Category: NBA

Sacramento Kings podcast with Tony Renteria: Kings playing well; Can they beat Lakers again?

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Former Sacramento King Rudy Gay (22) of the San Antonio Spurs drives on the Kings Maurice Harkless (right) on Wed Mar 31, 2021 in San Antonio (AP News photo)

#1 The Kings (22-26) really had a great run winning five straight games until they ran into the San Antonio Spurs in their second game of the series to snap the win streak 120-106 on Wednesday night in San Antonio.

#2 The Kings struggled in the first half and that pretty much put them at a deficit, the Spurs head coach Gregg Poppovich always comes in with a game plan and worked it to avoid getting swept.

#3 The Spurs DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs in scoring with 26 points and five rebounds sometimes it’s hard to contain a player that’s making all the difference in a game. The Kings struggled to shut DeRozan down.

#4 The Kings De’Aaron Fox was Sacramento’s top scorer with 20 points, the Kings simply came up short with three players in double figures Delon Wright followed up with 16 and Buddy Hield with 14.

#5 The Kings will try and get back in the win column on Friday as they host the Los Angeles Kings at Golden One Center. The Lakers (30-18) have gone 6-6 in their last 12 games the Lakers lost to the Kings in their last meeting in a narrow game 123-120 on Mar 3rd at Golden One Center.

Join Tony Renteria for the Kings podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Tony Renteria Thu Apr 1, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Sacramento Kings game wrap: Kings win streak ends at five; Spurs avoid 2 sweep win 120-106

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The San Antonio Spurs DeMar DeRozan (10) takes the ball away from the Sacramento Kings De’Aaron Fox (5) in the second half of Wed Mar 31, 2021’s game in San Antonio (AP News photo)

The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Wednesday night. The Kings entered Wednesday after playing the San Antonio Spurs on Monday and getting a day off on Tuesday in Texas. On Wednesday, the Kings were back at it facing the Spurs for the second time in as many games. The Kings beat the Spurs on Monday but weren’t able to replicate the feat on Tuesday losing the game by a final of 120-106.

Flashback Monday: In the Kings last game, they also played the Spurs. They were able to defeat the Spurs by a final of 132-115. It was a strong showing for the Kings who have came out strong in the second half of the season after the All-Star break.

Wednesday recap: On Wednesday, the Kings were set to take on the San Antonio Spurs in Texas at 530 PM PST.

In the first half, the Spurs jumped out to an early lead. In the first quarter saw the Kings defense faltered as they allowed the Spurs to score 33 points compared to the Kings 27.

In the second quarter it was a similar outcome for the Kings. The Kings were outscored again by the Spurs 36-26 as the Spurs took a commanding 69-53 lead into the halfway mark of the game. The Kings would need to pick up the pace on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor to have any shot at a comeback.

In the second half, the Kings weren’t able to pull off the comeback. The third quarter saw the Kings outscore the Spurs for the first time in the game 29-28. However, that wouldn’t be nearly enough. It would take a massive fourth quarter to make a dent in the Spurs lead.

In the fourth, the Kings again outscored the Spurs but not by a 24-23 margin and the Kings fell in Texas 120-106. De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 20 points in defeat as the Spurs were led by DeMar DeRozan who had 26 points. The Kings would look to get back on track in their next game.

Up Next: The Kings will travel home to take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at 7 PM PST In Sacramento.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: After sitting out six games Curry scores 32 on first night back

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The Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) lays the ball in for two points against the Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky (31) on Mon Mar 29, 2021 at Chase Center in San Francisco (AP News photo)

#1 The Golden State Warriors (22-24) snapped their four game losing streak on Monday night with a 116-102 win over the Chicago Bulls (19-26) at Chase Center in San Francisco.

#2 The game also marked the return of Warriors star player Stephen Curry who had missed six games since his injury in Houston on March 17th when he injured his tailbone how big was his absence for the Warriors during the slide?

#3 Curry led all scorers in Monday night’s game with 32 points it’s as if he never missed a step after being away those six games.

Join David for the Warriors podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Curry’s return helps Warriors to 116-102 victory over Bulls

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Photo credit: @WarriorsNBCS

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors’ all-world star, Steph Curry, returned to action for the first time since March 17th. The Warriors were 1-6 without Curry in the lineup. The Warriors had lost four in a row and were hoping to get back on the winning track Monday night. All Curry did was score 32 points to lead the Warriors to a 116-102 win over the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls, coached by Billy Donovan, acquired Nikola Vucevic at the Orlando Magic trade deadline. Vucevic helped the Magic defeat the Warriors back in February. The Warriors needed a total team effort if they hoped to snap the four-game losing streak. All five Warrior starters finished in double figures. The Bulls lost their fourth straight and sixth in the last seven games.

The teams played a fairly even first quarter. Steph Curry paced the attack as he knocked several threes. Curry landed on his backside late in the first quarter and spent most of the second quarter with an ice pack wrapped around his back. Each team scored 31 points in the second quarter, and the Warriors finished the first half leading by five 65-60.

The Warriors increased the lead to 11 after three quarters of action. Curry, Andrew Wiggins, and Kelly Oubre all made contributions to keep Chicago from gaining ground. Defense was the name of the game in the fourth quarter. The Warriors won the quarter 20-17 to win by a final score of 116-102.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improved to 23-24 for the year. Chicago dropped to 19-26.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 32 points, five rebounds, and six assists. He was 11-for-24 from the floor, and he made six threes in 14 tries. It was not a bad line for someone that had not played in the last two weeks. Steph scored 30 or more points in a game for the 18th time this season. Andrew Wiggins was second in scoring with 21 points. Wiggins made three threes. Kelly Oubre had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. James Wiseman had 12 points and five rebounds. Draymond Green finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and nine assists. Green, who did take a shot last Friday night, was 4-for-7 from the floor and knocked down three threes from downtown. Jordan Poole had seven, and Kent Bazemore added nine. The Warriors shot 50% from the floor and made 16 threes in 38 attempts.

The Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic led his team with 21 points and nine rebounds. Tomas Satoransky, Patrick Williams, and Lauri Markkanen each had 14 points. Zach LaVine had 12 points.

Up Next: The Warriors start a three-game road trip against the Heat in Miami Thursday night at 5 pm PST.

Kings Finish Off Spurs 132-115 For Fifth Win In a Row

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Photo credit: seattletimes.com

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings have been playing some pretty good basketball lately and doing something that has been eluding them for some time and that is winning.  They have beaten the Cavaliers twice, the Warriors, and the Hawks for a four-game winning streak.  This is great news for the King’s going into a game against the San Antonio Spurs. 

The Kings are three games out of eighth place and tonight’s game against the Spurs is another winnable game for Sacramento.

The Spurs led at the close of the first quarter 31-27, but the Kings turned it on the second half making up the four-point deficit and outscoring the Spurs 41-29 in the second quarter. The Kings led at the half 68-60. The bench had a good half with Maurice Harkless turning in eight points after coming over to Sacramento. Harkless was one of three players coming to the Kings in trade.

At one time, Sacramento held a significant lead in the third quarter, but the Spurs began chipping away at that lead. At the end of the quarter, the Kings held a 97-91 lead. Sacramento would have one quarter to pull their game together and celebrate a fifth win in a row.

It was a nervous start to the fourth quarter for the Kings. The Spurs refused to go away staying within striking distance of Sacramento.  With eight minutes left in the final quarter, the Spurs had pulled to within three points of the Kings.  

San Antonio got very close in the fourth quarter but the King’s were able to finish this game extending their lead in the final four minutes of the game. The final score was 132-115.  

Sacramento got great work from their starters and their bench as well. Off the bench, Harkless had 13 points and Terence Davis with 14. As for the starters, all of them shot double digits with De’Aaron Fox shooting 24 points, Richaun Holmes with 23 points and Buddy Hield scoring 20 points. With the win, the Kings have now won five games in a row. It was a great offensive effort by Sacramento.

They will be facing the Spurs for game two on Wednesday March 31st. Tipoff is at 5:30 PM PT.  

Sacramento Kings game wrap: Kings win 5th out 6th game; Fox scores 36 in Kings 100-98 victory

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Harrison Barnes foreground middle who scored a buzzer beater to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers gets mobbed by his teammates on Sat Mar 27, 2021 at Golden One Arena in Sacramento (AP News photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Saturday night in Sacramento. The Kings had a off day on Friday night after playing the Golden State Warriors. They beat the Warriors on Thursday 141-119. On Saturday, the Cleveland Cavaliers came to town against the Kings. The Kings managed to pull out a thriller at the buzzer 100-98.

Flashback Thursday: The Kings took care of business on Thursday against the Warriors. The Warriors really never had a chance as the Kings dominated on both ends of the court. Granted, the Warriors were missing significant fire power with Steph Curry and others out. It was the Kings third win in a row.

Saturday recap: The Kings were set to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday at 7 PM PST in Sacramento.

In the first half, it was a first evenly played game. The Kings managed to outscore the Cavs 31-29 in the first quarter as neither team was playing great defense to start out the game. In the second quarter, both teams picked up their defensive effort.

The Kings were outscore by the Cavaliers 19-18 in the second quarter as neither team was able to reach 20 points in the quarter. The Kings would take a 49-48 lead into halftime as Buddy Hield had ten points in the first half.

In the second half, the game would prove to be very close until the end. The Cavs came out of the locker room and out scored the Kings 26-22 in the third quarter to take a 74-71 lead into the final quarter. If the Kings wanted to win the game they would need to do it in comeback fashion. That’s exactly what happened.

The Kings outscored the Cavs 29-24 in the final quarter to take the win by a final of 100-98. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Kings were down 98-97 with 1.6 seconds left on the brink of defeat.

Thankfully for the Kings, Harrison Barnes was able to hit a buzzer beating 3-pointer to beat the Cavs at the end of regulation. The Kings have now won four games in a row and will look to continue their success in their next game.

Up Next: The Kings will spend the next week in Texas playing their first game on Monday against the San Antonio Spurs at 5:30 PM PST.

Hawks cruise to an easy 124-108 win over the Warriors

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The visiting Atlanta Hawks displayed a potent offense as they sent the Golden State Warriors down to their fourth straight defeat 124-108. For the second night in a row, the Warriors had no answers to stop the Hawks’ attack.

It seemed as if it were deja vu all over again as the Hawks scored 70 points in the first half to lead by 18 points 70-52. The Sacramento Kings scored 71 points Thursday night against Golden State. The Warriors could not get anything going on either end of the court. The Hawks shot a blistering 65% from the floor. They were 6-for-11 from the three-point arc. They outrebounded the Warriors 29-14. The Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins was the only player in double figures with 17 points. The Hawks were paced by power forward John Collins and point guard Trae Young, and each had 16 points. 

The Warriors played better in the second half. They outscored the Hawks 56-54, but it was not enough to overcome the 18-point halftime deficit. The Hawks scored 30 or more points in the first three quarters. The Kings scored 30 or more points in all four quarters against the Warriors Thursday night. The streak ended when the Warriors held the Hawks to 24 in the fourth quarter. 

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors are now 22-24 for the year. Atlanta improved to 23-22.

Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors with 29 points. He made four threes. Rookie James Wiseman played much better Friday night. His stat line was 18 points and five rebounds. Jordan Poole had 15 points, Kelly Oubre had 14 points, and Nico Mannion had 10 points. In his first game in a week, Eric Paschall recorded eight points in eight minutes on the court. Draymond Green recorded nine assists. Draymond, for some unknown reason, did not attempt a shot.

The Warriors shot 50% from the floor and made 12 threes in 28 tries. 

The Hawks outrebounded them 52-38. The Hawks’ defense forced 14 Warrior turnovers, and the Hawks scored 22 points due to the miscues.

The Warriors’ defense could not stop John Collins. The big forward had a double-double with a career-high 38 points and 12 rebounds. He connected on four threes in five attempts. Two other Hawk players finished the night with a double-double. Their big center, Clint Capela, recorded 18 points and 15 boards. Capela was 8-for-10 from the floor. Trae Young had 21 points and 15 assists. Former Sacramento King, Bogdan Bogdanovic, had 11 points. Danilo Gallinari added 12 points.

The Warriors are 1-6 without Steph Curry in the lineup and are 3-9 in their last 12 games.

Up Next: The Warriors are off until Monday night when they play the revamped Chicago Bulls. The game will start at 7 pm PST.

Kings Acquire Harkless, Silva and Wright

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Photo credit: heatnation.com

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings got right to work with some trades that could help them with a playoff push.  They are currently in 11th place behind 10th place Golden State after beating them Thursday 141-119.  

The Heat acquired Nemanja Bjelica hoping to provide some front court shooting and rebounding.  Many feel that this is a strong move for the Heat, but just what will it do for the Kings? In this trade, the Kings got Moe Harkless and Chris Silva. Both of these players have not played a lot of games with the Heat. Each of them has only played 11 games apiece.  Harkless started at power forward on opening night, but has been out of the rotation since then for the most part.  Kind of leaves you scratching your head. The Kings need a lot of help from the bench and the hopes are that Harkless can provide that help.

So with this trade, Harkless could possibly help the Kings biggest weakness and that is their defense.  The Kings also got five years younger in this transaction.

The Detroit Pistons have sent Delon Wright to the Kings for Cory Joseph and two second-round picks.  Wright will turn 29 in a month and thought to be the better player of the two.  He is averaging 10.4 points a game.  He is also shooting at almost35 percent from three point range.  So we have Wright as a defender off the bench, again where so much help is needed.  

So we will see if these trades can do anything for the anemic defense that Sacramento has exhibited all season as well as more productivity off the bench.  Improvement in these two departments will make a nice difference in the King lineup. 

Sacramento Kings game wrap: Fox can’t be stopped by Golden State in 141-119 win

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The Sacramento Kings De’Aaron Fox (5) defends against the Golden State Warriors Andrew Wiggins (right) laying up for the score at Golden One Arena in Sacramento on Thu Mar 25, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

Sacramento Kings beat writer

The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Thursday night which would be the second night of a back to back. The first night was against the Atlanta Hawks in which the Kings came away with a win. On Thursday, the Kings beat the Golden State Warriors by a final of 141-119.

Flashback Wednesday: The Kings took on the Atlanta Hawks a day prior on Wednesday. The Kings and Hawks played a seemingly evenly matched game that saw both sides shine and both side struggle. The Kings offense was fairly consistent throughout the game as De’Aaron Fox scored 37 points. The defense was not as consistent and almost cost the Kings the game in the end. The Kings were able to defeat the Hawks by a final of 110-108.

Thursday night recap: The Kings were set to take on the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night at 7 PM PST in Sacramento. 

Neither team came into the game as a playoff team. The Warriors are on the fringe if the season ended today they would get a chance at the play in tournament. They are low on momentum having gone 3-7 in their last ten games. The Kings however have gone 6-4 in their last 10 games and appear to be showing a little life. The Kings would look to keep that momentum going against a team two spots above them in the standings. 

In the first half, both teams had up and down quarters. The Kings were outscored by the Warriors in a high powered first quarter 37-37. At this point neither team seemed they wanted to play any defense. In the second quarter, the Kings offense took off and the defense was better. The Kings outscored the Warriors 37-24 in the second as De’Aaron Fox finished the half with 25 points. The Kings led at halftime 72-61.

In the second half, The Kings took off with the game. The Kings scored 34 third quarter points compared to the Warriors 25. That would vault the Kings into a 20 point 106-86 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes. In the fourth, the Kings were able to seal the deal.

They outscored the Warriors 35-33 in the final quarter and were able to take the game by the final of 141-119. De’Aaron Fox continued his tremendous play of late finishing as the games leading scorer with 44 points. Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors in defeat with 26 points. The Kings will look to continue this winning formula at home in their next game.

Up Next: The Kings will stay home to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday at 7 PM PST in Sacramento.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Fox knocks down 44 clobbering Golden State 141-119

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The Sacramento Kings DeQuan Jefferies (19) defends against the Golden State Warriors Nico Mannion (2) on Thu Mar 25, 2021 at Golden One Center in Sacramento (AP News photo)

#1 The Sacramento Kings (20-25) now have won three straight games their latest victory coming against the Golden State Warriors (22-23) in a huge blow out 141-119.

#2 The Kings De’Aaron Fox has been carrying a lot of the weight over the last two games Fox scored over 30 for against the Hawks and 44 points against the Warriors on Thursday night.

#3 The Warriors are missing three of their key players from their glory days out of the line up Thursday night Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson (gone for the season) and they have now lost three in row.

#4 The Kings Richaun Holmes came in second in scoring against the Warriors with 25 so somebody different after Fox usually helping run up the score for the Kings.

#5 The Kings try for their fourth straight win as they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night in Sacramento. The Kings defeated the Cavs on 119-105 in their last meeting Mon Mar 22. The Cavaliers are coming off a 103-94 win against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago on Wednesday night how do you see the match up between both these two clubs on Saturday in Sacramento.

Join Jeremiah for the Sacramento Kings podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com