Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins, right, hugs teammate Darren Collison after the Kings came from 22 points down to beat the Atlanta Hawks 108-107 in an NBA basketball game Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
By Tony Renteria
SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (21-32) coming off a big win against the Boston Celtics hosted the visiting Atlanta Hawks (31-22) tonight in the capital city with a sold out crowd. The Kings have been looking to fight up to the eighth spot to make the playoff this season and tonight’s 108-107 thrilling win has helped the home towns team cause.
The Kings have be on the upside of the power curve the last month and tonight’s win against a quality opponent is the a good sign that that rate will continue. The Kings have been under some pressure to part ways with All Star Center DeMarcus Cousins either for his off court actions or to start the rebuilding process with a new squad.
Cousins still continues to deliver in the paint and on the stat line as he added 22 points and eleven rounds. He was aided by Ben McLemore who had a great game for the young player who is still trying to find his feet in the NBA season grind.
The Hawks who fell on the third game of this west coast swing after a hard fought vicoty on Wednesday in the Mile High City against the Nuggets were led by Tim Hardaway JR who scored 28 points on the road and was helped by Paul Millsap who scored 25 of his own in the losing battle.
The Hawks continue the West Coast swing by heading up north to Portland on Monday to face the Trailblazers while the Kings host the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The game between the Sixers and Kings came down to free throws on Monday night as Sacramento won their fourth consecutive game 102-100.
Garrett Temple put the Kings up by three points with 14.9-seconds to go when he hit 1-of-2 free throws. Philly’s Sergio Rodriguez answered back with a 25-foot 3-point shot that cut the Kings lead to just one point. Robert Covington fouled Cousins with 5.9-seconds remaining in the game. The Kings big man converted 1-of-2 foul shots allowing the Kings to take a 102-100 lead. The Sixers Joel Embiid missed two 3-point shots in those final seconds and the Kings held on for the victory.
The Kings had to outscore Philadelphia 32-23 in the final period to win the contest. The Sixers held a 77-70 lead after three quarters.
The Sacramento Kings record improved to 14-17 with the victory while Philadelphia dropped to 7-23 after the loss. Sacramento holds on to eighth place in the Western Conference with a one-game lead over ninth place Denver and a two-game lead over 10th place Portland – the Kings next opponent.
With 31 games under their belt this season, the Kings just need three wins to get to .500. First-year head coach Dave Joerger continues to focus on defense and finding the right combination of players to put on the floor.
DeMarcus Cousins again led the team in scoring with 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting, while also adding nine rebounds. Rudy Gay returned to the Kings lineup after missing six games with a hip flexor. He made his presence known chipping in 17 points himself. Gay’s return did create a significant change in the Kings player rotation.
Ty Lawson was again a major factor off the bench for Sacramento on Monday night. He scored 12 points, grabbed four rebounds (three offensive), dished out four assists and had two steals in 20-minutes of playing time. Willie Cauley-Stein played significant minutes especially in the third quarter when Kosta Koufos experienced foul trouble. Cauley-Stein went into the game to help defend Embiid and wound up scoring nine points and pulled down four rebounds.
The Kings won the battle in the paint outscoring the Sixers 52-46 down low. Sacramento also out-rebounded Philly 42-38. The Kings had 24 assists but they turned the ball over 19 times which resulted in 24 points for Philadelphia.
The 76ers were led by Joel Embiid and his 25 points and eight rebounds. Sergio Rodriguez also added 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Jahlil Okafor played 19-minutes at center scoring six points and posting one rebound. Disgruntled big man Nerlens Noel received just three-minutes on the floor and scored three points for his team.
Former King Nick Stauskas never really got going in the game. He played just 19-minutes scoring four points shooting just 2-for-4 from the floor. Stauskas is actually having his best year in the NBA upping his scoring average to 9.5 points per game which is a 2.6 point improvement over his career average of 6.9 points per game.
The 76ers head to Utah to play the Jazz Thursday, while the Kings will travel to Portland play the Trail Blazers Wednesday. The Kings are 1-1 versus the Trail Blazers this season. Each team has won on their home court. DeMarcus Cousins scored 55 points in Kings 126-121 victory over Portland at the Golden 1 Center. The game on Wednesday night will be the final meeting of the season between the two teams.
AP photo: Sacramento Kings DeMarcus Cousins who led the Kings with 36 points on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center never too shy to ask an official a question came away with a team leading 36 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder
SACRAMENTO– The Sacramento Kings (5-9) played host in the Golden One Center to the Oklahoma Thunder (8-7) on the eve of Thanksgiving coming away with a 116-101 win for the hometown team.
Sacramento had been plagued all season with bad third quarter play but rallied behind a strong 36 point game performance by DeMarcus Cousins and pushed the Thunder around in third by outscoring them 36-27.
Cousins who has been source of constant trade rumors though talk radio has tried to push through for another All Star year with quality stat line tonight of 36 points on 14-28 shooting and 13 rebounds with eleven of those on the defensive end.
Darren Collison added in 21 points to help from the two guard position as the Kings beat a team with a winning record for a change. Rudy Gay also played well with 17 points as the Kings players all played alot of the minutes as the head coach Dave Joerger used a samll lineup and only played nine players tonight.
Russell Westbrook as usual played a lot of minutes, 35 and 31 points from the floor. He had 20 points in first half but only eleven in the third as the Kings played hard on defense to pull away in the third quarter.
The Thunder look to improve on this three game road trip on Friday as they go up to Portland to play the Trailblazers on Friday while the Kings finish up on this five game home stand on Friday as well by hosting James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
AP photo: DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings tries to get off a shot but is snuffed by the San Antonio Spurs Pau Gasol in the first half of Wednesday night’s contest at Golden 1 Arena
SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (4-7) played host the Spurs of San Antonio (8-3) on a wonderful fall night here in the capital city but the night was the only thing wonderful as the Kings fell to a better Spurs squad 110-105.
The Kings had been off for five days and looked to retool and revamp the rotation as head coach Dave Joerger has had eleven games to to see his team perform. The Kings did the start the season by playing more games than anyone else int he league before this long break. The Spurs had come off a home win against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.
Sacramento looked to improve on the consistency of the team flow that has been lacking by coming out strong against the visiting Spurs. They lacked the the play of All Star forward DeMarcus Cousins who committed two quick fouls and only played six minutes in the opening quarter as the Kings fell quickly behind 27-22.
The Kings tried to battle back in the second quarter but the quick passing and long range shooting of the Spurs quieted every run the the Kings seem to make. Pau Gasol seems a perfect fit to the Spurs well oiled roster as he netted 16 first half points, as the Spurs raced to a 57-46 half time lead.
The the third quarter was just an extension of the result of the second quarter as the superlative passing and outstanding outside shooting extend the lead to 84-71.
The Spurs used this recipe for success as the pulled away early int he fourth to a 14 point lead, as the Kings looked lost on both offense and defense. The Kings seemed to fade as the fourth quarter continued as they were already thinking about Fridays game against the Clippers. The kings made a mad dash run at the end of the game to make the score look so much closer than how the game actually went.
The Kings were lead by Cousins who scored 26 points to go along with 17 rebounds. The Spurs were lead by Gasol who finished with 24 points and nine rebounds.
The Spurs head to Los Angles to play the Lakers on Friday as the Kings host the other Los Angeles team, the Clippers on the same night.
AP photo: The Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (left) tries to put the pressure on the Los Angeles Clippers Marreese Spreights whose taking a jumper in the first quarter at Golden One Arena on Tuesday night
SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (1-3) hosted the visiting Los Angles Clippers (3-3) and fell behind early but battled back to lose by just three as they fell, 92-89. The Kings have yet to win a game in the new Golden One Center against an NBA team in this preseason.
Tonight’s preseason game had a Nation wide broadcast on ESPN as the Kings continued as a team to have locked arms during the National anthem. While some professional athletes have made this into political lightning rod subject,the Kings seem to make a subtle but powerful statement.
DeMarcus Cousins has continued to make his own statement in this preseason by averaging close to a point a minute while on the court and tonight was not exception while he scored 23 points in just 25 minutes.
J.J. Redick tried to match the level of play that Cousins brought by scoring 18 points in his 22 minutes of play. Both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul failed to live up to their billing as they scored twelve and eight points respectfully.
The Kings need to find the right balance as they approach the start to the 2016-2017 Season on October 27th at home against a now Tim Duncan free San Antonio Spurs.
AP photo: The Sacramento Kings Anthony Tolliver shoots over the Golden State Warriors Draymond Green in Thursday’s pre season action at SAP Arena
SAN JOSE–In the Second preseason game for our Sacramento Kings (0-1) they fell to defending west coast champions Golden State Warriors (1-1) 105-96. The Kings were looking to flex their new defensive muscle under new head coach Dave Joreger but failed to do so in the second half.
The Kings gave up 28 points in the third and another 27 in the fourth quarter as the defense failed to keep pace with the offense.
Kevin Durant scored 25 points in under 27 minutes as the Warriors continued to show the NBA they are the team to beat this season.
The Kings were lead by All Star DeMarcus Cousins who match Durant’s scoring by minute as he dropped 20 points in under 22 minutes himself.
The Kings play host Monday to the Israeli National Team as they continue the eventful preseason.
The Kings lose again to end a season with some promise on another disappointing note as they fall to the Houston Rockets 116-81. The Kings played with DeMarcus Cousins who was inactive and Rudy Gay (rest) and Rajon Rondo who did not even travel to Texas for the last game.
George Karl may be fired as of this hitting print. Under his leadership the Sacramento Kings have become the talk of TMZ and almost the joke of the NBA. On a wonderful evening of NBA basketball as the Warriors made history with 73 wins and an aging Kobe Bryant threw down 60 points in his send off, Kings fans are left with a season full of lack luster play and disappointment.
The Kings head into a new arena next fall and hopefully they can leave the baggage they have build up in Sleep Train Arena, what would The Kings of of ten years ago have to say to this team. Once this was a franchise built on hussle and teamwork, now is a reality show that has reach epic portions.
Cousins the best at his position in the league plays when he feels like it, Rondo designs his own plays and Karl looks like he gave up in November. There is not stat line to help make this look like a moral victory. It is just another loss in an other wise lost season.
Hopefully Vlade Divac can find the person to help him make the basketball decisions to right this ship before a loyal fan base is lost forever.
AP photo: The Minnesota Timberwolves Gorgui Dieng (5) takes it to the hoop over the Sacramento Kings Quincy Acy (13) on Thursday at Sleep Train Arena
SACRAMENTO–The lost season of the Sacramento Kings (31-47) continues as they fall again to a less talented but more enthused Minnesota Timberwolves (26-52) 105-97. The Kings faced a team that had just defeated the Golden State Warriors and fell just as they did. In the second to last home game in Sleep Train Arena once again the Kings filled a stat sheet with every thing but a win.
Once again the Kings fan were in dismay and confusion as star player DeMarcus Cousins was a late scratch due to rest. Rajon Rondo also sat the game under the same category. As the revolt against head coach George Karl seems to be getting worse by the day, the season can not come to an end soon enough.
Fans are looking forward to a new arena in the fall but more importantly they are looking forward to team that hustles up and down the court and wants to win. It seems the game playing between Karl and his star players have made fans apathetic to the record of the team.
As a town that was only recently rebounded from the financial crisis that plagued the country the season ticket holders are feeling like they had been duped by the inside fighting between the Head Coach and the team. They feel as though what should have been a playoff run has turned into a soap opera of epidemic proportions.
The Timberwolves have sweep the series 4-0 and the fans have been left feeling empty. The Kings face the Thundar on Saturday in the last home game ever in the old Arco Arena. Hopefully the team can patch it together for four quarters and bring a sense of closure to a fan base that has been nothing but fiercely loyal for over 30 years.
photo credit: USA Today–Sacramento Kings DeMarcus Cousins was hit with a technical after clapping in the face of NBA official Marc Davis at Sleep Train Arena Wednesday night
SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (29-45) used a strong second quarter to pull ahead of the visiting Washington Wizards (36-38) then played good enough to hold on for a 120-111 win.
The Kings who season has been a soap opera at least look to add a few more wins before they close down the season and Sleep Train Arena on April 9th 2016.
The Kings were paced by All Star DeMarcus Cousins who had 29 nine game high points, Cousins who might be gone by via trade after soon after the season also added in ten rebounds.
Seth Curry also got a rare start and played over 17 minutes and added in five points.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 24 points on 10-21 shooting. Marcin Gordat did grab a game high 12 rebounds in the losing effort.
The Wizards head to Phoenix on Friday to take on the Suns while the Kings host the Miami Heat on the same day.
Game notes: DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings Rajon Rondo both clapped at official Marc Davis in his face earning them each a technical foul and Cousins was suspended for clapping. Cousins was clapping after Davis called made a foul call. Davis immediately hit both players with a technical each. Rondo was ejected for arguing the first technical and left the game. Cousins who picked up his 16th technical of the season will be suspended for the Kings next game.
AP photo: The Chicago Bulls Derek Rose (1) goes up against the Sacramento Kings Rudy Gay (8) at the United Center Monday night
The Sacramento Kings headed into the Windy City on Tuesday evening and left the with another loss, 109-102 as they fell to the Chicago Bulls.
The Kings continue to add losses in this season that started with so much hope but has failed to live up to that hope the Kings fan for a full season under the leadership of Head Coach George Karl.
The Kings seem to be all stat line and no real staying power in the win loss column as tonight’s box score seemed to show, another double double for DeMarcus Cousins as he scored 19 points and added in 18 rebounds.
Rudy Gay added in 18 points of his own and Rajon Rondo put in 14 points with five rebounds while all three played over 30 minutes each. But that is the Kings season, great offensive stats and another loss.
The hometown Bulls lead by Derrick Rose and and Forward Taj Gibson who both scored a team high 18 points to pace the winning Bulls.
The Bulls host the New York Knicks while the Kings continue their road trip as they head north to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves tomorrow night
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