Author: Charlie O. Mallonee

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.

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings had an 18 point lead over the Philadelphia 76ers with 8:46 to go in the third quarter of the game on Friday night. From that point on the Sixers started chipping away at the Sacramento lead until they took the lead 81-80 late in the third period. Philadelphia went on to defeat the Kings 114-107 in what is a stunning loss for the Kings.

When we looked at the Kings daunting eight game road trip and tried to project game outcomes, virtually every writer and commentator had Kings winning in Philly. Why not? The Sixers have consistently been one of the worst teams in the “the Association” all season. Some have even accused the Sixers of tanking because their performance has been so bad. So, predicting a Kings win versus the Sixers was a no brainer.

Then, you add to the mix the Kings big road win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night. Sacramento beat a team that is fighting for a playoff berth. That victory should have given the Kings the confidence and motivation to pick up their third win of the road trip in Philadelphia, but as the man said, “That’s why they play the game.”

The Sixers not only overcame an 18 point deficit but opened up a 13 point lead of their own in the fourth quarter. The Kings fought back and cut the Sixers lead to just three points with 1:15 left to play in the game.

The Sixers responded again to open up another solid lead. An alley-oop pass from Ish Smith to Nerlens Noel that resulted in an easy dunk with 41.9 seconds left in the game gave Philly 108-103 lead. The Sixers added six points off of free throws to seal the deal.

DeMarcus Cousins did everything he could do to lead his team to a win. Cousins scored 39 points in 40 minutes of playing time and added a career high 24 rebounds to his stats for the game. It was Cousins’ 40th double-double of the season.

Rudy Gay had a 24 point game while Derrick Williams added 15 of his own. Cousins, Gay and Williams were the only Kings to score in double figures. The Sacramento bench produced a meager 25 points.

Sacramento shot just 40.2-percent (35 for 87) from the floor. They were just four for 14 (28.6-percent) from 3-point range. The Kings went to free throw line 17 times more than the Sixers scoring 33 points from the line but it was not enough to bring them a victory.

The Kings turned the ball over 17 times and those miscues resulted in 27 Philadelphia points.

Robert Covington led the Sixers scoring with 24 points while Nerlens Noel put up 16. Jerami Grant scored 13. Mbah a Moute, Sampson, Thompson and Smith all scored 10 points apiece. The Sixers bench scored 47 points in the game.

Philadelphia shot 47.4-percent from the field (45 for 95).

Both teams are back in action on Saturday night. The Kings (22-41) have to play the Wizards in D.C. Washington is on a two game winning streak.

The Sixers (15-50) will host the Brooklyn Nets in a battle of non-playoff teams.

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings were done in by the zone defense, a rookie guard and a Jekyll and Hyde performance on Saturday night as they lost to the Miami Heat 114-109 in OT.

The Kings started the game with great optimism knowing they would face the Miami Heat without Luol Deng, Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside and Chris Bosh. It appeared that containing Dwayne Wade would be enough to lead Sacramento to a victory on the road. The Kings had not won in Miami since November 2001.

Sacramento played a strong first half and took a 14 point lead into the locker room at halftime. The Kings shot 56.4-percent from the field. They were 8 for 12 (66.7-percent) from 3-point range. Rudy Gay scored 18 first half points and Ben McLemore added 17 of his own to lead the Kings to the 61-47 halftime lead. All the Kings had to do was show up and play the same way in the second half in order to escape with a victory.

The Heat came out in the second half and changed the dynamics by utilizing a zone defense to tie up Cousins and Gay. The Kings could have eliminated the zone by hitting outside shots, but their shooting touch left them as they went just 13 for 37 (35.1-percent) from the floor in the second half. They were 1 for 11 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Kings turned the ball over 11 times in the second half.

The Miami bench scored 29 points in the second half. The Kings bench scored 8 points in the half.

These factors combined to allow the Heat to close up the gap and ultimately to have the game end in a 96-96 tie at the end of regulation.

In overtime, Dwayne Wade took over for the Heat and scored 10 points. Tyler Johnson added five points including a back-breaking 3-point bucket late in OT. DeMarcus Cousins fouled out of the game with 1:41 left to go in the extra period. Veteran leadership from Wade, the magic of the rookie Johnson and the lack of their big man on the floor led to the Sacramento loss.

“The zone will show we need some zone work. In the same sense, I think our turnovers … I had one thought – our sloppy offensive decisions creates a lot points for the other team. Tonight, we gave them the free throw line. We gave them turnovers. They got to the rim way too often,” said Kings Head Coach George Karl after the game.

Sacramento turned the ball over 22 times and those miscues resulted in 27 points for the Heat. Miami scored 54 points in the paint.

The other area that killed the Kings on Saturday night was bench production. The Miami bench scored 59 points compared to just 22 bench points for the Kings. The Kings starting five tried to carry the load, but in the NBA, your second unit has to produce in order to win games.

Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings in scoring with 27 points apiece. Cousins posted a double-double by grabbing 17 rebounds. Ben McLemore scored 20 in the game.

Dwayne Wade led the Heat with 28 points. Miami capitalized on the outstanding performance of their rookie guard Tyler Johnson out of Fresno State who scored 24. Johnson was seven of 12 from the field, hit three of five 3-point attempts and went to the free throw line 10 times. Johnson also had six assists. Not bad for a player who spent 15 games in the D-League before being called back to the big club.

The Kings are now 3-6 in George Karl’s 30 game mini-season plan. They are 1-3 on the road trip with four games yet to be played.

The Kings have Sunday off, and then, they must play the Eastern Conference leading Atlanta Hawks on Monday night in Atlanta.

by Charlie O. Mallonee

“I wanted to win that game so badly. It would have been great for our morale,” said Kings Head Coach George Karl after his team lost to the Orlando Magic 119-114 on Friday night.

The fact that the Kings had a chance to win the game in Orlando was a miracle in itself. Sacramento allowed the Magic to score 68 points in the first half. The Kings took their first lead with 6:45 to go in the game off a Nik Stauskas 3-pointer. Sacramento’s biggest lead of the night was one point. Their defense was inconsistent at best.

Even with all of those things going against the Kings, they still had a chance to win the game with 32.7-seconds left to go. Omri Casspi was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer. Casspi went to the free throw line and converted all three opportunities to give the Kings a one point lead.

After an Orlando timeout, the Magic inbounded the ball, the Kings defense broke down and Tobias Harris was left open in the right corner. Harris hit the “short” 3-point shot to give the lead back to the Magic and ultimately gave his team the win.

“That’s what the road is. The road is a hard place. It’s an unfair place.A place where you might have been the better team in the second half and you don’t get rewarded,” summarized Karl during the postgame news conference.

Defensive breakdowns and turnovers were the Kings downfall against the Magic. Coach Karl pointed out the Magic scored on almost every possession after a Kings turnover. Orlando scored 22 points off of the 14 Sacramento turnovers in the game.

The Kings defense allowed Orlando to shoot 56.5-percent (48 for 85) from the field and go 13 for 24 (54.2-percent) from beyond the 3-point arc. The Magic posted 29 assists and made just 12 turnovers.

Victor Oladipo led the Magic recording a double-double by scoring 32 points and dishing out 10 assists. Elfrid Payton put up a double-double with 10 points and 12 assists. Channing Frye also had a double-double putting up 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Frye hit six 3-pointers for the Magic.

The Kings were led by Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins. Gay scored 39 points for Sacramento. Cousins had a double-double night with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Ray McCallum (13) and Omri Casspi (12) were the other Kings who scored in double figures.

The Sacramento bench added just 28 points in the game.

The Kings went 38 for 85 (44.7-percent) from the floor and a respectable 37.0-percent (10 for 27) from downtown. They went to the free throw line 38 times and were successful 28 times (73.7-percent). A team does not go to the charity stripe 38 times and come away the losers very often.

It took the Kings too long to get into the game on Friday night, and their defensive breakdowns sealed their fate.

The Kings (21-39) record falls to 1-2 for the road trip. Sacramento has to play the second game of a back-to-back in Miami on Saturday night.

Orlando ended a four game losing streak with the victory over the Kings. The Magic are now 20-43 for the year.

A Spirited Conversation

Much will be made of a “dust up” between Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins late in the second quarter of the game. The two exchanged words on the bench and on the floor after a turnover. It was really nothing more than two competitors who are sick of losing taking it out on each other for 30-seconds. “There‘s nothing to see here. Move along now. Nothing to see here.”

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings battled the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday afternoon but lost the game 110-99. The Kings overcame deficits as large as 17 points to pull within one point of tying the game in the fourth quarter but ultimately could not overcome the size and talent of the Trail Blazers.

The Kings (20-37) were without DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison again on Sunday. Sacramento is now 2-12 when Cousins is not in the lineup. Portland (39-19) used their size to take advantage of the Kings having to play without their big center in the game.

The Kings trailed the Blazers 87-75 after three quarters. The Kings went on 13-2 run to erase Portland’s big lead. It was a one point Trail Blazers lead with 8:23 to play in the game. Portland fought back with strong play from Robin Lopez, Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge to maintain the lead and preserve the win.

Sacramento was led by the play of Derrick Williams and Andre Miller in the final period. Williams scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. Miller dished out five of his 10 assists in the final quarter. You will see more Williams and Miller on the floor together with the type of chemistry they demonstrated.

“I was impressed. We didn’t have much going after the first couple of quarters and even the third quarter. Andre (Miller) did a good job getting us some easy baskets. There was enthusiasm, but they are a very good team. They are a very good shooting team and execute real well, ” said Kings Head Coach George Karl.

The game was one big runs by the Trail Blazers followed by comebacks by the Kings. Portland led by as many as 17 points. The Kings could have given up, blamed their loss on not having Cousins available and limped out of town on their eight game road trip. They did not give up. The Kings showed tenacity and skill in giving the Blazers a real old fashion NBA batlle.

Rudy Gay was the Kings leading scorer with 24 points. Derrick Williams put up 18 points. Guards Ben McLemore, Ray McCallum and Andre Miller all scored 12 points each. Miller recorded a double-double with his 10 assists.

Sacramento shot 45.3-percent (39 for 86) from the field but connected on just three of 12 3-point shot attempts (25.0-percent). They shot 78.3-percent (18 for 23) from the free throw line.

The most impressive stat of the night was the Kings assist to turnover ratio of 2:1. They dished out 24 assists and turned the ball over just 12 times. That marks real improvement in both statistical areas.

The Trail Blazers were led in scoring by Damian Lillard (31) and LaMarcus Aldridge (26). Aldridge posted his 30th double-double by adding 15 rebounds to his 26 points. Wesley Matthews scored 17 points while Robin Lopez added 15.

Portland shot 49.4-percent (41 for 83) from the floor. They burned the Kings hitting on 10 of 24 3-point shots (41.7-percent). The Blazers helped themselves at the charity stripe hitting on 18 of 20 tries (90.0-percent).

The Trail Blazers outrebounded the Kings 43-33.

The victory gave Portland a 2-1 win in the season series with the Kings.

Cousins and Collison Update

DeMarcus Cousins did come out on the floor for a light shoot-around prior to the game. The Kings are cautiously optimistic about his availability versus the Knicks in New York City on Tuesday evening.

Collison will be in Philadelphia on Monday for a medical evaluation. He is expected to have surgery on his hip flexor on Tuesday.

Coming up

The Kings now embark on a brutal eight game road that begins in New York City on Tuesday night. That is a make up game for the contest that was postponed in January due to a blizzard in the New York area.

The Kings will fly to San Antonio on Tuesday night for a Wednesday game with the Spurs.

The Kings will also visit Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. on the trip.

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The San Antonio Spurs (35-23) broke out of a four game losing streak on Friday night beating the Kings (20-35) in Sacramento 107-96.

The Kings played without two of their starters – DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison – who were sidelined due to injuries. The Kings are now just 2-11 when Cousins does not play.

The Spurs led the Kings 80-78 after three quarters. It took three minutes and five seconds into the fourth period for either team to score. When the scoring began, the scales tipped toward the Spurs who scored 18 points off eight Kings’ turnovers. San Antonio outscored Sacramento 27-18 in the final quarter.

“The basketball IQ in the fourth quarter – I’m not saying it was bad – it wasn’t good,” explained Kings Head Coach George Karl after the game.

The Kings had no assists in the fourth quarter and were outrebounded 11-8. Sacramento committed nine personal fouls to just four personals for San Antonio.

“They’re a team that knows how to win games. They’ve been frustrated, and I think they played with an urgency. It was pretty much the class of a championship team,” summarized Karl.

Tony Parker led the Spurs scoring attack with 19 points. Kawhi Leonard scored 17 points, Manu Ginobili 16 and Tim Duncan added 12.

The Spurs shot just 39.8-percent (35 for 88) from the field and hit eight of 23 attempts (34.8-percent) from downtown. They were 29 of 32 (90.6-percent) from the free throw line. San Antonio recorded 18 assists and turned the ball over just six times.

Ben McLemore led the Kings in scoring with 21 points. He went five for eight from the floor and 10 for 12 from the charity stripe.

Ray McCallum scored 20 hitting on 10 of 17 field goal attempts. Rudy Gay added 16 points.

Jason Thompson had a strong night on defense and stepped up to score 12 points while grabbing 11 rebounds to record the double-double. Andre Miller had a 10 point game.

Sacramento shot 48.1-percent (38 for 79) from the floor. They attempted just four 3-point shots and were successful just once. The Kings were 19 for 23 (82.6-percent) from the foul line.

“In general, I thought how we played was very good. We ran better. We ran more often. The spacing and tempo of the game was pretty good. We just didn’t finish plays – didn’t make good decisions,” said Karl.

The Kings are now 1-1 on this three game homestand. The homestand comes to an end on Sunday afternoon when the Kings host the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 115-112 on Friday night.

The Kings are hoping that center DeMarcus Cousins will be available on Sunday versus the Blazers. Cousins sat out the Spurs game due to a left ankle sprain and left hip contusion suffered in the Memphis game on Wednesday.

Darren Collison is headed to Philadelphia to be evaluated on Monday with surgery on his right hip flexor probable on Tuesday.

The Kings are now 2-2 under George Karl as head coach.

Sacramento will face the Spurs for the fourth and final time next Wednesday evening in San Antonio. The Kings play the Knicks in New York City on Tuesday.