Category: NBA

Knicks vs Kings: Round Two tonight in Sacramento

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

nyk-kings-pre

The Sacramento Kings (8-13) have the opportunity to take revenge on the New York Knicks (12-10) for the 106-98 beating they took in the Garden last Sunday night. The Kings shot just 32-percent (31-for-97) in the game and still managed come within two points of the lead with 4:34 to go in the contest before falling back and losing by eight points.

DeMarcus Cousins was the Kings leading scorer with 36 points and he made it a double-double by adding in 13 rebounds. The Knicks scoring was led by Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose who each scored 20 points against Sacramento. The New York bench outscored the Kings bench 44-22.

Knicks are not a great road team

New York  is just 3-6 on the road this season. The game tonight with the Kings begins a five-game road trip for the Knicks that will take them to Sac, Los Angeles (Lakers), Phoenix, Golden State and Denver. They have no back-to-back games on the road trip.

Knicks are coming off a big loss at home

New York was run out of the Garden on Wednesday night by the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-94. Kyrie Irving led the Cleveland scoring attack with 28 points while LeBron James added 25 points to go with seven assists. Kevin Love scored 21 for the Cavs.

Brandon Jennings started for the Knicks in place of the injured Derrick Rose (sore lower back) and was the leading scorer for NYK with 16 points and three assists. Courtney Lee added 15 points and Kristaps Porzingis recorded 12 points in the loss.

Interesting side note from the Cavs – NYK game, with that many points scored you expect there to have been at least one double-double posted but there were none achieved in that game.

carmelo-anthony-lebron-james-nba-cleveland-cavaliers-new-york-knicks-520x390

Kings are coming off a road win

Sacramento beat the Mavericks in Dallas 120-89 on Wednesday night in Dallas. The Mavs were without Dirk Nowitzki, Jose Juan Barea, Andrew Bogut and Seth Curry due to injuries. So with that depleted Mavericks lineup, the Kings should have run away with the game.

 

Cousins was once again the man with 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Rudy Gay and Darren Collison scored 19 points each. Garrett Temple put up 17 points on the board going a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range.

Sacramento shot 56-percent (47-for-84) from the field and 45.5-percent (10-for-22) from 3-point land. The Kings were right on target with a perfect 2-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio of 28 to 14.

The Dallas win allowed the Kings to finish the road trip with a 2-3 record.

beaumont-enterprise
Photo: Beaumont Enterprise

NYK injury status 

Derrick Rose is nursing a sore back. He is listed as questionable for tonight’s game which means there is a 50-percent chance of him playing.

The Kings are reporting no injuries at this time.

Keys to a Kings victory

The main ingredient for a Sacramento victory is a decent shooting percentage. The Kings shot under 40-percent in New York City and still kept the game close. Tonight they must come out and shoot well right from the opening tip-off in order to avoid an embarrassment on their home court.

For entertainment purposes only

FiveThirtyEight.com gives the Kings a 64-percent chance to win tonight’s game with the Knicks. They say take the Kings minus 3.5 points.

FiveThirtyEight’s CARMELO system projects the Knicks will finish with a record of 39-43 and in the much weaker Eastern Conference that gives NYC a 55-percent chance of making the playoffs.

The “desert-dwellers” are making the Kings the favorites minus 2.5 – 4.5 points and all are setting the over/under at 210.

The Warriors hold off the Utah Jazz to win again

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Salt Lake City- The Golden State Warriors, playing the third game in four days and the second in the last two days, downed the Utah Jazz 106-99. The Jazz, playing with five players out with injuries, fell behind early and trailed by nineteen at the half, rallied to outplay the Dubs in the second half but fell short. The Jazz love to slow the pace of the game and try to get opposing teams out of rhythm. The Dubs, on the other hand, run the court and enjoy it when they get good ball movement and get players open for shots.

The Warriors played their style in the first half. The Jazz scored the first two buckets of the game to lead 4-0. TheWarriors then went on an amazing 26-1 run to lead 35-17 after one-quarter. Steph Curry made two 3-pointers early in the run. The Jazz played the Dubs even in the second quarter. Steph finished the half with 17, and Draymond Green was second in scoring with 12. He also made two 3-point shots and had eight rebounds. Patrick McCaw, coming off the bench added ten as the Dubs increased the advantage to nineteen 65-46.

The second half was an entirely different story. The Jazz held the Dubs scoreless for the first three minutes of the third quarter. The Dubs were out of rhythm, and that allowed the Jazz to get back into the game. They outscored the Dubs by seven in the period and closed the gap to just twelve 82-70 after three-quarters. The Jazz refused to go away and the Warriors behind Kevin Durant’s strong play in the second half were able to play just well enough to win the game. Dubs win 106-99

Game Notes- With the win, the Warriors improve to 20-3 while Utah falls to 14-10. Shaun Livingstone had the night off. Backup guards Patrick McCaw, and Ian Clark played well. McCaw had ten points all in the first half and Clark nailed two 3-point shots in the fourth quarter that helped seal the win for Golden State. Kevin Durant, who scored just four points in the first half, finished the game with twenty-one points. Durant also recorded eleven rebounds to give him a double-double. Draymond Green also had a double-double. Green scored thirteen and had ten boards. Steph Curry led the team with twenty-six. Klay Thompson scored ten. The Warriors, loaded with talent, do not have to rely on one or two players to carry the load. The entire team makes contributions both on offense as well as defense. In Thursday’s game, Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney, JaVale McGee, David West, Ian Clark, and Patrick McCaw all made significant contributions. Draymond Green hurt his ankle late in the third quarter. Green was helped off the court and went to the dressing room for treatment. Draymond returned to the bench in the fourth quarter and returned to action.

Joe Johnson with 13, Shelvin Mack(19), Rudy Gobert(20), and Joe Ingles(21) carried the attack for Utah. Steve Kerr said this about the Jazz:”give them a lot of credit.They are a well-coached team.”  Kerr said the Dubs”didn’t play our best.The first quarter was great, intensely fantastic.” He also thought Patrick McCaw had a nice game.

The Warriors travel to Memphis for game three of the five-game road trip on Saturday. Game time will be at 4 pm. After the game, the Dubs are off to Minneapolis to face the Timberwolves on Sunday.

 

 

Kings end road trip with blowout win over Mavericks

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

AP photo: Matt Barnes stands by the Sacramento Kings bench during thier game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night

By: Eric He

There’s no better place to end a road trip than against a beatable opponent, and the Sacramento Kings took care of business against the Dallas Mavericks — the bottom-feeders in the Western Conference — on Wednesday night in a 120-89 win to wrap up a six-game swing.

Five players finished in double figures as DeMarcus Cousins led the way with 24 points to go along with 14 rebounds and seven assists.

“Nobody wants to fly that long with a loss under their belt,” Cousins said to reporters. “A good way to go home, good way to end this trip. Hopefully we can gain some momentum from this and start a little streak.”

The Kings led by just four at halftime at 56-52, but dominated the second half. They outscored the Mavericks 29-12 in the third quarter to pull away. An 11-0 run to kick off the third helped gain separation, putting Sacramento ahead 67-52.

They never looked back, extending the lead to 20 at the 4:33 mark on a basket by Cousins, who again dazzled in the game with an array of offensive moves from both inside and outside.

The Kings’ 21-point advantage at the end of third quarters ended with them dropping 120 points on the lowly Mavericks.

Rudy Gay and Darren Collison each had 19 points, and Gary Temple had 17 off the bench.

The Kings end their road trip with a 2-3 record. They play the Kings on Friday at home.

Legal trouble?

Cousins and Matt Barnes could be in some hot water. They were both sued on Wednesday in connection with an alleged assault at a night club in New York that occurred earlier this week. There have been no criminal charges yet.

But reports indicate Barnes was sought for police questioning regarding the incident. TMZ released a video purportedly showing Barnes and Cousins leaving the club. Police say Barnes allegedly choked a woman and started a fight.

Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Clippers post game wrap: Thompson “cools off” nets 24 pts in W’s 115-98 win over Clips

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By Jessica Kwong

 LOS ANGELES The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday followed up a memorable blowout two nights earlier in which Klay Thompson scored 60 points by handing the Los Angeles Clippers their seventh straight loss to the team – their longest active losing streak against any opponent.

 Asked if the Warriors’ 115-98 victory was a letdown compared to Monday night, Thompson, who scored 24 points, said, “No, we got another win.”

 Golden State is now 19-3, while the Clippers dropped to 16-7.

 Stephen Curry said the win against the Clippers that deepened their losing streak against the Warriors wasn’t any sweeter than other victories.

 “We know they’re a good team. If you don’t show up, you’re going to get beat,” Curry said. “It’s a good test for us to come down on the road and win.”

 Fouls got the game off to a slow start, and Chris Paul picked up a technical after losing the ball while dribbling against Draymond Green. Kevin Durant missed a three – and a dunk. But the Warriors scored two dunks in transition.

 DeAndre Jordan answered back with two slam dunks.  But Curry passed the ball to Durant who found Green for a dunk and put the Warriors up 11-10 about halfway through the first quarter.

 Golden State wasted no time, quickening the pace of the game. Blake Griffin missed inside and Andre Iguodala stole the ball from Marreese Speights and passed it to Curry who scored and gave the Warriors a 24-13 lead with a few minutes to go in the period.

 The Warriors widened their lead after a timeout by head coach Steve Kerr. Durant passed the  ball to Ian Clark for a layup and he was fouled. With under a minute to go, the Warriors had a 20-point lead. Durant missed a buzzer shot and Golden State had a 37-19 lead at the end of the quarter.

 The Clippers committed nine turnovers. They couldn’t catch up in the second quarter either.

 A couple minutes in, when the Warriors led 41-21, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers called a timeout.

 Green made a three at the buzzer and Jordan hit a reverse slam dunk, then Durant made a layup past Griffin. Kerr called a 20-second timeout when Los Angeles cut the lead to 48-37 with 4:53 to go in the second period.

 After Durant missed, Clippers hit two straight shots. Paul made two jumpers to put Los Angeles within 53-46. Thompson fed Green for another bucket and the Warriors led at the half 62-49. Golden state made 21 of 49 attempted shots.

 “A crowd like this, they wait for it. The second quarter, they got going a little bit,” Durant said. “We just had to settle down.”

 Durant hit a triple with 6:11 to go in the third quarter to put the Warriors up 78-54. Soon after, JaVale McGee hit a three too.

 Green hit a season-high 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field, while Curry had a career-high and NBA-high seven steals.

 Golden State led 89-66 at 2 minute mark and ended the third period with a 91-75 lead.

 Halfway through the final quarter, the Warriors led 104-85 and at the two-minute mark, 113-96. Green said his team walked away with the win by limiting turnovers – 11 versus 14 by the Clippers, and defending.

 “Honestly I don’t think we played well offensively tonight,” Green said. “The flow wasn’t really there but the most important thing is we defended and we didn’t turn the ball over.”

 Golden State continues a long road trip by visiting the Utah Jazz on Thursday. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.

 “It’s coming together pretty well here. I’m really happy with how our guys played,” Kerr said. “We have a really smart team, it’s a group effort.”

 
 

Golden State Warriors Commentary and Analysis: The Warriors win again, Down the Clippers in LA

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by Jerry Feitelberg

LOS ANGELES-The game was billed as a contest between the best offense(Golden State) in the NBA against the best defense(LA Clippers) in the NBA. It turned out to be a no contest as the Dubs offense and defense was better as they defeated the Clippers easily 115-98.

The Dub’s big three, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry all scored in double figures. Steph had nineteen but was 0-for-8 from three point range. Durant scored sixteen, but he was terrific on defense. Klay, who scored 60 Monday night, struggled but made some key shots in the fourth quarter to lead the team in scoring with 24. The player of the game was “Mr. Defense” Draymond Green. He was second in scoring with 22. he had four assists and five rebounds, but he was magnificent on defense. He shut down the Clippers’ big man, Blake Griffin, holding him to just 12 points in the game. The Warriors’ other players also played well on defense. They held high-scoring guard J.J.Redick to just two points. The Dubs had eleven steals in the game, and Steph had seven all by himself. It was probably the best the team has played on defense all year. The big men, Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee, held DeAndre Jordan to just ten points.

Both teams started slowly in the first quarter. The Dubs missed the first seven shots from the floor, but the Clippers didn’t shoot well either. The Dubs led 11-10 with just six minutes left to play in the quarter when they went on a 23-5 run and led by eighteen 37-19. They kept it going for the first few minutes of the second quarter. They led by twenty 41-21 but they, suddenly, could not buy a basket and the Clippers were able to claw their way back. They cut the deficit to seven, but the Warriors behind Draymond Green and Klay Thompson extended the lead to thirteen 62-49 at the half.

So far this season, the Dubs love to break open the game in the third quarter. They increased the lead to 21 75-54 and were able to keep the Clippers at bay. The score at the end of three was 91-75. Steve Kerr rested Steph and KD for most of the fourth quarter. The second unit of Shaun Livingston, Andre Iguodala, Ian Clark, JaVale McGee played well and closed out the game for the  Dubs. Final score 115-98.

Game Notes- Draymond Green was the player of the game. The Clippers concentrated on shutting down the Big Three. That strategy backfired as Draymond found himself open and his shots went in. Steve Kerr, in the press conference after the game, said it was a “great night defensively.” To be able to “defend like that and take care of the ball (means) we’ll be all right” The Dubs had 32 assists and just eleven turnovers in the game. The Clippers’ Blake Griffin turned the ball over seven times in the game. The Warriors improve to 19-3 while the Clippers drop to 16-7. The Warriors have beaten the Clippers eight straight times. The Warriors travel to Utah to face the Jazz Thursday night in Salt Lake City. Game time will be at 6 pm.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Bill King wins the Ford C Frick Award finally!!

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Oakland A’s photo: After Bill King passed in 2005 the Oakland A’s players wore the “Holy Toledo” patch on their uniforms to honor the great announcer

Bill King wins the Ford Frick Award, Finally!

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

OAKLAND–We all know the Bay Area needed some good news, after the terrible Oakland fire. We got the good news this morning. Bill King, the legendary Bay Area Oakland Athletics play by play man, finally was inducted into Cooperstown winning the Ford C. Frick Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. We live in a fast-moving-word, nowadays, with instant messages, Twitter (which allows a 140 letter character limit), and so much more, but anybody that was really into sports in the Bay Area, I do not know how can Bill King could be ignored. He was a broadcasters broadcaster.

The Ford C. Frick Award procedures have changed in recent years, once it was on Facebook for the public to vote, but whatever changes it might have gone through, one thing that it will never change is the quality and professionalism of Bill King. We all know that all these awards become political, and extremely subjective, but we all learned from Mr.King during his years on this earth. Bill King was a treasure. Although not a national broadcaster and in a market not the size of New York or Los Angeles, where people in the media get much less exposure and in many cases less respect, Bill King was always the mark of excellence.

For those of us lucky enough to have known him and listened to him, there was nobody better. And by the way,(in my opinion)should also be in the NBA Basketball Hall of Fame of broadcasters,as he painted a picture as the radio play by play voice for the Golden State Warriors, that “looked” better that same game you were watching on television. How many people in the Bay Area used to turn the television audio down so they could listen to him? More than you think.

Too bad Bill is not around to enjoy this well deserve award in person, but he is in heaven today saying  “Holy Toledo….do I need this?”

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings Barnes now wanted for questioning in night club choking of woman

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AP file photo: Sacramento Kings forward Matt Barnes shown here playing against the Boston Celtics on Fri Dec 2 is the subject of an assault investigation by NYPD during a mishap that took place on Mon Dec 5th in a Manhattan Nightclub

Matt Barnes Sacramento Kings forward has been accused of choking a woman at Avenue Nightclub just 20 blocks from the main offices of the NBA in Manhattan on Monday morning. Barnes more than likely will end up sitting on the hot seat in the NBA Commissioners office with some serious explaining to do. Barnes and the woman reportedly were seated at a table in the club when an argument escalated between the two. Barnes according to witnesses at the club put his hands on the woman’s neck and appeared to choking her.

Barnes threw two punches at a man and a woman who tried breaking up the fight according to witnesses. TMZ had reportedly obtained video of the fight and also got a video of Kings center DeMarcus Cousins who reportedly said on the video and who was at the club that he threw a punch too. Although the sound quality on the video was not good police are examining the tape and also doing a follow up investigation.

Barnes and Cousins were not available to answer any of the cops questions as they were on a team flight to Dallas for Tuesday night’s game against Owner Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks. There was talk that the NYPD could issue a summons and have Barnes and Cousins returned back to New York to answer any questions or charges. There have been no reports of any injuries that the woman who reportedly was choked and the man and the woman who intervened sustained.

Charlie O fills you in on this podcast with latest in the Matt Barnes assault investigation and more Kings news here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com Eric He has the Kings-Mavericks game recap following Tuesday game in Dallas

The Warriors steamroll the Pacers behind Klay Thompson’s 60-point game

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors crushed the Indiana Pacers 142-106 Monday night at Oracle Arena. The Dubs were wary about the Pacers. The Pacers upset the Clippers in Los Angeles Sunday night and were hoping to even the season series with the Dubs. Paul George, C.J.Miles, and Myles Turner did not play when the two teams met earlier in Indiana.

The story of the game was Klay Thompson. He scored a career-high sixty points in twenty-nine minutes of play. He sat out the entire fourth quarter as the Dubs were just too powerful for the Pacers. The Dubs were magnificent on offense, but they excelled on defense, too. The Warriors led by eleven 38-27 after the first quarter. The game was even for about the first five minutes of play, but Klay was on fire. He scored seventeen points in the quarter. The Dubs were rebounding and getting the ball out on the fast break. Draymond Green and Steph Curry combined for twelve assists in the quarter. Klay stayed hot in the second period. He scored twenty-three and the Warriors went on a 17-2 run to gain a thirty-point lead 80-50 at the end of the half. They had twenty-five assists and just two turnovers in the half. They had twenty-three fast break points and scored 36 in the paint. Durant had sixteen and Steph ten. They shot 59% from the field. Thompson had 40 of the Dubs 80 points in the half. It was an amazing performance.

The Warriors did not let up in the third quarter. Thompson stayed hot as he scored twenty points.  He made three three-point shots and the crowd went ballistic. He received a standing ovation and the crowd kept chanting Klay, Klay, Klay. His sixty points was a new career high for him. The lead at the end of the quarter was 116-83. Coach Steve Kerr kept Klay, Steph, KD, Draymond, and Zaza on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. The second unit of Ian Clark, Patrick McCaw, Kevon Looney, JaVale McGee, and James Michael McAdoo finished out the game for the Dubs.

Game Notes- The Warriors’ record improved to 18-3 with the win. The Dubs hit the road and face the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night in LA. They play the Utah Jazz on Thursday. They do not play Friday but they have another back-to-back  set with Memphis on Saturday and then Minnesota on Sunday.

Kevin Durant scored twenty and had eight rebounds. Steph Curry scored just thirteen but he had eleven assists and he thoroughly enjoyed Klay’s performance as he was jumping up and down off the bench watching his teammate’s magnificent performance. Draymond Green had ten assists. Paul George scored twenty-one for the Pacers. Thaddeus Young and Jeff Teague scored 10 and 16 respectively.

The Dubs shot 52% from the floor. They outrebounded the Pacers 63-45 and they had twelve steals and twelve blocked shots as they overpowered the Pacers.

After the game, as Klay as being interviewed, Klay remarked that he “felt great obviously. It was a lot of fun.” At that point, Steph Curry dropped a bag of ice on his head. The interviewer asked him “did it cool you off?'” Klay remarked: “no, I’m still hot.” Was he ever. Later, Coach Kerr said this about not letting Klay play the fourth quarter:”we were up and hand the game in hand. Had no thought of playing him in the quarter.” When asked about his team he said this:”the team takes a lot of joy in each others success.” He was also quite pleased with the way the way the team moved the ball and did not commit many turnovers:” we kept our turnovers way down. Don’t give up the easy stuff when you take care of the ball.” The Dubs committed eleven turnovers in the game but seven of them came in the fourth quarter when the second unit was in the game.

Next game is Wednesday night in Los Angeles against the Clippers at the Staples Center. First meeting of the year between the two bitter rivals. Game time is at 7:30 pm.

 

Matt Barnes wanted by NYC Police for assault in night club

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

TMZ Sports was the first to release news that Sacramento Kings forward Matt Barnes was involved in an incident in a New York City area night club early Monday morning.

barnes-cousins-kings

Barnes was in the club with teammate DeMarcus Cousins. According to the story, Barnes became involved in some sort of altercation with a woman in the club and the woman was choked by Barnes. Another man and woman tried to intervene and were reportedly punched by Barnes.

Per the TMZ story, video they obtained that shows Barnes and Cousins after the fight has the Kings center talking about hitting one of the people involved in the altercation.

http://www.tmz.com/2016/12/05/matt-barnes-bar-fight/?adid=hero1

In USA Today’s report on the altercation, they state the video obtained by investigators shows Barnes as being the assailant in the assault of the women and the man. The statement on the video content came from a source not authorized to release information on the contents of the evidence.

Barnes made a statement via Instagram that “there are two sides to every story.”

“We continue to cooperate fully with authorities,” said Barnes’ attorney Alex Spiro.

The Sacramento Kings issued the following statement on Monday:

“We have clear standards of conduct and behavior expected of the entire Kings organization – on and off the court. We are working with all parties involved to gather information in order to take any appropriate next steps.”

The Kings have a game in Dallas on Wednesday night with the Mavericks. Will Matt Barnes be with the team? That is open to question at this time.

What is not open to question is this is exactly the kind of situation the Kings did not at this time based on what is happening with the franchise on the floor.

 

 

The Kings shoot poorly and lose to the Knicks 106-98

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento Kings v New York Knicks
Cousins drives on Noah at the Garden photo: NBAE

“48” – that is the most import number the Sacramento Kings have to drill into their minds right now. They need to learn that a NBA basketball last for 48 minutes and that means as a team the Kings need to play hard for 48 minutes.

The Kings did not play hard for all 48 minutes in the game at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday night and Sacramento lost to the Knicks 106-98. This was an unusual game in the sense it was lost in the first half and almost redeemed in the second half, but that is exactly how so many games in the NBA are lost.

Shots would not fall for the Kings in the first half

The Kings shot just 28.6-percent (14-49) in the first half. The term is often used that “the basket had a lid on it”. Well in the first of the game on Sunday for Sacramento, the basket had a lid on it. The Kings were not taking bad shots . The Knicks were not playing great defense. Literally, the ball would not fall through the hoop. The Kings went 9-for-26 in the paint.

The Knicks did not shoot the lights out of the Garden. They shot 42.3-percent (22-for-52) in the first half of the game. New York shot just 36.7-percent in the first quarter.

As the teams headed to the locker rooms at the half, the Kings were lucky to trailing by just 14 points, 55-41.

The Kings came alive in the third quarter

Sacramento Kings v New York Knicks
Carmelo Anthony and Rudy Gay photo: NBAE

The third quarter began like the second quarter ended. The Knicks kept pouring it on behind the scoring of Porzingis and Anthony and opened up a 20-point lead with 7:59 left to play in the period. At that point, the Kings began to turn the game around.

Starting with a  Rudy Gay 25-foot 3-point basket at the 7:02 mark, the Kings began to cut into the Knicks lead. Led by Cousins’ 11 points and Gay’s 10 points the Kings cut the New York lead to one point with 48-seconds remaining in the quarter. At the end of three quarters, New York led the game 81-77.

The Kings came close in the fourth quarter but could not close the deal

The Knicks behind the play of Prozingis opened the lead back up to eight points. Cousins kept the Kings close and Sacramento cut the New York lead down to two points with help of strong play from Gay, Collison and Cauley-Stein.

Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Jennings took over from there adding to the Knicks lead and the Kings were unable to respond. Sacramento had spent so much energy working their way back into the game – they did not have enough left in the tank to fight back overcome the Knicks lead.

The Knicks won the game 106-98.

Cousins was the star of the game again for Sacramento (7-13)

  • The big center recorded his 10th double-double with 36 points and 12 rebounds. He also had four assists and three blocked shots. Cousins was 9-for-30 shooting from the field
  • Rudy Gay scored 22 points shooting 7-for-18 and grabbing nine rebounds
  • Darren Collison put up 13 points and dished out six assists
  • Kosta Koufos scored only two points but he pulled down 11 rebounds that included five offensive rebounds
  • Willie Cauley-Stein played 23 minutes scoring nine points and hauling in four rebounds. Coach Dave Joerger said Cauley-Stein’s length on defense matched up well against Prozingis
  • The Kings shot just 32.3-percent (31-96) as team for the game
Sacramento Kings v New York Knicks
Willie Cauley-Stein at the Garden photo: NBAE

The usual suspects came through for the Knicks (11-9)

  • The Knicks had four players score in double figures while shooting 44.3-percent (39-for-88) from the floor. NYK also shot 37.9-percent (11-for-29) from 3-point range
  • Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose each scored 20 points in the game. Rose continues to look more like the Rose of old all the time
  • Brandon Jennings put up 19 points with 4-of-5 his scores being 3-point baskets. He was also a perfect  7-for-7 from the free throw line
  • Kristaps Porzingis started the game slowly but finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds

Up next on the schedule

The Kings wrap up their five game road trip on Wednesday night in Dallas with what has become a must win game over the terrible Mavericks. A win would let the Kings finish the road trip 2-3.

The Knicks also hit the road and visit South Beach to take on the Heat on Tuesday night.