Category: NBA

Kings stunned by Suns 115-111 in Phoenix

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Photo credit: @Suns

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

Tuesday night was the second night of a back-to-back and the Kings looked poised to start a winning streak. The night before, the Kings beat the Orlando Magic 111-95 breaking a four-game losing streak. After the game, the Kings traveled to Phoenix to take on the Suns at 6:00 PM PST.

In the first quarter, the Kings came out sluggish. Four minutes into the game, the Kings were trailing 12-8 to the Suns. The Kings didn’t play a bad first quarter, but the Suns had a great quarter. In the first, the Suns managed 35 points compared to the Kings’ 32. It was something that you don’t normally see from the Suns, who came into this game 9-32 on the season.

In the second quarter, the Kings would come out in a big way. Doing what most people thought they would in the first, the Kings scored 40 points to take a commanding 21-point lead. On the other hand, the Suns scored 18 points to dig themselves a deep hole going into the third quarter. At the end of the first half, the Suns trailed 72-53. Leading scorers for the Kings were Buddy Hield and Ben McLemore both with 11 points.

In the third quarter, the script flipped. Just like the Kings scored 40 points in the second, the Suns scored 33 to tie the game. One of the main problems for the Kings was the number of turnovers allowed. The Kings allowed a crippling 25 turnovers Tuesday. That number is uncharacteristically high for the Kings, who are known for not allowing a high amount of turnovers. After three quarters, the game was tied at 86 points apiece.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Kings were by no means out of the game. What they had to do was get the momentum back and seal the win. Unfortunately for Kings fans, they weren’t able to do that. With the minutes winding down on the clock, the Suns and Kings traded shot for shot.

In the end, the Suns scored a few points too many for the Kings to handle. As the final buzzer sounded, the Kings were left to reflect on how they blew a 21-point advantage to lose to the worst team in the NBA. The obvious answer is the turnovers. The Suns received 25 free possessions from the Kings, which is not a good formula for winning. The final score was 115-111.

The loss put the Kings’ record down to 20-21. The win improved the Suns’ season to 10-32.

The Kings return home to host the Detroit Pistons Thursday at 7:00 PM PST.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings’ loss is now fifth in last six games after loss in Phoenix

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Orlando Magic couldn’t hold a second and third quarter lead over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night at Golden One Center in a 111-95 loss. The next night and Kings dropped a tough loss to Phoenix and the Suns played catch up 115-111.

#2 De’Aaron Fox contributed with 20 points and the Kings lead by 28 points after three quarters Fox has been a big contributor. Fox in Phoenix led the Kings again with 24 points but turned the ball over eight times.

#3 The win on Monday gave snapped the Kings’ four-game losing streak and boosted morale for Sacramento, but 24 hours later, the let down in Phoenix.

#4  The Kings were up by 21 and turned the ball over 26 times. That’s a lot of turnovers after having a big lead.

#5 Next up for Sacramento, the Kings are back at Golden One vs. Detroit on Thursday.

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

20-20 Vision: Kings envision a winning record after breaking slide against the Magic

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By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–The Kings have struggled to hold fourth quarter leads. But it didn’t matter Monday; the Magic couldn’t hold it together in the second and third quarters in hopes of applying pressure on the Kings in the fourth.

Led by De’Aaron Fox and his 20 points, the Kings led by 28 after three quarters, and cruised to a 111-95 win at Golden 1 Center. That snapped Sacramento’s four-game losing streak, and kept them in striking distance of the eight would-be Western Conference playoff qualifiers ahead of them.

After the Lakers fell to Minnesota Sunday afternoon, the Kings’ win leaves them 1 1/2 games behind eighth-place Los Angeles. The Kings can clinch a winning first half of the season when they visit the Suns on Tuesday.

The losing streak didn’t dissolve the Kings’ improvement. Last season the Kings won just 13 of their first 40 games, on their way to finishing 12th in the West.

“I think we’re moving the ball a lot more,” said rookie William Bagley, who returned after missing 11 games due to a knee sprain. “You can see tonight how everybody was touching it. We passed up good shots for great shots. Everybody was in the rhythm of the game. It was exciting.”

The Kings got nice contributions from Harry Giles and Justin Jackson as the Sacramento reserves came up with 18 made baskets and 48 points.

Meanwhile, the Magic couldn’t score in the second quarter, the prelude to the team’s season-low 32 made baskets in the game. Orlando didn’t fare much better after the break. They were outscored by 24 points in the second and third quarters combined.

“It’s disappointing the way we’ve been playing,” said center Nikola Vucevic, who paced Orlando with 18 points, 13 rebounds. “We have to keep working and find a way to turn things around.”

The Magic are a bit of a conundrum offensively, and they were true to form on Monday. Their 3-point shooting isn’t bad–they made 13 threes against the Kings, but it isn’t reliable or plentiful enough to spread NBA defenses. The Kings elected to clog the paint, allowing the Magic some open looks from distance, but inside the arc the visitors suffered, missing 31 of their 50 shot attempts.

Orlando ranks 25th in the NBA in overall shooting at 44.6 percent. But Monday, they were noticeably worse at 36.8 percent.

“We have to find a way to where we have enough shooting on the floor all the time to create spacing. It’s a problem,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “There’s not a lot of room with some of the lineups out there for anybody to have a place to go.”

The Kings saw four starters score in double figures, as well as reserves Yogi Ferrell and Jackson. They hurt Orlando on the glass, outrebounding the Magic 57-46.

The Kings blew fourth quarter leads in all four games they previously lost, but they emptied the bench Monday, as Bogdan Bogdanovic was the only starter to log minutes in the fourth. Fox played just 22 minutes, and was done after he dunked with authority over Vucevic late in the third. The play drew a technical as referee Mike Callahan reacted to Fox’s emphatic ways, and probably didn’t hear exactly what the speedy guard barked at Vucevic.

“I really said something nice to him, but Mike didn’t hear it,” Fox said. “He just saw me talking and I was like, ‘Mike, you didn’t even hear what I said.'”

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors are finding the Kings are going to give them fits

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On the Golden State Warriors podcast with David:

#1 After the Warriors’ struggle with the Houston Rockets last week ,they got a big win over the Sacramento Kings 127-123 on Saturday night in Sacramento.

#2 It was a historic game of all sorts–a new NBA record setting game with 18 lead changes and 11 ties. The Warriors’ biggest lead was 16 points and the Kings was nine.

David does the Warriors podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

It was a heck of a basketball game on Saturday night: the Warriors squeaked by the Kings 127-123

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

gsw 1-6 final

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento — The sellout crowd of 17583 fans at the Golden 1 Center on Saturday was treated to a real example of an NBA game in this new era as they saw the Golden State Warriors hold off the upstart Sacramento Kings 127-123. Not only was it an exciting contest, but it was also an NBA record-setting game.

The game featured 18 lead changes and was tied 11 times. The Warriors largest lead was 16 and that came in the first period. The Kings biggest lead of the game was nine points.

The constant end-to-end action had the crowd in a literal frenzy from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer.

The teams “made it rain” to set an NBA record

gsw 1-6 curry
Curry scored a game-high 42 points Photo: @warriors

The teams combined to hit 41 3-point field goals in the game which set a new record for the NBA. The Warriors put in 21-of-47 (44.7%) their attempts from behind the 3-point line. The Kings converted 20-of-36 (55.6%) their shots from long distance in the game.

123 of the 250 total points scored in the game came off 3-point field goals. That is a true representation of where today’s NBA is headed now and in the foreseeable future.

Steph Curry led the 3-point scoring barrage sinking 10-of-20 attempts. The Kings’ Buddy Hield (yes, the guy from Oklahoma who would never be able to hit the 3-pointer in the Association according to scouts) converted 8-of-13 attempts from long range. The big surprise may have been Sacramento’s Justin Jackson who went 5-for-7 from behind the arc.

The fans were in seventh heaven.

The teams played evenly except in one area

gsw 1-6 pic 2

The battle in the paint was dramatic on Saturday night. The Warriors scored 40 points down low while the Kings put up 38 points in the paint.

2nd Chance Points – which can determine the outcome of a game – was a dead-even tie. Golden State scored 14 2nd Chance Points and the Kings 14 of their own. GSW grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, while SAC pulled down 14 rebounds on offense.

The “runaway” Kings dominated the fastbreak points category in this game. Sacramento scored 32 points via the fast break while the Warriors recorded only 15 points via the break. There is no doubt that the Kings love to run.

Top Performers

Kings (19-20)

  • Buddy Hield was the Kings’ leading scorer with 32 points. He also added four assists and five rebounds.

  • Justin Jackson came off the bench to put 28 points. Jackson shot 10-for-14 overall for the game. He also grabbed five defensive rebounds.

  • Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 17 points, dished out seven assists and added six rebounds. He also added three steals.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein recorded another double-double putting up 14 points and hauling in 13 rebounds. WCS keeps hitting that double-double goal.

Warriors (26-14)

  • Steph Curry was the game’s high scorer with 42 points. Curry went 14-for-25 from the field (10-for-20 from 3-point land).
  • Kevin Durant scored 29 points and dished out nine assists.
  • Klay Thompson added 20 points in the contest.
  • That was a total of 91 points from the Warriors big three.

Coach Joerger’s Postgame Analysis

Coach Dave Joerger felt like his team played one its better games of the season.

Joerger loved Buddy Hield’s play and he explained why

Joerger had some great things to say about Justin Jackson

Up next

The Kings will return to action on Monday night when they will host the Orlando Magic at the Golden 1 Center.

The Warriors will host the New York Knicks on Tuesday night in Oakland.

Warriors come out on top against Kings 127-123

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors, still smarting from a one-point loss to the Houston Rockets last Thursday night, traveled to Sacramento to face the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center Saturday evening.

The Kings, under coach Dave Joerger, are no longer the sad sack Kings. Joerger has worked wonders with his young team. They entered the game with a record of 19-19, and they had split the two games played against the Warriors so far this season. The Kings play an uptempo game and love to make three-point shots. The Warriors knew that they would have their hands full with the Kings and that what exactly what transpired during the game. The two teams set an NBA record with 41 three-point shots made in a game. The Warriors made 21, and the Kings made 20. The Warriors prevailed 127-123 as they figured out a way to play defense in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors, with the score tied at 22 in the first quarter, went on a 15-0 run to lead 37-22. The Kings woke up, but the Warriors still finished the quarter leading 43-29. The Kings outscored the Warriors 40-27 in the second quarter and trailed by one 70-69 at the end of the first half. Both teams were making three-point shots. The Warriors connected 12 times, and the Kings made 11. Steph Curry knocked down four three-pointers. Klay Thompson and Quinn Cook each had three. The Kings’ Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovich each had three. Klay Thompson had 17, Kevin Durant 13, and Quinn Cook added 10. Bogdanovic finished the first half with 15, Justin Jackson 12, and Nemanja Bjelica 10.

The Kings continued their torrid shooting in the third period. They outscored Golden State 34-26 to end the period with a seven-point advantage 101-96.  The Kings’ Buddy Hield made five threes in the period, and his total for the game was eight, which was a career-high for him. The Warriors continued to commit turnovers while the Kings did not at this point in the game.

The Warriors had their work cut out for them if they wanted to win. They had to play defense, and someone had to step up and lead the offense. The Warriors showed the Kings why they are the reigning NBA champs as they held the prolific Kings offense to just 20 points in the fourth quarter. Curry showed the Kings why he was awarded two NBA MVP awards as he scored 20 of the teams 31 points in the final 12 minutes to lead the Warriors to victory.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors improved to 26-14 while Sacramento dropped to 19-20. Curry led the Warriors with 42 points, and he connected on 10 3-point shots. Durant had 29 point, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. He made three threes, too. Klay Thompson had 20 and three threes. Quinn Cook had 10. Draymond Green finished with 12 points, 7 boards, and 7 assists.

The Kings’ Buddy Hield finished with 32. He made eight threes, but the Warriors throttled him in the fourth quarter as he failed to make a three in the final stanza. Justin Jackson, coming off the bench for Sacramento, ended the night with 28 points. He knocked down five threes. Bogdanovic had 17, Willie Cauley-Stein 14 points and 13 rebounds. Nemanja Bjelica had 12 for Sacramento.

The two teams set an NBA record for threes made in a game. The Warriors were 21 for 47 while the Kings were 20 for 36. The Warriors’ defense had 5 steals and 8 blocks. The Warriors turned the ball over 13 times. The Kings committed just one turnover in the first half, but the Warrior defense caused them to commit 7 turnovers in the last 24 minutes of play.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face the New York Knicks Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. Game time is at 7:30 pm.

Warriors lose OT thriller to Rockets 135-134

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The defending champion Golden State Warriors hosted the rampaging Houston Rockets Thursday night at Oracle Arena. The game was a tale of two halves. The Warriors won the first half by 17 points, and the Rockets won the second half by 17 points to send the game into overtime. The Rockets won the game with just one second left on the clock when the reigning NBA MVP, James Harden, connected on a 3-point shot to put the Rockets ahead for good 135-134.

The Warriors won the first half 70-53 as they had four players in double-figures. Klay Thompson was hot with 19 to lead the team. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry each had 13 and Kevon Looney scored 12 much to the delight of the Warrior fans and head coach Steve Kerr. The Rockets were led by Clint Capela with 16 and James Harden’s 15.

As the fans know, 17-point leads are not difficult to overcome in the NBA. The Warriors increased the lead to 20, but the Rockets were not fazed. James Harden led the Rocket comeback with 13 points in the third quarter. The Warriors’ lead at the end of three periods of play swindled down to 6 points 98-92.

In the fourth quarter, the Rockets cut the deficit to one point as they trailed 102-101.  The Warriors’ Jonas Jerebko made two free throws, and he hit a three-pointer to put the Dubs ahead 108-13. The Warriors increased the lead to six 119-113, but the Rockets scored the last six points of regulation to tie the contest at 119.

The Rockets grabbed the early lead in OT 121-119. Curry tied the game at 121. Harden hit another three and Houston led 124-121. Durant made two free throws and a bucket to give the Warriors the lead 125-124. Curry made a 3 and the Warriors lead 128-124 with 2:20 left in overtime. Harden and Austin Rivers each connected on a 3-pointer to go ahead 130-128. Durant and Thompson scored a pair of 2-pointers to put Golden State ahead 132-130. The Rockets tied at 132 and Curry made a bucket to put the Warriors ahead 134-132. Time was running out for Houston. They inbounded the ball to Harden and with one second left on the clock, Harden made a 3-pointer to cement the win. The Warriors inbounded the ball to Durant, but his shot hit the rim, and the game was over.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors were led by Steph Curry’s 35 points, including five 3-point shots. Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant each finished with 26. Kevon Looney finished with 12. Draymond Green had 9 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Houston was led by Harden’s triple-double. He recorded 44 points, 10 boards, and 15 assists. He made 10 3s. It was the ninth game in a row that Harden had scored more than 35 points. The other big force for Houston was Clint Capela. The Warriors did not have an answer for him. Capela knocked down 29 points and pulled down 21 rebounds. Capela was double teamed most of the night, and the Warriors could not contain him. Also, Capela did not commit a foul until late in the fourth quarter. Austin Rivers had 18, and he made four 3s. Gerald Green connected on three 3s and finished with 16 for the night. Danuel House added 17 for the Rockets.

The Warriors shot 52% from the floor and held Houston to 45.5%. The big stat to keep in mind is that the Rockets made 21 3-point shots. The Warriors connected on 14.

The Warriors, with the loss, drop to 25-14 and Houston improved to 22-15.

Up Next: The Warriors travel to Sacramento to face the Kings Saturday night at 7:00 pm PT.

Kings unable to contain Nuggets’ second half surge in 117-113 loss

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: London Marq

SACRAMENTO — The talk around Sacramento has changed this season. The Kings are playing better, and the excitement is brewing. Even with only 19 wins, 2 games above .500, and sitting one spot out of the playoffs the Golden 1 Center is a much different, much rowdier place to play.

Thursday night, the Kings hosted the west leading Denver Nuggets and their Coach Mike Malone, who four years ago was tossed out of Sacramento midseason after the team had been playing well. The Kings are playing well once more, and whether Malone wants to admit it or not, he’s surely looking for some revenge.

Despite the Kings allowing the Nuggets to grab some early offensive rebounds, they were able to claim an early lead behind the potent offense of Buddy Hield and Nemanja Bjelica. Bjelica, through the first 9 minutes of the game, had 12 points and was 5 of 7 from the field with two makes from beyond the arc. The Rising Star of the Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic struggled from deep, going 0-for-3 from the three-point line. He was still able to make his presence felt with 10 points and 3 boards, to make it all even after one period at 30 points apiece.

In the second quarter, Bjelica would fall victim to foul trouble, tallying 3 offensive fouls that would sideline him with more than half of the quarter to go. The Kings were more than equal to it. The Kings’ European Star Bogdan Bogdanavic, has been finding that stride that made him an MVP in Turkey. If you disagree, just check out this huge game-winner he hit against the Lakers last week. He caught fire in the second quarter against Denver and scored 11 points helping the Kings gain a comfortable lead. Bogdanovic wasn’t the only one. Yogi Ferrell got in on the action as well, dropping in 7. The Kings led by 15 at one point and took a 13-point advantage into the half 66-53.

The Nuggets didn’t come out of the half on fire, but the Kings certainly came out ice cold. Coach Mike Malone had his defense playing a smothering style of basketball. After 7 minutes eclipsed in the third, Sacramento has only scored 10 points. Despite all their defensive effort, with 61 seconds left in the quarter the Nuggets would only hold a 3-pint lead. They wouldn’t be able to contain the Kings, however, who put together two good possessions, including a huge block by the feisty Justin Jackson, and the game would be tied at 84 to end the quarter.

The name of the game in the fourth quarter was size and rebounding. The Nuggets have a ton of size and Nikola Jokic looked like Godzilla on the floor, dwarfing every single Kings player on the court. Late in the game, Denver utilized the size of Jokic, Mason Plumlee and Paul Millsap to dominate around the rim, pulling down 12 rebounds compared to the Kings 8. The was only compounded by Jamal Murray, the young Nuggets guard who exploded for 34 points in the second half, including 15 in the final period after only scoring 2 points the entire first half. Bogdanovic and Hield hit some huge shots at the end to keep it close, but alas, no cigar. The Nuggets go on to win by 4, 117-113.

A tough loss undeniably considering how the Kings opened the game and the 15-point margin they led by in the second quarter. Those are the types of games good teams don’t let slip away. Nevertheless, the Nuggets out rebounded Sacramento 54-to-33 and only won the game by 4 points. That promising–the Kings are playing so well, despite the disparities, demonstrates that they are legitimately one or two pieces away from truly contending in the West in the future. And having more cap space that any other team in the league and playing host to young and excelling talent, that future may be closer than we think.

The Kings host the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, January 5 at 7:00 pm PT.

NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Mavs score big on Hornets; Richardson leads the way in Heat’s win; Beal gets 24 in Wizards’ win; plus more

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Photo credit: @RamonaSteve7

On the NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Dallas Mavericks (18-19) topped the Charlotte Hornets (18-19) 122-84. For Dallas, Luke Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr each had 28 points to lead the Mavs.

#2 The Miami Heat (18-18) downed the Cleveland Cavaliers (8-30) 117-92. The Heat’s Josh Richardson led with 24 points.

#3 The Washington Wizards (15-23) get a 114-98 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks (11-26) Alex Len led the Hawks with 24 points and Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 24 points.

#4 The Brooklyn Nets (18-21) got a five-point win past the New Orleans Pelicans (17-22) 126-121. For the Nets, D’Angelo Russell led the Pelicans with 22 points.

#5 The Boston Celtics (22-15) got a big win past the Minnesota Timberwolves (17-21) at the Garden. The Celtics’ Gordon Hayward led all scorers with 35 points.

Join Jerry for the NBA podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports with London Marq: Cardinals fired Wilks too soon; With no GM experience, Mayock expected to put Raiders together; Despite loss, Kings an up and coming team; plus more

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http://www.purdueexponent.org file photo: Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks held this facial expression for most of the Cardinals’ 3-13 season.

On the Headlines Sports podcast with London:

#1 Steve Wilks was fired after coaching the Arizona Cardinals to a 3-13 season. Wilks was fired after coaching one season for the Cardinals.

#2 Oakland Raiders new general manager Mike Mayock, who is considered a draft expert and a former analyst for NFL Network, will try his hand as the Raiders’ GM.

#3 The Sacramento Kings played a close game in Los Angeles only to lose to the Lakers 121-114. Despite the loss, the Kings have played much improved this season.

#4 Will the Golden State Warriors’ DeMarcus Cousins stay on with the Warriors? Cousins has been injured all season and has yet to see action as a Warrior. Will he come back next season?

#5 NFL Wild Card games coming up Saturday: In the AFC, Indianapolis at Houston, and the NFC, Seattle @ Dallas. Sunday’s slate: In the AFC, Los Angeles Chargers at Baltimore, and in the NFC, Philadelphia at Chicago.

London does Headlines Sports each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com