Month: March 2015

Pavelec beats Pavelski

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Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS, TREVOR HAGAN AP PHOTO

By Pearl Allison Lo

Ondrej Pavelec stopped 38 of 40 shots, as the Winnipeg Jets got back into a playoff spot with a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks Tuesday.

San Jose did not lose in effort, outshooting Winnipeg in the second and third with a games’ worth of shots, 33-12. It was the first game in a seven-game road trip as the Sharks fell six points behind the Jets. San Jose did not lose ground to Calgary though.

The two goals the Sharks’ managed to get came via Joe Pavelski. Joe Thornton had assists on both goals.

Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele led Winnipeg with three points apiece, two goals, one assist and one goal, two assists respectively.

Penalties and special teams made a big impact. The Jets scored on two of the three penalties San Jose committed. Conversely, the Sharks went 0-for-3 on the power play. San Jose’s John Scott left the game in the third at 14:22 with a game misconduct.

Winnipeg split their goals between the Sharks’ goalies.

The Jets first used an early goal and two power play goals to take out Antti Niemi in the first.

Adam Lowry scored first, 1:10 into the first period, aided by Andrew Ladd. Lowry was basically parallel to the net when he scored. Behind the net, Brent Burns was going for the puck off the boards but was hit by Lowry. Burns recovered but then lost the puck to Ladd, who passed it back to Lowry. Lowry was able to score with Scott Hannan defending in front of him.

Winnipeg then both doubled and tripled their lead with the man advantage, both goals about midway during each penalty.

Scheifele scored first, helped by Toby Enstrom and Wheeler at 9:39.

Ladd scored at 13:01, assisted by Jacob Trouba and Michael Frolik.

The 3-0 score brought in Andrew Stalock to replace Niemi.

San Jose was outhit 8-2 during the period.

Pavelski got a goal back in the second similar in time to Lowry’s. Pavelski scored at 1:06, aided by Thornton.

Burns had a one-on-one opportunity during the period, which he missed.

Then Wheeler worked on Stalock, who was perfect against the Jets with two shutouts.

Wheeler reestablished a three-goal lead at 7:05. He was helped by Drew Stafford and Scheifele who battled for the puck to Stalock’s left. Stafford eventually got the puck and was denied as he went behind the net to shoot it as he fell to the ground. Stalock made that initial save without his stick, but Wheeler was able to poke the puck through afterwards.

Wheeler, Stafford and Scheifele struck again when Wheeler hit the puck into the net. The puck came into the air after flying off the Sharks’ Justin Braun’s stick to make it 5-1 at 9:12.

Close chances in the third included Pavelec just getting his foot out in time to stop the puck and Burns’ shot ringing off the goalpost.

San Jose got their second goal at 17:35 as Pavelski deflected Burns’ shot.

Game notes: It was also the Sharks’ first loss at MTS Centre. Overall, the Jets had more hits and blocked shots, 23-11 and 23-13 respectively. Wheeler now has a five game point streak and goals in two straight games. San Jose’s road trip continues when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs, Thursday at 4:30pm.

San Francisco 49ers report: Borland said he just didn’t want to take the risk anymore

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by Tony Renteria

SANTA CLARA–It was as early as the first pre season game in August when the 49ers Mike Borland 24 told his parents that he knew he would not last long in the NFL. He told them he was concerned about concussions in the game and saw what it did to many players in the league.

Although 2015 was his first year, he studied closely about what the consequences were regarding concussions and the long term effects it does to players throughout the NFL. Borland learned about former San Diego Charger Junior Seau who killed himself and that was alarming to him. He wondered could Seau’s suicide be related to head injuries from the game.

Borland said he wanted to have rich long life and played a very stellar rookie season for San Francisco and throughout 2014 season and gave retirement some very serious thought and realized the dangers of concussions. He saw playing the game what the injuries and the collisions were doing to players daily and he thought of his future and no longer wanted anything to do with pro football after thinking it over.

Borland told ESPN’s Outside the Lines he wanted what was best for his health, the retirement comes as a shock to his teammates, media and fans after the type of a rookie year he had in the NFL leading San Francisco in tackles with 108, one sack and two interceptions.

Borland was said to be off to one of the biggest careers in the NFL and off the field the 49ers brass was impressed by the way he carried himself and even general manager Trent Baalke who was shocked by the announcement saying Borland was the “consummate professional.”

Borland telling Outside the Lines on Monday regarding ending his one year career in football, “from what I’ve researched and what I’ve experienced I don’t think it’s worth the risk. I feel largely the same, as sharp as I ever been. For me, it’s being proactive. I’m concerned that if you wait til you have symptoms it’s too late.” Borland is the second 49er to retire this month Patrick Willis said that he was having foot problems and said he had to retire.

Tony Renteria covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The Warriors squeeze by the Lakers

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March 16, 2015

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors had their hands full Monday night against the lowly Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are now 17-49 for the year, but they battled the Dubs tooth and nail all the way, but they lost 108-105. Golden State improves to 53-13 and with the win clinched a playoff berth for the third consecutive year in a row and also improved their record at Oracle Arena to 30-2.

The Warriors had won two out of three against the Lakers this year but the Lakers dealt the Dubs their worst loss of the year in December and came into town wanting to play the role of spoiler and gunning for the upset.

Play was even in the first period as both teams scored 30 points. The Warriors and an 8-point lead early in the second period and then a nine-point lead with just 4 minutes left in the half. The Lakers went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 52, but Dubs finished the half with a four-point lead 58-54. The teams played it even in the third period. Each team scored 24 points as they headed into the fourth period. The Lakers actually outscored the Warriors by one point in the final period, but they made it a very close game. The Warriors pulled away at the end as the Lakers had to foul and Steph Curry made them pay.Final score 108-105 in favor of Golden State.

Now for the stats. The lakers had 6 players in double figures.Jordan Hill(15), Jordan Clarkson(17), Wesley Johnson (16), Wayne Ellington (17). Jeremy Lin(15) and Carlos Boozer(10) were strong off the bench. The Lakers shot 45.9% from the floor and were 8 for 15 in 3-point shots. They had 11 offensive and 34 defensive rebounds. They had 24 assists, 11 steals, 5 blocks and made 18 turnover in a losing effort.

The Warriors, on the other hand, were 47.6% from the floor but made just 7 3-point shots in 27 attempts. They had 7 offensive and 30 defensive rebounds. They had 28 assists, 16 steals, and 7 blocked shot and turned the ball over 14 times.

Klay Thompson led the scoring with 26 points. Harrison Barnes had 11, Draymond Green 16 points, 3 assists and 8 rebounds while Steph Curry scored 19 (17 in the second half0 plus 9 assists and 4 rebounds. No other Warrior was in double figures. The bench played well but did not score a lot. Andre Iguodala had 8, David Lee five and Festus Ezeli and Shaun Livingstone each had six.

Next game will be a doozy as the Warriors, best team in the Western Conference, meet the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks at the Oracle Arena Wednesday night, March 18th at 7:30pm. The Warriors will be trying to avenge a loss earlier in the season to Atlanta. Don’t miss this one.

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About rxslugger

Retired pharmacist who now has a career as a sports writer and broadcaster

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Kings back after road trip, lose to Atlanta

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By Robert Steward

SACRAMENTO–

Fresh off a 2-6 road trip in which the Sacramento Kings allowed an average of 115 points a game and 52% shooting from the floor over the last 7 games, they hosted the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks tonight at Sleep Train Arena. It was quite the entertaining game but, as has been the case too many times this season, the Kings came up short in the end, losing to the Hawks, 110-103. The Hawks were playing without NBA 3-point leader Kyle Korver, who has hit 50.4% from beyond the arc this season. Korver suffered a broken nose Sunday night during the Hawks’ win over the Los Angeles Lakers and will miss at least 3 games. One week ago Korver had torched the Kings for 6 three-pointers, leading Atlanta to a franchise-record 20 trey’s in routing the Kings, 130-105, in Atlanta. Sacramento was also playing short-handed, as Rudy Gay sat out with a left patellar tendon strain.

In what became a familiar theme throughout the game, the Kings opened by missing 3 layups in the first minute of play. Ben McLemore picked up two quick fouls and left the game at 9:41. The Kings made only their second bucket of the quarter at the 8:56 mark, a three by Ray McCallum to make it 6-5, Atlanta, before the teams began to pick things up a bit. DeMarcus Cousins began attacking the basket with regularity, making some layups in the low post and getting to the free throw line. After a Nik Stauskas trey, the Kings led, 29-23, with 34 seconds left. However, Atlanta, who kept getting second chances at the basket following their own missed shots, answered back with a quick layup by Dennis Schroder and following a Kings miss, the Hawks’ Shelvin Mack hit a 3 at the horn to cut the Kings lead to 29-28 after the first quarter.

The second quarter saw both teams going back and forth for the first 5 minutes of the quarter. However, with the score tied at 41 with 6:35 left in the half following a jumper by Cousins, the Kings went cold and proceeded to miss their next 7 shots, allowing the Hawks to build a 50-41 lead until Cousins finally broke the scoring drought with a power baseline dunk with 2:15 left. Cousins had been shaken up a bit following a hard offensive charge call on Atlanta’s DeMarre Carroll with 5:45 left, staying on the floor for a few minutes but came back on the court following a timeout after the foul. The Kings trailed at the half, 54-47. Atlanta shot 46% from the floor in the first half, hitting 5 of 12 from 3-point land. Sacramento tailed off in the 2nd quarter and was only shooting 41% from the floor at the break, although they were 5 of 11 from beyond the arc. Cousins had 14 points and 9 rebounds at halftime, while Atlanta had balanced scoring from Jeff Teague, who had 11 points, and Paul Millsap with 10. Mack and Carroll both had 8 for the Hawks.

Both teams opened the 3rd quarter playing subpar, the Kings missing 4 of their first 5 shots, while the Hawks missed 5 of their first 6, including 3 in a row from behind the 3-point line. The Kings also got sloppy and turned the ball over repeatedly. Despite the turnovers, the Kings only trailed, 57-52, with 8:37 left in the 3rd. It was at this point that Atlanta went on an 11-4 run over the next two and a half minutes to take their biggest lead up to that point at 68-56, forcing the Kings to call a timeout with 6:07 left in the quarter. The Hawks got to the foul line time and time again in the 3rd, hitting 9 of 12 from the charity stripe. But Sacramento did not roll over that easily. Sparked by Jason Thompson and Andre Miller coming off the bench, the Kings fought back and whittled what was once a 13-point Atlanta lead at 73-60 down to 80-76 before Atlanta scored with 20 seconds left to finish the quarter leading 82-76. Thompson scored 8 points in the quarter but the Kings turned it over 9 times in the 3rd.

As the 4th quarter unfolded, the Kings stayed close, trimming the lead on 4 different occasions to two points, despite DeMarcus Cousins picking up his 5th foul with 7:23 left and having to exit the game. Sacramento only trailed 90-88 at the 6:33 mark and had hit 6 of their first 8 shots in the quarter. Thompson and Miller continued to spark the Kings, who cut the lead to 1, at 96-95, following a Miller jumper, which forced the Hawks to call timeout with 3:00 left to go. It was still a one-point Hawks lead, 100-99, when Miller had a chance to give the Kings their first lead since 8:42 left in the 2nd quarter but missed his first shot of the game with 1:28 left. The Hawks countered with a three by Kent Bazemore at 1:06 to push the lead up to 103-99. Atlanta proceeded to put the game away by hitting 5 of 6 free throws in the final 23 seconds.

Atlanta’s balanced scoring continued throughout the game. 4 of the Hawks starters finished in double figures, led by Jeff Teague with 23 points, Millsap had 19, Carroll scored 16, and Bazemore finished with 11. Mack and Schroder came off the bench to score 14 and 10, respectively. Even without Korver, the Hawks still launched 31 three-pointers, hitting 12. Atlanta finished at 45% from the floor. The Kings came alive in the 4th, hitting 10 of 17 from the floor. Jason Thompson had a perfect game, hitting all 7 of his shots from the floor and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. He finished with 18 points off the bench, while Miller had 16 off the bench on 6 of 7 from the floor. Cousins led the Kings with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Omri Casspi had 16, McLemore added 11 before fouling out with 23 seconds left, and McCallum chipped in with 10. The Kings finished at 47% shooting from the floor, including 7 of 20 from beyond the arc, but had 20 turnovers for the game, which proved too difficult to overcome.

Next up for the Kings will be the Los Angeles Clippers when they visit on Wednesday night at 7pm.

 

Sportstalk podcast at Alfred’s Steakhouse in downtown San Francisco Mon Mar 16, 2015

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alfreds

Cast: David Zizmor (host), co-hosts Jerry Feitelberg, Morris Phillips, Tony ‘the Tiger’ Hayes, and Lee Leonard (producer). Our thanks to Alfred’s Steakhouse at 659 Merchant Street in downtown San Francisco owner Marco Petri, restaurant manager Marc Ronkovski, and our server Toto.
Alfred’s is a classic traditional restaurant with a rich history going back to Vallejo Street and 889 Broadway Street since 1928.

Third generation owned and started by founder Alfred Bacchini who opened the franchise in 1928. Alfred’s grandson Marco proudly announces that Alfred’s is open everynight for dinner and open for lunch every Thursday. If you like great steaks, service, and a traditional restaurant with a feel of old San Francisco Alfred’s is a San Francisco favorite.

Now join David, Jerry, Morris, and the Tiger on the podcast from Alfred’s in downtown San Francisco with all the sports headlines of the week

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The pride of the Angels Mike Trout the exclusive interview

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by Amaury Pi Gonzlaez

TEMPE AZ–Angels centerfielder Mike Trout was named the 2014 American League Most Valuable Player. Trout was the unanimous winner with 420 points in the balloting process. The 18th unanimous winner in the balloting process. He is considered the best player in MLB today and many selected him as “the face of baseball”to replace Derek Jeter, who retired last season.

Prior to winning his first MVP, Trout finished second in the voting in 2012 and 2013, to the inimitable Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. At 23 years of age he is the third player in Angels history to earn the award, joining Vladimir Guerrero(2004)and Don Baylor(currently the Angels batting instructor)in 1979.

Tempe Diablo Stadium, in Tempe, Arizona has been the spring training home of the Halos since 1993 and today is the oldest of all spring training parks here in the Valley of the Sun, where a total of 15 teams hold their camps. The most famous #27 in baseball sat with me today for a few minutes prior to practice at Tempe Stadium.

Q: How does it feels when I say, Mike Trout the MVP of the American League?

T: “It’s awesome, really, a real honor, I try not to think about that too much, I am here to help our team win this division again and a World Series in October, which is our goal”

Q: Last season you hit 36 home runs and drove in 111 runs, scored 115 runs. Personally, what would you like to improve in this 2015 season?

T: “Well, last year is last year, but I did struck out much more than I should…and I hope this year I can cut down on my strike outs, I need to put the ball in play more and help the team and that is what I have been working this spring here with our hitting coach. Sometimes I am over aggressive at the plate, I have to be more selective”

Q: Last year in Anaheim I remember you saying a few words in Spanish, although our interviews on Fox Sports West are done in English, then I translate what you said in our pre-game show. How are you coming along with Spanish?

T: (Smile)”Hola, tranquilo(which means Hello, Fine) no, not really I am learning from Erick and from Albert and some of the guys, because I am prohibited to play winter ball down there, but they help me…however I still hjavde a long way to go before I can do a complete interview with you in Spanish”. (Erick is shortstop Erick Aybar and Albert is first basdeman Albert Pujols).

Q:Mike, you are having a great spring training hitting above .500 have shown everybody why you won the MVP. Is this because you are more confident with yourself than in the previous seasons?

T: “I feel great, and yes I do have much more confidence than my first spring training when I was very eager but a few years younger coming out of the minor leagues, but -look-this is a great team, we won 98 games last season more than anybody in baseball, we have great players here and it is really a privilege to play with these guys”

Q: You live with your parents in their home during the winter in New Jersey. How does that works?

T: “I spend a lot of time with my parent over there, yes, and I still have most of my High School friends and all my buddies there, so yes, I spend a lot of times, specially his winter in Milville”

Q: You are so accesable to the media. Do you expect now that you are the MVP and you are in high demand, to continue?

T: “I like to, I now you guys have a job to do, so I will see how it goes this season, but I have no problems with that, is part of my job, the team pays me well and anytime that I can talk to you and all the guys, I have no ‘problema’with that”.

Told him thank you and I see you soon in Anaheim, although I will still be watching you here for another week.

He thank me, walked to the left side of the dugout picked his glove and went on to the field to practice.

Mike Trout has innate type of talent, but at 23 years of age he comports himself like a real veteran. Do not be surprise if he wins a lot of MVP awards in the years to come. I hope he stays humble and very accessible, he is the same with the fans, always posing for photos with the fans, signing autographs and a real delight to be around.

One more thing. The older players, like future Hall of Fame star Albert Pujols told me that Trout listens to the veterans and that is very important, he still in a learning process. And that should be very scary news for the opposing pitchers.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s and the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and does News and Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NCAA basketball podcast commentary: Cardinal wait for that call to go to the NITs

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by Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–Those secondary tournaments in March don’t get a lot of buzz as their a lot of alumni boosters from the big schools who are clambering to go up in their gym to and it’s about marketing dollars. It all really depends on who ends up where in terms of the Pac 12 and to the big dance. They already have some teams on the bubble like UCLA or Cal to make the NCAA Tournament or not they might be on the outside.

At this point Stanford is firmly on the outside barring the end of their season. It’s going to be a question of how they want to get into this tournament to get the revenue. It will be decided at some point for the teams who won their conference for a season title and the championship team they’ll go onto the NIT automatically.

They’ll try and get into those schools and those mid major conferences where they ran the table on the regular season but knocked down on their conference tournament. Their the one and done championship tournaments and that will be about it. There should be room for a team like Stanford in the NITs when you start looking at the upsets from the smaller conferences.

They’ll be room for a team that had 19 wins and had some pretty significant wins, especially that win against Texas earlier in the year. This might give Stanford some life for a chance to play more basketball especially for these older players at the Cardinal the seniors who may have or may not have played their last game against Utah.

It makes sense for the NIT to take some Pac 12 representation, to have some sort of higher final team in the tournament and get people to watch it and get people to buy tickets for it. This might be a great chance for Stanford to get into the NIT and advance and see their star player Anthony Brown to try to put behind him probably his worst performance as a member of the Cardinal this year career putting together two points, 1-6 shooting in that 80-56 loss that knocked them out of the Pac 12 Tournament.

Matt Harrington covers Stanford Cardinal basketball and Matt is also covering for Michelle Richardson this week for NCAA commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Wondo in Seattle

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Photo credit: Major League Soccer @MLS

By Pearl Allison Lo

It was San Jose’s turn to score three goals, as Chris Wondolowski accounted for the majority, with the Quakes breaking their winless streak 3-2, against the Sounders Saturday.

Seattle was coming off a 3-0 win and had recent success at home against San Jose.

The Quakes instead went with recent success overall, now 7-2-1 since 2012 and won for the first time since August 2, when they also beat the Sounders. Wondolowski also hit the equalizer in that game.

Seattle’s least favorite player, Wondolowski, who scored two goals, now has nine goals in 14 games against them.

Quakes’ Coach Dominic Kinnear and goalie David Bingham got their first wins.

San Jose’s Innocent Emeghara got his first MLS goal as well as his team increased their resiliency and defense with a man down amidst increasing second half pressure. Seattle more than doubled their passes from the first half and had eight corners, 22 crosses and nine shots (seven on target) in the second half.

Less than a minute into the game, 18 seconds to be exact, the Sounders’ Clint Dempsey picked up right where he left off, with two goals his last game. Dempsey had a header off the Tyrone Mears save by Bingham while Bingham was lying down. The defender next to Dempsey fell after kicking towards the ball. It was the fastest goal in Seattle franchise history.

Wondolowski had a header into the post in the 9th minute.

His next opportunity came from Marvell Wynne kicking the ball forward and then chasing it down before it reached the endline. Wynne then passed the ball to Wondolowski who directly in front of the net, received the ball off his chest and kicked it past diving goalie Stefan Frei in the 13th minute. It was Wynne’s fist assist.

The Quakes’ Matias Perez Garcia had a shot go wide left in stoppage time.

At the end of the first half, San Jose had 17 to the Sounders’ six clearances. Wondolowski was the only one with more than one shot.

In the 48th minute, Wondolowski gave the Quakes the lead with the help of Brad Evans losing the ball. Wondolowski did not hesitate as he kicked the ball over a bent backwards Frei who had his hands above his head.

Four minutes later, San Jose went down a man when Victor Bernardez received a red card in the 57th minute.

Bingham had a number of saves at points amidst corner kicks, including a header from Dempsey at one end. At the other end, Dempsey also narrowly missed sliding the ball into the net.

Emeghara’s goal came in the 70th minute. He passed the ball to Adam Jahn, who passed it right back to him with space. Emeghara faked out Brad Evans and kicked it past a diving Frei before another defender could get back in time.

Obafemi Martins cut the margin to one in the 84th minute. Possession started with Shea Salinas giving the ball away. Eventually, Gonzalo Pineda got the ball to Andy Rose who got the ball before it went out of bounds. Rose then found Martins who was behind the Quakes’ Shaun Francis who was behind Bingham, as Martins calmly put the ball in before Fatai Alashe could get back in time. Martins also scored in his last game.

Seattle is now 20-1-0 when Martins scores.

Game notes: Both Nigerian, Martins and Emeghara traded jerseys post-game. All three San Jose rookies were in the starting lineup tonight, Alashe and Emeghara getting their first shot. Teammate Ty Harden made his first season appearance in the second half. The Quakes finished with 46 to the Sounders’ eight clearances. San Jose will now have their official home opener at Avaya Stadium, hosting the Chicago Fire March 22 at 4pm.

Warriors roll over Knicks on Curry’s birthday

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — A night after head coach Steve Kerr rested all his starters and the reserves came up just short in their place in a 114-103 road loss to the Denver Nuggets Friday night, the Golden State Warriors bounced back in hurry, trouncing the hapless New York Knicks 125-94 Saturday night to begin a six-game homestand.

Klay Thompson finished with 27 points in 26 minutes, and MVP candidate and birthday boy Stephen Curry, who turned 27 Saturday, scored 25 points and 11 assists with just one turnover in 27 minutes.

The Splash Brothers knocked down 12 of the Warriors’ 19 3s. Golden State shot 19-for-34 (56 percent) from behind the arc.

The game got off to a sluggish start for Golden State in the first quarter, shooting just 35 percent and allowing New York to take a 27-26 lead at the end of the quarter.

But Curry and the Warriors exploded in the second half, outscoring the Knicks 47-25 in the second quarter, thanks in large part by runs of 10-0 by the Warriors’ reserves, and a 14-1 run by the starters.

“We we’re playing hard, but we just couldn’t get off to a better start in the first quarter,” said Curry. “The bench came in a did a great job for us tonight and gave us a real boast.”

Draymond Green chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Justin Holiday scored 10 of his 13 points off the bench in the second quarter, nailing back-to-back 3s. Holiday, who started in place of Thompson in Denver Friday night, scored a career-high 23 points, including 5-for-7 on 3s.

David Lee added 10 points and four rebounds, while Marreese Speights scored nine points as Golden State’s bench outscored New York’s bench, 49-41. The Warriors outscored the Knicks 28-11 on fast break points.

“That as good as it gets,” said Kerr, “We didn’t get off to a good start in the first quarter, turning over the ball and forcing a few shots, but I thought we did a fabulous job responding.”

Andrea Bargnani led New York with 18 points, and Alexy Shved scored 14 points and dished out five assists.

Tim Hardaway Jr., son of Warriors’ great Tim Hardaway Sr., finished with 13 points off the bench for the Knicks, who shot 39 percent from the floor (38-for-96), and an abysmal 36 percent (9-for-25) from 3.

New York (13-52) falls to 5-29 on the road this season.

With the win, Golden State improves to an NBA-best 52-13 (surpassing the 51 wins from last season), and 29-2 at Oracle Arena. The Warriors are 34-0 this season when holding opponents under 100 points in a game.

Golden State hosts the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night.

Deja Vu in D.C., Kings lose 113-97

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NBA.com
NBA.com

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Stop me if you have heard this one before. The Kings start the game strong. Sacramento has an unbelieveable second quarter and goes into halftime with a big lead. Then, the Kings falter in the third quarter allowing their opponents to get back into the game. The other team has a strong fourth quarter and the Kings lose the game.

That is a summary of the Kings – Wizards game on Saturday night in D.C. Sacramento lost to the Wizards 113-97.

The Kings went into the game short-handed. Rudy Gay had to sit out the contest due to a left patellar tendon strain. When the Kings are without one of their big two, things usually do not go well for the team.

Sacramento played a solid first quarter as they outscored Washington 25-21 in the quarter.

The Kings played dominant basketball in the second quarter. As a team, they shot 75.0-percent. DeMarcus Cousins scored 13 points to go with the eight put up by Ray McCallum. The Kings bench scored 18 points in the period. Sacramento went to their locker room with a 64-46 halftime lead. It appeared that the Kings were ready to close out their eight game road trip on a high note.

A different Kings team returned to the floor for the third quarter. Their outside shooting went away as they shot just six for 16 from the field. Sacramento could score only 21 points in the quarter. The Wizards came out on fire. John Wall shot four for six with three 3-pointers to score 15 in the period. Paul Pierce was a perfect five for five shooting, including two 3-point baskets, and put up 12 points. The Kings, who led by 21 early in the third, were now holding on to a one point lead, 85-84 after three quarters.

As the fourth quarter began, the Wizards had never held the lead in the game. That changed with 10:11 to go in the game when Ramon Sessions (yes, the former King) hit a 25 foot 3-point shot to give Washington an 89-88 lead. The Wizards would never trail again and went on to win the game.

The loss dropped the Kings record on the eight game road trip to 2-6.

The Wizards are now 38-28 on the season, and they now have a three game winning streak.

DeMarcus Cousins scored 30 points in 29 minutes on the floor. Cousins fouled out with 5:34 to go in the game. It was the 10th time he had fouled out of a game this season. Cousins also picked up a technical foul.

Derrick Williams and Ray McCallum scored 15 points apiece. They were the only other Kings in double figures. McCallum added six assists.

John Wall led the Wizards scoring with 31 points. Paul Pierce added 17. Washington had six players score in double figures. The Wizards hit a season high 13 3-pointers in the game,

The eight game, 12 day road trip is over for the Kings. They will have Sunday off, and then, the Kings host the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night at Sleep Train Arena. The fun never ends.