Category: NBA

Kings will move G League Team from Reno to Stockton for 2018-19 season

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G League (3)

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings announced on Monday their intention to move their G League franchise  – the Reno Bighorns – to Stockton for the 2018-19 season. This move would have their development team just 45 minutes away from Kings offices, coaches, training and medical staff. This also follows the pattern of the majority of teams in the NBA which have relocated their developmental league teams to within an hour driving distance of their organization’s main facilities.

“Our NBA G League team has been an incredible asset to help prepare players for NBA action and bringing the team closer to Sacramento will allow us to continue to build on that success and increase efficiency to this valuable development tool,” said Sacramento Kings General Manager Vlade Divac. “Kings fans in Stockton will now have an opportunity to see the next-generation of NBA players each week.”

skal
Skal Labissiere

The Kings have taken full advantage using players from the Reno team over the past two seasons. In 2017-18, the team sent several of its rookies to play with the Bighorns to gain some experience which they put to good use at the NBA level. Skal Labissiere and Malachi Richardson (now with the Toronto Raptors) both benefited greatly from their time with the Bighorns.

This season has seen the addition of the “two-way” players who can be on the NBA roster of their parent team and then must spend the remainder of their time playing in the G League. JaKarr Sampson and Jack Cooley have both made substantial contributions to the Kings during the regular season. Sacramento also signed Nigel Hayes from the Westchester Knicks to a two-year contract.

sac sampson
Kings “two-way” player JaKarr Sampson

The Bighorns sent three players to three other NBA teams this season. David Stockton – who has also played for the Kings – was signed Utah Jazz. Reggie Hearn went to Detroit and Aaron Harrison was signed by the Mavericks.

Stockton is a very interesting choice because of its tremendous growth potential. With Bay Area housing prices soaring, people are willing to endure longer commutes in order to be able to buy a home. Stockton is projected to a desirable locale because of its freeway access and rail service to the Silicon Valley. That means potential fans for the G League team that could be cultivated into Sacramento Kings fans.

Stockton already has a very strong track record of supporting minor league sports teams. The Stockton Ports have played baseball in California League since its beginning in 1941 and are currently an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. Stockton is also the home of the Heat of the American Hockey League who are affiliated with the Calgary Flames. The Heat and the G League team will share the same arena.

“It is my honor to welcome the Kings organization to Stockton and I look forward to watching NBA G League action at the Stockton Arena,” said Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs. “The Kings have been known for their tremendous impact in the community and we’re excited to have their support as we continue to reinvent Stockton.”

A four-time All-America City winner, with honors as recently as 2017, Stockton is California’s thirteenth largest city. Stockton Arena is located in the heart of the city’s downtown waterfront and entertainment center. The venue opened in 2005 and includes 24 luxury suites, seating for up to 12,000.

The Kings G League basketball operations will be headquartered at Kings former practice facility in Natomas next to the old arena. The business operations for the new team will be housed at the arena in Stockton.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor; Kerr pushes defense at a higher level to win championships

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Photo credit: @theScore

On the Warriors podcast with David:

#1 Warriors got a pretty healthy win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday 117-100. After the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said that he expects his team to execute defense at a high level in order to win a championship. But is Kerr really resting some of his key starters and will break them out once the playoffs begin?

#2 The Omri Casspi release was something that Kerr said was necessary to make room on the roster for Quinn Cook. Casspi had missed the last 11 games with a sprained ankle and was venerable when the decision came who the Warriors were going to vote off the island. Kerr said the decision wasn’t that difficult because he had the sprained ankle.

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

 

Spurs reach NBA playoffs for 21st straight season, beat Kings 98-85

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Photo credit: @a2dradio_com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, April 9, 2018

An old friend came back to haunt his old team on Monday at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

Former Sacramento forward Rudy Gay scored 18 points – 16 in the second half – leading the playoff-bound Spurs past the Kings 98-85, clinching a Western Conference postseason berth for the 21st consecutive season.

Gay, who added six rebounds off the Spurs’ bench, opted out his contract with the Kings last summer and signed with San Antonio (47-34).

Willie Cauley-Stein paced Sacramento with 25 points and 10 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox contributed 21 points and seven assists and Buddy Hield added 17 points for the Kings (26-55).

40-year-old Manu Ginobili popped in 17 points (on 5-of-11 shooting) to go with six rebounds, a steal and five assists; and LaMarcus Aldridge added 15 points and 14 boards for San Antonio.

Sacramento led most of the way, as the Spurs didn’t take their first lead until the 10:18 mark of the fourth quarter. The Kings, who led by as many as 14 points, still held a 77-75 lead with 6:31 remaining until San Antonio closed the game with a 23-8 run.

Ginobili scored or assisted on 14 of those final 23 Spurs points.

Kings’ rookie Bogdan Bogdanovic struggled against the Spurs, hitting 1 of 8 field goal attempts and finishing with two points. Another key to San Antonio’s win was the free throw line – the Spurs hit 24 of 29 at the stripe, while the Kings were 11 of 17.

Up Next: The Kings conclude the regular season with a home game versus the Houston Rockets Wednesday at 7:30 pm PT.

Warriors, behind the hot shooting of Klay Thompson, drub Suns 117-100

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors played the penultimate game of the 2017-2018 season Sunday night in Phoenix and they played the game to win even though a win or a loss would not affect their status as the number two seed in the Western Conference. Klay Thompson was on fire in the first quarter. If he were any hotter, the Suns would have had to call in the Phoenix Fire Department to cool him off. Klay missed his first shot but then went on a run that saw him score 19 consecutive points. He finished the game with 34, and the Warriors won 117-100. Steve Kerr had this to say about Klay’s performance. “That was fun to watch,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “He had the arena pretty excited. Every time he went up for a shot after that first few, you could hear the anticipation of the crowd. Yeah, he had it rolling.” Said Thompson, “It was good to get in a good rhythm, especially with one game left now [in the regular season], and to have some great momentum going into this playoff stretch.” That’s Thompson’s first 30-point performance since Jan. 17 when he scored 38 in Chicago. “I’m shooting a career high in three-point and field-goal percentage, so for me, that’s more valuable than a few big games,” he said.

Klay ended the first quarter with 22 points, and the Warriors finished the period with a four-point lead 33-29. Golden State kept the pressure on as they had the defense working and led by 18 at one point in the second quarter. They cooled off a bit but finished the first half leading 64-50.

The Warriors, as they have done so many times, this won the third quarter 27-22 and led by 19 heading into the fourth quarter. The Suns, missing six players due to injury, were unable to overcome the deficit and fell to the Warriors 117-100.

Game Notes and Stats- The Warriors were led by Klay Thompson’s 34 points. The Warriors beat the Suns for the 15th consecutive time. The Suns own the worst record in the NBA at 20-61. They have one game left to play, and the players probably will be happy to see the season end. The Suns are in the NBA draft lottery, and they will have more chances to get the number one pick.

Four of the five Warrior starters were in double figures. Draymond Green had 14, Kevin Durant 17, Quinn Cook 14, and Klay 34. JaVale McGee scored 11 in just 9 minutes of playing time, and Shaun Livingston pitched in with 10. Steph Curry, Patrick McCaw, and Andre Iguodala were not available due to injury.  The Suns were missing Devin Booker, T.J.Warren, Josh Jackson, Marquese Chriss, and Elfrid Payton. However, five of the Suns finished in double figures. Daniel House had a career-high 22 points, Dragan Bender 14, Alex Len 16, Tyler Ulis 15, and Jared Dudley, coming off the bench, 11.

The Warriors play the Utah Jazz Tuesday night in Salt Lake City. This will be the final game of the season for the Warriors, and they will not know who they will be playing in Round One of the playoffs until Wednesday.

 

Report: Warriors and Quinn Cook agree on multi-year NBA deal

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Photo credit: @AthleticDesires

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — One night after the Warriors waved veteran forward Omri Casspi, the team has reportedly agreed with two-way point guard Quinn Cook on a multi-year NBA deal, according to multiple reports.

News of the deal was first reported by Shams Charania of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports on Sunday, with Cook expected to sign the deal on Tuesday. Golden State plans to wait until their final regular-season game to sign Cook to a two-year deal.

While not official, the second year of the deal is not guaranteed according to league sources the report added.

Cook was signed before the start of the season and has had added much needed depth to Golden State’s roster, especially with starting point guard Stephan Curry missing the last few weeks with an MCL sprain.

In 31 games this season, Cook has averaged 9.4 points, 2.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor, including 44.8 from 3-point range. Cook has made 16 starts this season for Golden State.

With Curry expected to miss at least the first round of the playoffs, Cook will have even more pressure placed upon him (depending on the Warriors’ first-round opponent) to help navigate the defending NBA Champions through the series.

Golden State (57-23) plays at Phoenix (20-60) Sunday after losing 126-120 to the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday night in Golden State’s home finale. The loss cost the Warriors a chance at their fourth consecutive 60-win season, which hasn’t been accomplished in the NBA since the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s, who did it from ’84-’88.

Cook finished with 21 points and seven assists on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor to go along with 5-of-7 from 3-point range against the Pelicans.

The Warriors play the Utah Jazz (47-33) Tuesday in Salt Lake City to close out the regular-season.

The Jazz clinched their second straight postseason trip Sunday with a 112-97 win over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers (42-38) at Vivint Smart Home Arena behind potential Rookie of the Year winner Donovan Mitchell’s near triple-double performance, finishing with 29 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Warriors waive Casspi, clearing way for Cook to join postseason roster

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — In a move that was expected, the Warriors waived veteran forward Omri Casspi Saturday night.

With Casspi’s release, the move creates a roster spot for backup point guard Quinn Cook, who has stepped in nicely for Golden State as the team’s starting point guard while Stephan Curry has been sidelined with a MCL sprain in his left knee.

The Warriors signed Casspi to a one-year deal last July, but has dealt with injuries for most of the season. Casspi has fallen out of the rotation in recent weeks, and has not played since sustaining a sprained right ankle on March 14.

In 53 games this season, with seven starts, Casspi has averaged 5.7 points, 3.8 rebounds in 14 minutes per game coming off the bench.

Earlier Saturday night, Golden State (57-23) lost to the New Orleans Pelicans (46-34) 126-120 at Oracle Arena. The aforementioned Cook finished with 21 points and seven assists on 8-of-14 shooting.

Cook, who is still under contract as a two-way player, is expected to sign a standard NBA contract within 48 hours, after which he becomes eligible for the playoffs.

Warriors play better, but not good enough as they lose to the Pelicans 126-120

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors, having been routed by the Indiana Pacers Thursday night, played a very entertaining and thrilling game against the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

The Pelicans, fighting to get into the playoffs, came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter. The Warriors regained their composure and trailed by two at the end of the first half. Kevin Durant took charge in the third quarter, and the Warriors were able to own the lead by four heading into the fourth quarter. The Pelicans refused to be beaten. They outscored the Warriors by 10 in the period and beat the defending NBA champs 126-120.

New Orleans came into the game tied with San Antonio and Oklahoma City for fifth place in the NBA’s Western Conference. Every game is a must-win for New Orleans as they could end up in ninth place behind Minnesota or Denver. They started the game by making the first nine shots they took. They were 10-for-13 in the first six minutes of the game, and they poured in 40 points and held the Warriors to 32. The Pelicans finished the first quarter on a 10-2 run.

The Warriors started to play defense in the second quarter and were able to tie the game at 65 late in the quarter. The Pelicans made a bucket to finish the first half leading 67-65. The Pelicans were led by Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotec, and the veteran guard Rajon Rondo. Quinn Cook paced the Warrior offense with 15. Kevin Durant had 11, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green each had nine, and Nick Young tallied eight coming off the bench.

In the third quarter, the Pelicans extended the lead to 80-72. It was at this point in the quarter when the Warriors went on a 17-2 run to take the lead for the first time in the game 89-82. The Pelicans regained their composure, but the Warriors finished the third quarter leading 92-88. Kevin Durant led the Warriors, and it looked as if they had the momentum to carry them to a win. However, Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotec, and the rest of the Pelicans had other thoughts as they came back to take the lead 99-97.

The Pelicans caused the Warriors to turn the ball over eight times in the fourth quarter, and the Pelicans recorded 15 points off those turnovers. The teams were tied at 105 when New Orleans went on a 14-3 run to secure the win. One of the key plays for New Orleans came when Rajon Rondo picked Kevin Durant’s pocket as he stole the ball and that led to a big bucket for the Pelicans.The Pelicans win 126-120.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Pelicans improve to 46-34. San Antonio and Oklahoma City also won, and those three teams are 46-34. The Denver Nuggets also won, and they are 45-35 and tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are 45-35. The last two games of the season will be critical to these teams, and the Warriors probably will not know who they will be playing in the first round of the playoff until Wednesday.

Kevin Durant led the Warrior offense with 41 points, five assists, and 10 rebounds. Durant committed four turnovers Saturday night.

Draymond Green had a double-double with 11 points, nine assists, and 10 rebounds. Green had trouble handling the ball as he was charged with seven turnovers and the team as a whole committed 17 in the loss to the Pelicans. The eight turnovers in the fourth quarter cost them 15 points, and that cost them the game. Quinn Cook finished the night with 21, Klay Thompson had 18, and Kevon Looney, starting at center, pitched in with 10.

The Pelicans’ Anthony Davis, who outplayed Kevin Durant in the fourth quarter, finished with 34 points and 12 boards, Nikola Mirotec had 28, and he made five three-point shots. Jrue Holiday kicked in with 25, Rajon Rondo 12 and he had 17 assists, too. The Pelican defense had 15 steals and six blocked shots. The Warrior defense had no blocked shots and just three steals.

The Warriors drop to 57-23, and they have two games left on the schedule against Phoenix Sunday night in Phoenix and Tuesday night in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz. Utah is battling with Portland for the third seed in the Western Conference. The Warriors want to finish the season on a winning note but they know that the Utah game will not be easy.

Up Next: The Warriors take on the Phoenix Suns Sunday night at 6:00 pm PT.

Kings surprise Grizzlies with a 94-93 win at the buzzer on the road in Memphis

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Kings vs MEM final

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Just 6.4-seconds remained on the clock in the fourth quarter in Memphis when the Kings called timeout. Dillon Brooks had just buried a 25-foot 3-point jump shot to give the Memphis Grizzlies a 93-92 lead. The Kings were in need of a quick miracle if they were going to leave the home of Graceland with a victory.

Sacramento inbounded the ball and it ended up in the hands of Bogdan Bogdanovic – who had suffered a horrible shooting night – with 1.5-seconds to go in the game. “Bogie” drove on the bucket and pulled up from 16-feet out to sink a two-point basket that gave the Kings a 94-93 advantage. Memphis called an immediate timeout.

With 1.1-seconds to go in the game, the Grizzlies attempted to inbound the ball at midcourt but – yes, you guessed it – Bogdanovic was there to make the steal and the Kings would win the game 94-93.

The King’s record improved to 26-54 on the year while the Grizzlies dropped to 21-58 for the season.

It really wasn’t a very exciting game

Bogi vs Mem
Bogdanovic – Kings star of the game Photo: @SacramentoKings

As exciting as the ending was, the rest of the game was not that thrilling. In fact, the game was really very boring much of the time. The Kings did not hit a 3-pointer (0-for-6) in the first half. They went just 2-for-6 from the free throw line.

The Grizzlies most notable starter was Ben McLemore to go with the Brooks brothers (no not the suit guys) and two other players you have probably never heard of or have seen in an NBA box score before.

Memphis is in full “tankathon” mode. They currently have the second-worst record in the NBA and could be in contention for the number one draft pick if the ping pong balls would fall the right way. The Grizzlies have lost four games in a row and are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Still, they appeared to want to beat their old coach Dave Joerger on Friday night on their home court.

The Kings certainly started slow and really should be in “tankathon” mode. Sacramento has no first-round draft pick in 2019, so their 2018 selection has to a great one – a home run if you will. Their only goal should be to move up in the lottery standings, but on Friday night winning for their coach versus his former team seemed to take over other goals. But until the fourth quarter, it was really a boring contest.

Coach Joerger looked happy after the game

Dave Joerger did have a look of satisfaction on his face after his team delivered a win to him in Memphis on Friday night. Joerger was the Grizzlies head coach for four seasons and the win appeared to be a bit of sweet revenge for the Kings head coach who would no doubt deny its importance.

The win also had to please Zach Randolph – who was given the night off – and Vince Carter who both played for Memphis before joining the Kings.

Top Performances

Kings starting 5 Mem

Kings

  • Willie Cauley-Stein was the Kings leading scorer with 18 points in the game. He also grabbed eight rebounds, made three assists, made two steals and blocked two shots.
  • Buddy Hield scored 14 points coming off the bench to go with a team-high six assists and five rebounds.
  • Justin Jackson had another solid game scoring 13 points in almost 30-minutes on the floor. Jackson shot 5-for-10 overall and 3-for-6 from behind the 3-point line. His 3-pointer with 17.2-seconds to go in the game gave the Kings the lead and the momentum to keep them in the game.
  • De’Aaron Fox put 13 points in the book shooting 5-for-13 from the field. He also hauled in six rebounds and dished out four assists.
  • Two-way player JaKarr Sampson also had a very nice night as a starter posting 11 points and pulling down six rebounds in just over 24-minutes of playing time.

Grizzlies

  • It was a huge night for the “Brooks Brothers” in Memphis on Friday. MarShon scored a game-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds. Dillon put up 16 points and distributed six assists in the Grizzlies losing effort.
  • Ivan Rabb recorded a double-double by scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
  • Kobi Simmons and Omari Johnson scored 11 points each in the game.

Up Next

Sacramento

The Kings play their final road game of the season on Monday night in San Antonio.

Memphis

The Grizzlies host the Pistons in their home finale on Sunday.

 

 

Kings Press Row Podcast: April 5, 2018, When does the “tankathon” begin?

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press row podcast

hosts Jordan “Chape” Chapin and Charlie O. Mallonee

  • Why did the Kings win in “Laker Land”?

  • What the heck happened to the Kings in PHX?

  • Should the Kings dive into the tank for the rest of the season?

  • Why haven’t the Kings been playing the tanking game?

  • Who could be the Kings selection in the 2018 NBA Draft?

  • What type of players are going to be available in the draft?

Pacers complete season sweep with 126-106 win over Warriors

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Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors were hoping to extend their win streak to four games with a road win over the Indiana Pacers at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse Thursday night. Did it happen? Nope.

The Warriors’ starting lineup featured Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, JaVale McGee, Klay Thompson and Quinn Cook.

Golden State was ready to play basketball in the Pacers’ arena, which was supposedly built for basketball. McGee helped the Warriors get off to a good start with a nifty shift early in the first quarter. Durant also played a major role in the Warriors’ early start as he knocked down quite a few shots.

The Pacers, however, got on top with a 15-9 lead midway through the first. Around that time, Indiana benefited from Golden State’s four turnovers.

Glenn Robinson III went up for the pass from Lance Stephenson. The Pacers continued to dominate and merely led the Warriors 27-26 at the end of the first.

The Warriors tied the game at 28 apiece to start the second quarter. Golden State had a strong finish and Damian Jones converted on a three-point play. Thompson also made quite a few three-pointers and showed Warrior fans that he was in Splash Brother mode.
With two of those first-half threes, Thompson (1,543 career three-pointers) has passed Tim Hardaway (1,542) for 25th place on the NBA’s all-time threes list.

Despite the fact that Thompson had 13 points in the second and 16 to end the first half, the Warriors trailed the Pacers by 11 (62-51) at halftime.

Durant continued to make it rain with threes in the third quarter. Then, Green pulled up for a three of his own to surprise the Warrior fans and make them say “wow!” When Green hit his 435th career three, he passed Baron Davis (434) for seventh place on the Warrior’s all-time threes list.

Despite the Warriors’ flawless plays, they trailed the Pacers by 20 (97-77) at the end of the third.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr kept telling his team to keep going and playing fast. Apparently, Golden State listened to Kerr since they went on a 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter. And, just like that, the Warriors were back in the game as Durant headed to the three-point line to hit a trey midway through the fourth.

The Warriors were down by 14 with a little over eight minutes left in the fourth, but Victor Oladipo and the Pacers continued to bring their A-game to the court even though they weren’t the defending NBA champions.

Pacers’ Bojan Bogdanovic hit a three of his own to make it a 21-point game for the home team. At the moment, Bogdanovic was 11-for-13 from the floor. The Warriors weren’t happy with this deep deficit at all.

The Warriors tried their best to claw their way back into the game, but they fell short by 20 points to the Pacers (126-106), who swept the season series this year.

Here are the Warriors’ final stats:

Notes
Warriors’ PR provided an update on Patrick McCaw just moments before the game.

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Warriors’ injury update: Kevon Looney (flu-like symptoms) is available to play. Nick Young (flu-like symptoms) is available to play. Andre Iguodala (left knee soreness) is out.

Up Next
The Warriors return home to host the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday, April 7 at 5:30 pm PT.