

Jeff Hall covers Sacramento Kings basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears basketball commentary: Martin setting up some great offensive plays for Cal squad

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by Michael Duca

BERKELEY–Cal’s season opening night win was one for the books with a very healthy 34 point win over visiting Alcorn 91-57. Cal head coach Cunozo Martin was pleased with his offense and I’m sure that would be true with the Bears taking on Kennesaw State on Sunday at Haas Pavilion.

Also it should be noted that Martin and former Cal head coach Mike Montgomery who now works for the Pac 12 network have had many conversations off the record about coaching when Montgomery works Cal games for TV. Martin is in the process of learning about the players and who better to get a few tips from than Monty himself.

Not so much of those discussions were about the skill sets that they have but about the off the floor issues and some of the personalities that the players have during the course of a season. For the Cal offense on Friday coach Martin is very happy with the performance. The pre conference schedule is something that you have to figure out what you got so you can set your eight man rotation for the conference schedule.

Martin pretty much knows who his eight man rotation is already after practices it’s always good to see how guys work together on the floor in competition to see how guys have worked together independently in the off season and how they refine their games. These games are more important than they appear.

The smart basketball folks are there watching because they learn a lot and they learn a lot because they watch what’s coming down the road. Martin won his 125th career game which Montgomery has 677 career games. It’s a work in progress but its a pretty good start for Martin at the Cal basketball program.

Martin is young enough if he’s willing to coach long enough he can coach for 50 years he might be able to set some all time record. The Cal pre conference schedule is very heavily skewed towards home games. Which gives the local fans plenty of opportunity to come out and have good seats and see young teams develop.

We’ll see what happens in these early games which is hard to do as there will be very much breaking down of Cal or Kennesaw State for Sunday’s game. You’ve got coaches who are looking at their squads and looking at their players. They got freshman, they got red shirts on, who have not competed at the college level. Their giving them the opportunity to do that and want to see how much the game is faster paced.

The coaches want to see how well the players respond to those playbook situations, to see how they react out on the floor. Some of these kids even if their playing before a small college crowd and maybe the biggest crowd they’ve every played in front of. You got a lot of things for the kids to learn other than who does the back cut when somebody sets the screen.

Michael Duca does Cal Bears basketball commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford falls to Utah

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By Jeremy Harness

It continues to get worse for Stanford.

Stanford’s hopes for a Rose Bowl went by the wayside weeks ago, and the Cardinal’s chances for a significant bowl game took a bigger hit Saturday night, as they fell to Utah at Stanford Stadium, 23-20.

Despite the fact that the Cardinal entered Saturday’s game unranked while facing the No. 23 Utes, this was a very winnable game, particularly after Stanford punctuated its first drive of the game with a touchdown to give itself a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, however, Utah rolled right back and tied the game late in the quarter when quarterback Travis Wilson, who had been in and out of the starting lineup for much of this season, punched it in himself from two yards out.

The game eventually went into overtime, and the two teams traded touchdowns in the first extra session. However, Stanford was forced to settle for a 51-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson.

Utah responded by driving down the field on the stout Cardinal defense before Wilson hit Kenneth Scott for a 3-yard walk-off touchdown.

Statistically speaking, the game was a Stanford-like contest. The Cardinal out-gained Utah on the ground, 190-70, while gaining 294 total yards to Utah’s 247. However, Stanford, as was the case in the loss to USC, was unable to capitalize on key opportunities that were afforded to it during the game and instead watched as Utah walked out of Stanford with the victory.

“Offensively, (it was) just as sloppy a game as we’ve had this year,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “(I am) very disappointed in our overall performance (Saturday).

“You can see the defense played really hard and kept us in the game. But gosh, we still gave them way too much and too many opportunities. And we’ve missed some throws. We dropped passes. We missed protections.”

Meanwhile, Utah continued its quest to get itself in a quality bowl game, perhaps the Holiday Bowl, with its win.

“Another gutty performance by our guys,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “It’s a tough group that we have in our locker room, and (I am) very proud of them.

“There’s no quit in these guys. “They’re physically tough, they’re mentally tough, and I’m proud to be associated with them.”

Kings beat the Spurs 94-91

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Spurs 11-15-14

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings returned home on Saturday night looking to get back into win column after losing two heartbreakers on the road in Dallas and Memphis. The problem for the Kings was their first opponent on this short three game homestand was the defending NBA Champions – the San Antonio Spurs.

The Kings came out and played 48 minutes of tough defense and played four quarters of consistent offense en route to defeating the Spurs 94-91 before a sellout crowd.

The Kings were led on offense by DeMarcus Cousins with 25 points and 10 rebounds. That is not really a surprise. What was surprising was the fact that Cousins played just nine minutes in the first half. He came out of the game with three minutes to play in the first quarter, and he sat the entire second quarter.

After the game, Kings Head Coach Michael said he did not plan to keep Cousins out for the entire quarter but the unit on the floor was playing well and it gave his center a chance to rest. Cousins would need that energy going down the stretch against the Spurs.

Darren Collison took the lead multiple times in the flow of the game. The point guard scored 19 points, dished out five assists, had two steals and grabbed two rebounds in his 39 minutes of playing time, Colllison consistently pushed the pace of the game to keep the Kings playing at a high tempo.

Rudy Gay had a productive night for Sacramento. Gay scored 18 points, had six assists, pulled down three rebounds and added a steal and a blocked shot to his box score. Gay and Collison combined to lead the Kings when Cousins was on the bench.

Omri Casspi had a very productive night for Sacramento. In his 22 minutes on the floor, Casspi scored nine points, recorded five rebounds, a steal and one blocked shot. Casspi’s rebounds seemed to come at just the right moments for the Kings.

Carl Landry played some key minutes with Cousins on the bench. He finished with eight points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and one steal. Landry’s solid play off the bench helped the Kings stay in the game.

In his postgame comments, Michael Malone emphasized his teams outstanding defensive effort. The Kings held the Spurs to just 42.5-percent shooting (34 for 80) and just 29.2-percent (7 for 24) from beyond the 3-point line. Sacramento allowed the Spurs to score just 34 points in the paint.

Manu Ginobili led the Spurs in scoring with 21 points but Sacramento held him to just one 3-pointer (1 for 7) in the game. Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green scored 16 points each. Future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan added 15 points. The Kings held Tony Parker to just 11 points.

On holding Parker to just 11 points Coach Michael Malone said, “Darren Collison and Ramon Sessions – all the guys who were out there did a great job. We had discipline.”

The Kings as a team shot 43.0-percent (37 for 86) from the field. Ironically, the Kings went 0 for 12 from 3-point range. They went to the free throw line just 24 times but hit on 20 of those opportunities (83.3-percent).

On offense, the key for the Kings was their play in the paint. Sacramento scored 58 points in the paint. It is safe to say they dominated the paint.

The Kings also took care of the ball against the Spurs. They committed just nine turnovers in the game; well below their goal of 13 turnovers per game.

In summing up the game Michael Malone said,”It feels great anytime that you can beat the defending champions and protect your homecourt. More importantly for me tonight was the defense. We only shot 43-percent from the field, but the key was that we defended at a high level. We held that team to 91 points and 42-percent from the field. We dominated the paint and only had nine turnovers. If we defend like that, like we did earlier in the year, then I really feel we can beat anyone in the NBA.”

The Kings will back in action on Tuesday night versus the New Orleans Pelicans at Sleep Train Arena.

Thompson, Curry, Warriors thump Hornets

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Klay Thompson was the lead man with 21 points, Stephen Curry chipped in 19 points and nine assists as the Golden State Warriors shot 52 percent from the field on 45-of-87 shooting to cruise to a 112-87 victory over the Charlotte Hornets Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

Harrison Barnes had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, Andrew Bogut scored a season-high 13 points and nine rebounds for Golden State, who are off their best start since the 1994-95 season and remain atop of the Pacific Division at 7-2.

Marreesse Speights gave a boost off the bench for Golden State, scoring 13 points and six rebounds.

“That was a great effort tonight, I thought that was our best effort of the season. We really put it together both offensively and defensively,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.”We’re heading in the right direction with our offensive execution. The last six minutes were a little tough, committing five turnovers, but it was just a small mark on a otherwise great game.”

The Warriors have had trouble holding on to the ball early on in the season, leading the league with 21 turnovers per game.

In three of their past five games, Golden State committed 74 turnovers. In their last two victories over the Brooklyn Nets and now Charlotte, the team committed just 24 turnovers.

“We were able to control the ball. It shows when you control the ball, good things happen,” said Curry, who had just one turnover and shot 8-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc.

Golden State  leads the NBA in shooting percentage, and destroyed Charlotte from beyond the arc with 11 3-pointers made, and holding a 48-30 edge in points in the paint.

The Warriors out-rebounded Charlotte 51-31, and held the edge in fast break points, 27-9.

Al Jefferson scored 19 points, Lance Stephenson had 16 points, and Brian Roberts finished with 17 points for Charlotte (4-6), who struggled from the floor shooting just 38 percent on 32-of-84 shot attempts.

Kemba Walker scored just eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.

The Hornets were playing their second game of a back-to-back, after winning in Phoenix Friday night, 103-95. With the loss, Charlotte fell to 1-5 on the road.

Saturday’s game was the first of a back-to-back for Golden State, who travel to Los Angeles Sunday to take on the 1-8 Lakers.

Game Notes

  • Golden State has sold out 87 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 18, 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
  • Saturday’s game marked Klay Thompson’s 200th start in the NBA.