by Michael Martinez

picture credits Google Images

SACRAMENTO- Tonight’s game was interesting to say the least. The Kings offense was tremendous, they did many things well and their big man DeMarcus Cousins redeemed himself after criticizing his recent play. The Kings should have blown the Jazz out of the water, but the team allowed Utah to get way too many second chances points and stay in the game. The Kings lucked out that the Jazz struggled to hit the broad side of a barn for a while and Rajon Rondo’s passing ability plus lights out shooting from the team led them to an odd victory. The Kings defeated the Jazz, 114-106, at Sleep Train Arena backed by a supportive and loud home crowd.

As the game got underway, the Kings caused a bit of worry by turning the ball over in sloppy fashion and letting Jazz point guard Raul Neto drive to the hoop right past the whole team. The worry faded instantly as Ben McLemore hit a 3 pointer and started to capitalize on fast break chances. The team scored 9 fast break points, 4/4 from the field due to a solid defensive effort. The King started the quarter with a 12-2 run. Many of the Kings players did a good job attacking the hoop and the team totaled 20 points in the paint. With a good defensive effort, the Jazz seemed rattled and could not hit any shots. McLemore had a good 1st quarter, totaling 7 points on 3/3 shooting. Rudy Gay had a quarter high with 9 points on 4/5 shooting. The Kings shot 66.7% from the field and the 1st quarter was really good until the very end as the defense got a little relaxed. The Kings had the lead at the end of the 1st, 33-22, with 10 team rebounds and 9 assists and a little bit of help from the Jazz poor shooting, 36.4%.

The 2nd quarter began and the Kings seemed to let off the gas on the defensive end again. The end of the 1st spilled into the 2nd with the Kings giving the Jazz way too many open looks. If it weren’t for the Jazz atrocious shooting, the Kings could have easily been down. At the half, the Jazz were shooting only 37% from the field but 12 of the Jazz 26 points came off of second chance points. The Jazz totaled 8 offensive rebounds in the quarter as the Kings could not find a way to box them out. The Kings shot at 47.4% in the 2nd and finished the half shooting 57.4%. The first quarter really helped keep the Kings ahead as their tough time on defense led to poor offense. The Kings had 0 fast break points for the quarter and they did little to try and attack the hoop. By the end of the half, the Kings still led, 54-48, with Gay and Alec Burks having the halftime high in points with 11. Omri Casspi and DeMarcus Cousins each had 10 points, while Rondo finished the half with 6 points and 8 assists.

Coming out of the break, the Kings looked for some answers with their rebounding. The Jazz came out and struck quickly, only down by 1 early in the 3rd. However, the Kings found some life leading to a 7-0 run. But once again, the Kings let themselves get out rebounded and the Jazz were able to scratch and claw their way back into the game. The Jazz continued to jack up 3’s and their shooting of 50% for the 3rd helped keep them alive. Rondo had a highlight play when he faked a behind the back pass into a dribble to then pass to Gay who finished the fast break with a huge slam, which turned into a 3 point play. The Kings savior was their excellent shooting, 64.7% on the quarter and 59.6% in the game. At this point in the game, the Kings were outrebounded 36-25 and they turned the ball over 6 times in the quarter. The Kings only had 5 turnovers in the first half. The Kings got the ball back in the paint and by putting up 16 points in the paint, they were able to hold the lead, 86-80. Every Kings started was in double figures by the end of the 3rd quarter, with Casspi leading the way with 19 points, 7-12 from the field. Gay had 18, Cousins had 15 with 8 rebounds and Rondo had a double double totaling 13 points and 12 assists.

The 4th quarter started and the Jazz came out firing yet again. With the score 86-84, George Karl called a quick timeout to settle his team down. Marco Belinelli hit a 3 pointer out of the timeout and the Kings began to gain some momentum. A little over halfway through the 4th, the Kings found themselves up by 12 with Gay hitting a triple. Utah, however, kept finding a way to stay in the game by collapsing the Kings defense. Once the Kings defense collapsed in the paint, the Jazz found a wide open man on the perimeter. Luckily for the Kings, Cousins showed up big for the team in the fourth. He cleaned up the offensive end by getting much-needed offensive rebounds. The Kings snagged 7 offensive boards in the quarter and 15 total rebounds to Utah’s total of 8. Boogie put up 8 points in the quarter, 2-4 shootng and 4-6 from the charity stripe. The Kings held the lead and the Jazz fouled Rondo out of desperation, but Rondo went 4-4 on his free throws in consecutive possesions. As time began to tick down, the Jazz started getting second chances again and this caused Cousins to foul out. The Kings were once again sloppy towards the end but by shooting 55.8% for the game, they squeaked out a W. The final score, 114-106, with the Kings ending a 3 game skid.

5 Kings player finished the game in double figures, including Casspi, Gay, Cousins, McLemore, Rondo and Belinelli. Casspi, Cousins and Rondo all had double doubles. Casspi 19 points and 10 rebounds, 7-16 on field goals. Cousins 23 points and 12 rebounds, 8-14 shooting, adding 6 assists. Rondo finished with 17 points and 13 assists. Gay tied Cousins with a game high as he finished with 23 points. McLemore and Belinelli both finished with 10 points. The Kings passed the ball well, finishing with 29 assists and their lights out shooting helped them overcome not being able to rebound the ball. Thankfully, the Jazz did not shoot very well all game. The Kings finished the game with 58 points in the paint, which has been their MO this year.

The Kings have won 5 out of their last 6 home games.

“Consistency and enjoying play fast and you know, to play fast like we do, there’s probably more confidence at home,” said Karl.

The Kings will take on the the New York Knicks at home this upcoming Thursday on TNT as they get their first look at Kristaps Porzingis. The Kings will need to do a better job of rebounding the ball, or Porzingis might be some of the Kings players on a poster. The Kings will look to continue their hot shooting and offense from tonight’s game and they will need to close out on the perimeter to help them get a win on national television. Kings fans will be needed to be loud and proud.