Category: NBA

Pelicans behind Zion Williamson come back beat Warriors 115-101

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photo from sfgate.com: Golden State Warriors’ Damion Lee out rebounds New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson in 2nd quarter during NBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, February 23, 2020

By Jerry Feitelberg

San Francisco- The New Orleans Pelicans visited the Warriors Sunday night and had to come back from a 10-point to win 115-101. It was a tale of two halves. The Warriors did everything right in the first half. They won the first two quarters of the game to lead 56-46.

The Warriors’ Damion Lee was on fire. He led the team with 18 points. The Warriors, who were without the services of Marquese Chriss and Draymond Green, played well on defense. The Pelicans shot just 34% from the floor. The only Pelican in double figures in the first half was rookie Zion Williamson. Williamson scored 14 points and was a force in the point.

The 19-year old star, who is six feet six inches tall and weighs 285 pounds, showed his athleticism as he made quick moves to the basket. He was difficult to defend as he likes driving to basket using his left hand. The Pelicans, the fourth-best three-point shooting team in the NBA, made seven threes in 21 attempts.

The Pelicans, who are within three games of the final playoff spot in the NBA Western Conference, came out with a vengeance to start the second half. They went on a 13-2 run to start the third quarter. The Pelicans made the first ten shots they tried in the period.

Five of them were three-pointers. The Warriors, on the other hand, missed all nine of their three-point shots. The Warriors didn’t quit. They played hard and tied the game 77-77 to finish the third quarter.

Things did not go well in the fourth quarter. The Pelicans started the road to victory with an 11-2 run. The Pelican’s Jrue Holiday got hot and began to make threes. The Warriors Juan Toscano-Anderson, who is from East Oakland, made a couple of threes to keep the Warriors within range of the leas.

Zion Williamson continued to wear down the Warriors defense. The Pelicans’ Nicolo Melli, J J Redick, and Holiday kept scoring from downtown. The Pelicans won the fourth quarter 38-14.

Game Notes and Stats- With the loss, the Warriors record drops to 12-44. The Pelicans improved to 25-32. The Pelicans started the season slowly. They had a lot of players unavailable due to injury. Williamson has played in about 10 games so far.

Alvin Gentry has his team playing well right now, and they are making a charge to get into the playoffs. Williamson, who was the first choice in the draft, has shown that he is for real. He will be a force down the stretch for New Orleans.

There were bright spots for the Warriors Sunday night. The team, down to just nine players, meshed well. The new guys, including Andrew Wiggins, played hard on both ends of the court. Wiggins had a tough night shooting.

He just couldn’t get anything going. He finished the night with eight points, ten rebounds, and four assists. The Warriors, nevertheless, had five players in double figures. Damion Lee knocked down 22 points, four rebounds, four assists, and four-threes.

Jordan Poole continued to play well. Poole had 19 points, four boards, and five assists. Juan Toscano-Anderson had a career-high 16 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds, had three assists, and made three threes. Backup Ky Bowman impressed with 15 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. Rookie Eric Paschall had 13 points and five rebounds.

Williamson Led the Pelicans with 28. Holiday had 23 points and 15 assists, Melli 20, and Brandon Ingram 17.

The Warriors continue the homestand with visits from the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers. The Kings will be here Tuesday and the Lakers on Thursday. Both games will start at 7:30 pm.

Kings win fifth game of last seven defeat Clippers in LA 112-103

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The Sacramento Kings Kent Bazemore (26) gestures after making a bucket against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center Saturday afternoon (photo from ap)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Kings were coming off a solid performance against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Kings were able to beat the Grizzlies coming off of the All-Star break to start the home stretch off right. On Saturday, the Kings were looking to continue to good play against the LA Clippers at Staples Center for a 12:30 PM PST.

In the first half, it appeared both teams were on autopilot. Neither team really seemed to lock into a grove. However, the Kings consistent defense and enough offensive output led the Kings to a first half lead over the Clippers. The Kings, led by Kent Bazemore managed to build a 54-48 lead going into the half.

Leading the way for the Kings in the first half was Bazemore who managed to score 15 points. The Clippers received the largest contribution of the first half from Kawhi Leonard who scored 14 points. The Kings needed to keep up the defensive intensity in order to win the game.

In the second half, the Kings were able to keep it up in the early going. However, the Clippers managed to come back and take their first lead of the game midway through the fourth quarter. The Clippers had found a lineup in which they were able to score. The question would be who could continue their success and win the game. That would be the Sacramento Kings. The Kings were able to lock out the Clippers the rest of the way and win by a final of 112-103.

It was a great win for the Kings who received a tremendous performance from Kent Bazemore who scored 23 points with four steals and a block. The Kings are flying high on both needs of the floor. Beating the Clippers on the road could go a long way in how this team ends the season. It could help spark a surge.

Next: Kings travel to the Bay Area to take in the Warriors on Tuesday night.

Kings Engaged: Season may be slipping away, but 129-125 win over the Grizzlies sends the right messages

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By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–The Kings might not be in position to catch the Grizzlies for the coveted, franchise-changing eighth spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

Along similar lines–and relevant to Thursday night’s post-All Star intro–rookie of the year candidate Ja Morant might not be ready to surpass Kings’ third-year guard De’Aaron Fox either.

The head-to-head matchup of future All-Star point guards went to decisively to Fox, who put up 26 points, four assists in leading the Kings to a 129-125 win over Memphis that turned into a nail biter in the final minutes. The reason for the late rush and the close finish? Morant had his hands on that with 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, but ultimately Fox’s defense and Morant’s turnovers (5) swung the outcome for Sacramento.

“Every game is a must-win and (we) have to play each game like our back is against the wall if we want to make things interesting, and we can,” Buddy Hield said.

The win pulled the Kings within six games of Memphis with 27 contests remaining in the regular season. Complicating matters, and increasing the odds of a Kings’ resurgence is the presence of the Blazers, Spurs and Pelicans with records slightly better than the Kings. But when you’ve missed the playoffs for 14 years and running, you scratch and claw until your time runs out.

The Kings overcame a huge, size disparity against the Grizzlies with superior shooting and fewer mistakes. Sacramento was outrebounded 51-27 as they again were without Marvin Bagley and Richaun Holmes, as well as Dewayne Dedmon, who was traded to Atlanta. Harrison Barnes aided in the process with 32 points, including seven made 3-pointers, as well as Kent Bazemore, who contributed 18 points, but only needed 10 shots to get there.

With Barnes and Bazemore giving the Kings an early advantage, their defensive strategy to fall back into the paint and challenge Memphis’ shooters to make shots played out perfectly as starting guards Morant and Dillon Brooks missed all seven of their shots from distance, allowing the Kings to grab a 37-35 advantage after one quarter, which they built on by scoring the first nine points of the second.

But in a game of runs and swings, the Grizzlies got back into behind reserve guards De’Anthony Melton (24 points), Tyus Jones and Josh Jackson. Hield spearheaded Sacramento’s bench with 20 points, but the Kings were hampered by Jabari Parker’s debut, in which he appeared out of shape, no doubt a product of the former Duke player having played in just one game since Christmas.

The Kings are expected to give Parker and Alex Len–players acquired in the deadline deals–a look, but won’t hesitate to move on from either player. Len was unavailable Thursday, but could play as early as Saturday in Los Angeles against the Clippers.

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Bickerstaff take over coaching reigns in Cleveland; NFL to add more playoff teams; plus more

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cavsnation.com photo: New Cleveland Cavaliers head coach JB Bickerstaff will take over the coaching duties after former head coach John Beilein resigned

On Headline Sports with Tony R:

#1 The Cleveland Cavaliers John Beilein resigned as head coach and replaced him with JB Bickerstaff who is the son of former NBA head coach Bernie Bickerstaff who coached around the league for many years.

#2 The NFL are adding more playoff teams will this be a matter of making the post season more competitive or is the NFL just milking that much more

#3 The Kings have won four of their last seven games and host the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night at Golden One Center their coming off two tough loses to Milwaukee and Dallas

#4 The players in baseball are ready to riot as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is under pressure by the players to take the World Series Trophy back from Houston and officially cross the Astros off as the 2017 World Champions

#5 The sign stealing scandal has dominated baseball so much its all anyone talks about will fights with the Astros turn the average fan off and they’ll go somewhere else?

Tony Renteria talks Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Heild chalks winning three point contest off bucket list

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photo from bleacherreport.com: The Sacramento Kings Buddy Heild takes aim as he came out the winner of the All Star game three point shooting contest in Chicago Sunday

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Who would have ever expected that the Sacramento Kings Buddy Heild would win the three point contest at the All Star game in Chicago

#2 It took 108 shots for Heild to beat the Phoenix Suns Devin Booker, Heild hit four of five shots to get past Booker to win it.

#3 What does it mean for the city of Sacramento and the Sacramento Kings organization for Heild to win the three point contest at the All Star game.

#4 “Like I said earlier, as a shooter, this is on your bucket list. You have to come in, and you want to win a 3-point shootout. With a stacked field like that, it makes it even better” said Heild after the contest.

#5 The Kings host the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night at Golden One a 7pm tip, Charlie sets this game up for us.

Sacramento Kings podcasts are heard Tuesdays with Charlie O at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Team LeBron comes back in wild fourth quarter to win NBA All-Star game 157-155

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The NBA’s annual All-Star game, this year in Chicago, featured a fantastic array of talented athletes. Team LeBron featured his teammate, Antony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Luka Doncic, James Harden, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and Ben Simmons. The other team, captained by Giannis Antetokounmpo, starred Boston’s Kemba Walker, Atlanta’s young star, Trae Young, Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, and Toronto’s Kyl;e Lowry and Pascal Siakam.

The game had a new rule this year. Whatever team won the quarter, a charity represented by either Team LeBron or Team Giannis would receive $100, 000 dollars. If the quarter ended in a tie, the money would be added to the $200,000 prize if their team won.

As is usual in the NBA’s All-Star game, teams did not play defense. They didn’t foul very much, either. In the first quarter, the game appeared to be a track meet. Both teams raced up and down the court. Kawhi Leonard was four for four on three-point tries as he led team LeBron to a 53-41 advantage. The Chicago Scholars charity received $100, 000 dollars. As mentioned earlier, teams didn’t commit too many fouls. There were a lot of lobs and dunks. Players making three-point shots were not contested. The first foul of the game came with just 23 seconds left to play in the period.

Team Giannis took control of the game in the second period. Kawhi Leonard stayed hot as he made three more threes in the quarter. However, Giannis Antetokounmpo got his game going and led his team to a 51-30 victory in the period. Trae Young, the second-year player from the Atlanta Hawks, wowed the crowd as he hit a three-point shot as the buzzer sounded. Team Giannis led 92-83 after the first 24 minutes of play.

The third quarter was a tie. Both teams scored 41 points, so there was no money going to a charity. The $100,000 would be added to the $200,000 going to the winning team’s choice. That meant one charity would go home with $400,000 and the other $100,000. Team LeBron’s Chris Paul got hot and made several threes in the third period. Team Giannis led Team LeBron 133-127 after three periods.

Under the new “Elam Ending Rule,” 24 points (to honor Kobe Bryant) were added to the team that led at the end of the third period. That established a target score of 157. The first team to reach 157 won the game. The new rule eliminated the clock. They would play as long as needed to reach the target.

Team LeBron, trailing by six, decided to play defense. They chose to go with a smaller lineup. Team Giannis, with two seven-footers, Rudy Gobert and Joel Embiid, as well as Giannis, had trouble handling the ball. Kawhi Leonard, who was the Defensive Player of the Year a couple of years ago, helped shut down Team Giannis’ offense. Embiid was double and tripled team. Team LeBron would not let Giannis’ bigs get easy baskets. In the meantime, James Harden, Chris Paul, and LeBron James kept driving to the hoop. Team LeBron regained the lead 152-150. Team Giannis came back and tied it at 152. With Team LeBron leading 156-155, Anthony Davis, who is from the Southside of Chicago, was fouled. Davis had two shots to end the game. He missed the first one. He did not lose the second won to win the game for Team LeBron.

Game Notes and Stats- Kawhi Leonard received the NBA’s Kobe Bryant Trophy for being the MVP. The trophy was named in Kobe’s honor and will be presented as such every year in the future. Kawhi had this to say after receiving the award.”It means a lot to me,” Leonard said. “Words can’t even explain. Just making this the first Kobe Bryant MVP trophy, I wanna thank Kobe for everything he did for me. All the long talks and workouts. Thank you. This one’s for him.”

The leading scorer for Team LeBron was Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi tallied 30 points and knocked down eight threes. He needed to make one more three to tie Paul George’s record of nine. Chris Paul had 23, and he connected on seven threes. Anthony Davis had 20, Ben Simmons 17, and James Harden 11.

Team Giannis had seven players in double figures. Giannis led with 25, Kemba Walker 23, Joel Embiid 22, Rudy Gobert 21, Pascal Siakam 15, Kyle Lowry 13, and Trae Young 10.

It was a fun game to watch. The play in the fourth quarter made the game all the more enjoyable. The NBA probably will continue the format in the future.

 

 

 

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: McClatchey Newspapers bankrupt covered major sports; Changes in MLB rules; plus more

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photo from forbes.com: London talks about his hometown paper the Sacramento Bee whose owners McClatchy Newspapers have filed bankruptcy this week

On Headline Sports with London:

#1 London talk a moment McClatchey Newspapers who cover a fair amount of sports in their papers they have filed bankruptcy under Chapter 11

#2 McClatchey is the second largest paper for news in the country a family owned business they will go towards digital and get out of print and are vying to get out of their pension obligations.

#3 Baseball spring training is here and many new rules are in place particularly pitchers must face at least three batters and no more 40 man rosters in September the number has shrunk to 27 player roster in September.

#4 The Los Angeles Clipper Paul George was fined $35,000 for saying the officials were dishing out home cooking calls that favored the home team the Philadelphia 76ers. Any negative talk against the NBA results in heavy fines to any team personnel.

#5 The Houston Astros had to face the music as Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman both had to meet the press on Thursday at spring training in West Palm Beach Florida. They had plenty of time to think about what they had to say regarding the sign stealing crises.

London Marq does Headline Sports each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Doncic and Prozingis lead the Mavs to a 130-111 win over the Kings in “Big D”

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings wanted to close out their short two-game road trip on a high note by handing the Dallas Mavericks (33-22) a loss on their homecourt heading into the All-Star Break. The Kings (21-33) knew they would have a big task on their hands because All-Starter Luka Doncic was going to make his return to the lineup after missing the previous seven games due to an ankle injury.

The Doncic Factor

For the rest of his career, Luka Doncic will always be tied to the Sacramento Kings in a bad way. Almost everyone associated with the NBA expected the Kings to draft Doncic because of his Euro pedigree and the Euro leanings of the Sacramento front office. When that did not happen, most experts and analysts were shocked. Now that Doncic is on the verge of becoming a real superstar, the decision to pass Doncic in the draft has become magnified.

Every Doncic success will be viewed as a Sacramento failure because they could have drafted Luka with their number two pick in 2018. Doncic will start the All-Star game on Sunday and he could have done that as a Sacramento King.

On Tuesday night, Doncic was the leading scorer in the game putting up 33 points to go along with 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Some will say that Doncic will always be in the mood to punish the Kings. Do not believe that rubbish. Doncic does not care about the Kings. He is very happy playing for billionaire Mark Cuban in Dallas who will spend whatever is necessary to put the players around him to win an NBA Championship.

Lack of defense

The Kings allowed the Mavericks to score at least 30 points in all four quarters of the game on Wednesday night. They allowed Dallas to shoot 56.5% from the field in the game. The Mavs hit 17 of 40 (42.5%) of their 3-point attempts.

A team like Dallas cannot be defeated when their opponent fails to show up on defense.

Top Scorers

  • Doncic was the game’s leading scorer while Kristaps Prozingis also had a double-double game with 27 points and 13 rebounds plus he added five assists
  • Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer coming off the bench to put up 22 points to go along with nine assists

The Glass Cleaners

  • Prozingis was the game’s leading rebounder with 13
  • Hield, Barnes and Bjelica all pulled down seven rebounds each for SAC

Dropping Dimes

  • Buddy Hield was the game’s assists leader with his nine dimes
  • Luca Doncic led Dallas with eight

Up next

The Kings will return to play on Thursday, February 20 when they will host the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Mavericks will return to action on February 21 in Orlando.

Warriors come close still lose again 112-106 this time Phoenix

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photo sfgate.com: Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives around Golden State Warriors forward Marquese Chriss (32) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, in Phoenix.

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors, with newly-acquired Andrew Wiggins, played a very entertaining game against the Phoenix Suns Wednesday evening in the Valley of the Sun. There’s an old saying that a team cannot win the game in the first period, but they sure as hell can lose it.

That’s what happened to the Warriors. They turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter. The Suns took advantage, and they sprinted to a 10-point lead 34-24 after 12 minutes of play.

The Warriors handled the ball better in the second quarter. They did commit four turnovers. What they couldn’t do is stop the Suns’, Devin Booker. Booker torched the Dubs with 18 points in the first half. The Suns scored 22 points off turnovers in the half.

The Warriors scored five in that department. The Warriors won the second quarter 26-24 to finish the first half trailing by eight 58-50. Marquese Chriss led the Warriors with 12. Andrew Wiggins, playing his third game as a Warrior, had ten.

The Warriors made a run in the third period to close within a single point of the lead 62-62. Phoenix did not fold. They beat back the Warriors challenge. The Warriors didn’t help themselves as they committed seven turnovers in the period. Phoenix was able to finish the third period leading by eleven 87-76.

The Warriors fought back. They were led by the play of Eric Paschall, Andrew Wiggins, and Jeremy Pargo. The 33-year-old Pargo, who signed a 10-day contract, played as if his NBA career was on the line, which it is. The Warriors came within four 100-96. Phoenix again rebuffed the Warriors challenge to win 112-106.

Game Notes and Stats- With the loss, the Warriors record dropped to 12-43.  Phoenix improved to 22-33. Suns’ head coach Monty Williams has led his team to more wins than they had for the entire 2018-2019 season.

The Warriors committed 22 turnovers in the game. The Suns turned those turnovers into 32 points. The Warriors scored 11 points off 14 Suns’ miscues.

The Suns took 14 more shots than the Warriors. They were 42 for 91 from the floor. The Warriors were 39 for 77. The Warriors shot 50.6% from the floor. That will typically win the game for a team. The Suns shot 46.2%. Golden State connected on 11 threes, the Suns knocked down 14.

The Warriors had six players in double figures. Andrew Wiggins had his best game as a Warriors. Wiggins knocked down 27 points, four boards, five assists, made three threes in four tries and blocked a career-high four shots. Marquese Chriss had a double-double.

The 22-year-old Chriss continues to impress. He had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists. Jeremy Pargo helped out with 15. Jordan Poole and Eric Paschall each had 12. Damion Lee finished with ten. Draymond Green had six points, six rebounds, and nine assists.

The Suns were led by Booker’s 27 points. Booker, who is tenth in the NBA in scoring, was not an All-Star selection. Booker played as if he had a chip on his shoulder as he was all over the court Wednesday night. He had five rebounds, eight assists, and made two-threes to go along with his 27 points.

Kelly Oubre, Jr. Cheick Diallo had tenpois and eight boards. Elie Okobo 12, Mikal Bridges 14. The veteran point guard, Ricky Rubio scored nine points, had five rebounds, and recorded nine assists.

Wednesday’s night game was the last game before the NBA’s annual All-Star weekend. The Warriors will not have anyone representing them on Sunday. Eric Paschall will be going to Chicago as he has been recognized as one of the Rising Stars in the NBA.

The All-Star game will start at 5 pm. The Eastern Conference team will be led by Giannis Antekounmpo. The West by LeBron James.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings battle but Bucks just too much; Kings in Dallas Thursday

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image from: KHTK 1140 Sacramento

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Milwaukee Bucks (46-7) left little doubt in their win over the Sacramento Kings (21-32) in the 123-111 win on Monday night.

#2 The Kings did give the Bucks a challenge in the second and third periods

#3 The Kings Harrison Barnes led with 23 points part of the reason why the Kings got the offensive help they needed in those second and third quarters

#4 The Bucks Eric Bledsoe was unstoppable with 28 points to lead the Bucks.

#5 It’s off to Dallas and Mark Cuban and the Mavericks how do you see the Kings coming out of this game they have been giving some of their opponents some tough games of late.

Charlie O does the Kings podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com