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Kings Countdown: “Small ball” arrives for the Raptors on Sunday in Sac

Published on November 20, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings head coach Dave Joerger has seen enough

“I’ve seen enough.We’re going to play small. DeMarcus is going to play center. I don’t know who else will play with him. It just gives us more zip, more life, more experience. That’s not any detriment to anyone else or what they’ve done.” That quote is from Dave Joerger’s postgame press conference on Friday night after the Kings lost to the Clippers 121-115.

After watching his team being blown off the court in the first half by the Clippers, Joerger shook up his lineup in the second half by going small with Cousins at the five, Gay at forward and three guards – Lawson, Afflalo and Collison. The result was improved shooting percentage, higher point production and better defense.

Kings had lost four in a row the last time they played Toronto

Sacramento faced the Raptors in Toronto at the end of a five-game/seven-day road trip that had seen the Kings lose four consecutive games. Expectations were very low for the Kings chances after they had been dominated by the Bucks in Milwaukee the night before.

To everyone’s surprise – especially the Raptors – the Kings played a strong game led by Rudy Gay’s 23 points and DeMarcus Cousins double-double (22 points, 14 rebounds) to defeat Toronto 96-91.

The Sacramento defense was as intense as it had been all season in that game in Toronto. The Kings held DeMar DeRozan under 30 points for the first time in the season. He had scored 30-plus points in the five consecutive games to start the season.

Kings can sweep the series for the second consecutive year

Sacramento swept the season series in 2015-16. Now, the Kings have the opportunity to do that again after winning the first game in Toronto.

The Raptors are a Tier-1 team which means they are definitely a playoff team that has chance to make it to the NBA Finals. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season where they lost to the eventual NBA Champions – the Cleveland Cavaliers.

FiveThirtyEight.com projects the Raptors as being the number two seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs this season with a 20-percent chance of being the top seed.

The Kings are still a Tier-3 team which means they basically have no chance of making the playoffs and will be a lottery team again. FiveThirtyEight currently projects the Kings have a 12-percent chance of becoming a playoff team.

Toronto beat the Nuggets 113-111 in OT on Friday night on the road in Denver

The Raptors Terrance Ross hit a 3-pointer with 37.6 seconds to go in the game and Emmanuel Mudiay missed from halfcourt as time ran out and Toronto won in overtime 113-111. DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points for the 10th time in 12 games this season for the Raptors. Kyle Lowry posted a double-double by scoring 18 points and dishing out 13 assists for Toronto in the contest.

The Raptors aren’t afraid of the road

Toronto (8-4) is 4-1 on the this season. The Raptors will not be intimidated just because they are coming into a new arena in Sacramento. Evidently, the Raptors don’t understand that they are supposed to have a 60-percent chance of losing because they are the visitors.

The key to winning is to stop DeRozan

DeRozan is currently the leading scorer in the NBA at 33.0 points per game. He is shooting 50.3-percent from field and leads all players with 145 field goals.

The Kings will also have to neutralize Jonas Valanciunas

Valanciunas did not play in the game in Toronto due to injury. He scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Denver game Friday night. Valanciunas ranks seventh with a field goal percentage of 57.8-percentage.

For entertainment purposes only

FiveThirtyEight.com predicts the Raptors have a 63-percent of winning the game on the Sunday night in Sacramento. They also say take Toronto minus 3.5 points.

The sports books show the game going to Toronto minus 1 to 3.5 points. The over/under is a consistent 209.5 points.

The Warriors win a thriller, beat the Bucks in Milwaukee

Published on November 19, 2016November 19, 2016 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors and the Milwaukee Bucks played a very fast-paced and very entertaining game Saturday night in Milwaukee. The contest was very close, but the Dubs were able to prevail as they won their seventh game in a row downing the Bucks 124-121.

Last year, The Dubs lost to Milwaukee after playing a double overtime win in Boston the previous night. The Bucks then beat the Warriors the following night to snap the Warriors twenty-four game winning streak. This year, the schedule makers sent the Dubs to Boston on Friday night and then to Milwaukee on Saturday night. The Warriors did not have to go to overtime to beat the Celtics on Friday. However, the Bucks, coached by Jason Kidd, a great high school player at St.Joseph’s in Alameda and at Cal and an All-Star in the NBA, went tooth and nail against the Warriors and nearly came back from an eleven point deficit at the end of three-quarters to beat them. The Dubs defense held the Bucks to just one point in the last two minutes and thirty-three seconds to seal the win.

The first quarter was very close. The bigger Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, went on a 21-5 run at the end of the first quarter to lead by nine 37-28.The Bucks were on fire as they shot 66.7% from the field and made all three three-point shots. The Warriors shot 47.8% and were three for seven from behind the three-point arc. The Bucks led for most of the second quarter, but the Dubs clawed their way back and took the lead late in the period. The finished the first half leading by three 69-66. Kevin Durant was terrific as he led the Dubs with twenty-five points. Steph had eleven and Klay Thompson had just four. Zazu Pachulia played well as did Andre Iguodala, coming off the bench. The Bucks’ shooting percentage dropped to 59.6%, and the Dubs came in at 47.1%. The Warriors made six 3-point shots in the quarter and the Bucks connected on just one.

In the third quarter, Klay Thompson got hot. He made four three-point shots and eighteen points total in the period. JaVale MvGee scored a couple of key buckets as the Dubs increased the lead to eleven. Draymond Green made a great play when he stole the ball and made a slam dunk with 2:57 left. The Dubs had the lead 103-92 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Dubs increased the lead to thirteen, but Milwaukee refused to go down. The Bucks went on a 14-4 run to close the gap to four 114-110. The Warriors, behind a layup by Steph, owned a five-point lead 122-117. Milwaukee narrowed the deficit to two 122-120 with 2:33 left in the game. The Warriors defense, led by Draymond Green, stiffened and allowed Milwaukee just one point in the last two minutes and thirty-three seconds of play. Draymond Green mad the defensive play of the night when he tipped an inbound pass over to Klay Thompson. Thompson was fouled and made both free throws to increase the lead to four with just a few seconds left. The Bucks’ big man, Giannis Antetokounmpo was fouled. The only hope the Bucks had was that he make the first free throw, then miss the second shot and hope the ball would be tipped to another Buck player for a three-point shot. That strategy failed, and the Dubs recorded their seventh win in a row. Warriors win 124-121.

Game Notes- The Warriors are now 11-2 for the season. The Bucks fall to 5-7. The Warriors had thirty assists in the game for the seventh straight game. Kevin Durant led the Warriors with thirty-three points, five assists, and six rebounds. Klay knocked down twenty-nine, nd Steph had twenty. Steph also had five assists and five rebounds. Draymond Green played very well again. He scored ten points, to go along with five assists, two rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. The Dubs recorded a total of eight steals and five blocks in the game. Leading scorers for Milwaukee were Antetokopounmpo with thirty, Jabari Parker added twenty-eight and former Cleveland Cavalier, Matthew Dellavedova, contributed ten.

After the game, Durant, when asked about the play of Draymond Green, had this to say:”he was huge.” He also said this about how close the game was” no matter how you do it it, a win is a win.” Coach Steve Kerr also said this about the win:”any win on the road is a good win.” When asked about the defense, Kerr said we”made some stops down the stretch.” “It was the first close game in a while and it was good for us.” He also said that “we wre kinda sitting on the lead” in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors finish the four game road trip Monday Night in Indianapolis playing the Indiana Pacers for the first time this season. Game Time will be at 4:00 PM.PT

Kings put up a fight but the Clippers win 121-115

Published on November 19, 2016November 19, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

LA Clippers v Sacramento Kings — J.J. Redick fires away Photo: Rocky Widner NBAE

The Clippers are now 6-0 on the road but they almost blew this win

The Los Angeles Clippers improved their record to 11-2 on the season with a 121-115 win over the Kings in Sacramento on Friday night. At one point in the first half, Los Angeles had a 26-point lead. They held a 19-point lead after three quarters were in the books.

The Kings outscored the Clippers 30-17 in fourth quarter led by Matt Barnes and his 10 points that came from his perfect 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. DeMarcus Cousins added seven points, Ty Lawson put up five, Garrett Temple four, Anthony Tolliver three and Rudy Gay one point.

Sacramento cut the Clippers lead to two points with 2:04 to go in the game, but that was as close as they would come to retaking the lead. Los Angeles scored the final four points of the game on a dunk by DeAndre Jordan and two free throws from Chris Paul.

The Kings changed the the lineup in the third quarter which changed the game

Dave Joerger went “small” to start the second half moving Cousins to center, keeping Gay at forward and starting three guards – Lawson, Afflalo and Collison. Joerger felt the lineup change had a profound affect on his team’s pick and roll execution. He also felt the defense improved.

The Kings team shooting percentage improved to 52.9-percent (9-for-17) in the third period as they scored 31 points.

The Clippers scored 31 points as well but their shooting percentage fell to 42.9-percent as the Kings tightened up their defense.

Los Angeles still had a 19 point lead – 104 to 85 – at the end of three quarters.

The Clippers started the game on fire

Los Angeles started the game aggressively with Blake Griffin scoring 15 points and J.J. Redick adding 14 of his own. Griffin went to the free throw line eight times and converted seven times. Redick was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point land. The Clippers shot 70-percent as a team in the first quarter.

The Clippers put up 33 points in the second quarter paced by the 20 points scored by the second unit coming off the bench. Paul Pierce – who has been used sparingly – even made an appearance scoring six points. As a team, they shot 70.6-percent from the floor and 85.7-percent (6-for-7) from 3-point range.

The Kings improved their lot in the second period by scoring 30 points. DeMarcus Cousins scored 15 points in seven minutes on the floor to keep the game relatively close.

The Clippers held a 19 point lead – 73 to 54 – over the Kings at the half.

To no one’s surprise Cousins had another monster game

The Kings superstar scored 38 points in 36 minutes of playing time on Friday night. He also posted another double-double as he pulled down 13 rebounds in the game. The amazing big man also had seven assists and three steals.

Lawson, Collison and Barnes also came up big

Ty Lawson played 36-minutes against the Clippers and scored 18 points, dished out eight assists and hauled in seven rebounds. His point guard counterpart – Darren Collison – played 32-minutes putting up 16 points shooting 7-for-11 (one 3-pointer) from the floor.

Matt Barnes came off the bench and played 30-minutes for the Kings scoring 15 points and recording seven rebounds. He shot 5-for-10 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Coach Dave Joerger on the Kings performance

“I was proud of our guys. We came out and battled and got after it and we competed. I thought we had a lot of open shots – didn’t knock some down that could’ve really put it over the edge there late in the third quarter and then into the fourth quarter. But we didn’t put out heads down. We competed and I’m really proud of guys tonight.”

The Kings are going to go small

“I’m going to play small,” declared Kings head coach Dave Joerger after the game. “DeMarcus (Cousins) is going to play center. I don’t know who else is going to play with him. It just gives us more zip, more life, more experience. That’s not any detriment to anyone else for what they’ve done. Of course in four or five games, I’ll probably go back.”

It was the usual suspects doing the job for the Clippers on Friday night

Blake Griffin was the Clippers leading scorer with 29 points. He shot 7-for-15 from floor and was an impressive 15-of-16 from the free throw line.

J.J. Redick made rain like usual. 18 of his 26 points came off 3-point baskets. He was 6-for-8 from long range.

DeAndre Jordan posted a double-double scoring 16 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. His free throw shooting did not come into play as the big man did not go to the foul line once in the game.

Chris Paul also had a double-double for the Clippers. The star point guard put up 11 points and handed out 12 assists.

Austin Rivers was the key man off the bench for LAC adding 12 points and four assists.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers on how the Kings got back into the game

“Us! I thought that was more us. I give them credit. Coach (Joerger) went small and they got more patient in the game. They scored every time down it felt like and then we stopped offensively. We (started) going in North Carolina four corner stall, I felt like. You’re always happy to win the game, but we want to be better that … First half was beautiful basketball. It was a clinic; you couldn’t have played any better. Defensively is where it started and then in the second half we decided we were going to trade baskets with them.”

What’s coming up

The Clippers flew back to Los Angeles where they will host the Chicago Bulls (8-4) on Saturday night at the Staples Center.

The Kings will host the Toronto Raptors (8-4) on Sunday night at 6:00 PM at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

The Warriors win their sixth in a row, beat the Boston Celtics

Published on November 18, 2016November 19, 2016 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Boston-The Golden State Warriors beat the Celtics Friday night by a score of 104-88. The Warriors, keeping in mind the tough time they had last year beating the Celtics in double overtime, won the game in the third quarter as the outscored the Celts 31-9 to put the game out of reach.

The first quarter was close. The biggest lead the Dubs owned was 25-16. The Celtics went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 27. James Michael McAdoo made a two-point bucket at the end of the quarter to give the Dubs the lead 29-27. The Warriors, behind the stellar play of Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, increased the lead to eight 55-48 at the half. The Warriors played solid defense holding the Celtics to just twenty-one points in the second quarter. Draymond Green, Zazu Pachulia, and Andre Iguodala all did their jobs. Pachulia rebounded, Green rebounded, made assists, blocked shots and Andre Iguodala was terrific off the bench.

The third quarter belonged to Golden State. The Warriors went on a 24-3 run to start the third quarter.Klay was hot, and Green made two three-point shots early in the quarter. The Warriors held theCeltics to just nine points. It was the fewest points allowed in any quarter this season. The quarter ended with the Dubs ahead by twenty-nine 86-57. The Dubs went to sleep in the final period of the game. The Celtics outscored the Warriors 30-13 at one point to close the gap to eleven 99-88 but Steph Curry hit a three then a layup to put the game out of reach.

Game Notes- Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 28 points. Kevin Durant had a double-double. He was second in scoring with 23 and he pulled dow 10 boards and had 7 assists. Steph Curry didn’t score a lot. He had sixteen but had seven assists. Draymond contributed 11 points, eight assists ,and eight rebounds. Zaza Pachulia had 12 rebounds.The Dubs had ten steals and seven blocked shots as the defense was superb. They shot 48.9% from the floor and had thirty-three assists in the contest. It was the sixth straight game the Dubs had 30 or more assists and the eighth time this seasonIsiah Thomas had 18 for Boston. Avery Bradley chipped in with 17 and rookie Jaylen Brown had 11 as did Terry Rozier.

After the game, Durant said this about his teammates”they help me out a lot”. He also remarked this about his performance Friday night” I just want to contribute the best way I can.” He commented that”the defense was great.” Klay Thompson also said,”we just played great defense.” CVoach Steve Kerr said:”when we went to the smaller lineup,[there was]lots of switching, getting our hands up”. Kerr observed that the “guys are getting more comfortable with each other.” There was one downside as Kerr had this to say about the team’s performance:”we still haven’t put four quarters together but we are playing longer stretches of good basketball.”

The Warriors face the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night in Milwaukee. Last year, the Buck ended the Dubs twenty-four game winning streak the night after the Warriors beat the Celtics. The Warriors do not want to have history repeat. Game time ia at 5:30 PM.

Kings Countdown: Friday night the red hot Clippers visit Sacramento

Published on November 18, 2016November 18, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Memphis Grizzlies v Los Angeles Clippers — Chris Paul vs Memphis Photo: NBAE via Getty Images

Los Angeles Clippers (10-2)

Clippers looking to rebound from second loss of season

LAC (10-2) lost just their second game of the season on Wednesday night to the Memphis Grizzlies 111-107 on their homecourt in Los Angeles. The Grizzlies Marc Gasol hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in the game to lead Memphis to the win.

J.J. Redick was the Clippers leading scorer putting up 29 points. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 14 rebounds. LAC shot 45.7-percent from the floor (37-for-81) and 9-for-25 (36.0-percent) from 3-point land. DeAndre Jordan went 0-for-2 from the free throw line.

Team Leaders for the Clippers

Forward Blake Griffin leads LAC in scoring with 20.6 points per game
DeAndre Jordan is the leader in shooting percentage at 57.8-percent with most of his scoring coming in the paint near the basket
Jordan is also the rebounding leader at 12.8 per game (3.8 offensive rebounds ppg)
Chris Paul dishes out an average of 8.3 assists per game
When it comes to 3-pointers, Paul and J.J. Redick average hitting 2.3 long shots per game each
As a team, the Clippers average 108.7 per game – fourth best in the NBA
The Clippers defense has held their opponents to just 93.8 points per game – number one in the NBA – this team not only can score, they can play defense

Does “hack-a-Jordan” still work?

DeAndre Jordan is shooting 44.0-percent from the free throw line so far this year, so it’s worth a try.

151112065240-deandre-jordan-nba-los-angeles-clippers-at-dallas-mavericks-home-t1 — DeAndre Jordan checks the scoreboard Photo: NBAE via Getty Images

How do you beat the Clippers?

The Grizzlies beat LAC by doubling the number of 3-pointers they hit. Memphis hit 15 from downtown to just nine for the Clippers
Memphis also outrebounded Los Angeles 43-35

This is the front end of a back-to-back for the Clippers

The Clippers have to go home after the game on Friday night and host the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.

Probable starters for the Clippers

Forward Luc Mbah a Moute 5.8 ppg
Forward Blake Griffin 20.6 ppg
Center DeAndre Jordan 10.3 ppg
Guard J.J. Redick 14.6 ppg
Guard Chris Paul 18.3 ppg

Sacramento Kings (4-8)

San Antonio Spurs v Sacramento Kings — Cousins battling under the basket Photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE

Game two of five at home

The Kings lost the opening game of the homestand to San Antonio 110-105. Now, they have to play the team with the best record in the NBA – the Los Angeles Clippers are who 10-2 on the season.

The Kings have lost three consecutive games

The Kings (4-8) have already experienced a four-game losing streak on the long road trip that featured five games in seven nights. The team would like to avoid matching that losing streak but that is going to be a tough task against a team like the Clippers who are playing so well on both ends of the floor.

Kings must play solid defense against the Clippers

The Clippers are just too strong of a scoring team to get into a shootout with in the game. If you do, you are going to lose. The Kings must slow the game down and play solid, hard nosed defense. They must decide who they are going to shutdown. Will they go after Griffin or Chris Paul? Sacramento has to make one of those players ineffective in order to have a chance to win.

Sacramento needs a third scorer to step up

The Kings have been dependent on DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay to carry the load when it comes to scoring. The Clippers are too strong of a team on defense for the Kings to have just two scoring options. The Kings need a third player to produce tonight – preferably a guard who might be able to hit some 3-pointers.

Last year versus the Clippers

The Kings were 1-3 versus the Clippers in 2015-16. Their lone win came in January 2016 at Staples Center when six Kings players scored in double figures.

How deep will the rotation go?

There had been rumors that Dave Joerger was going to shorten the rotation on his bench and then he used 10 players against San Antonio. Only Omri Casspi and Anthony Tolliver did not see the floor versus the Spurs. Will the same be true against the Clippers tonight?

Probable starters

Forward Rudy Gay 21.3 ppg
Forward DeMarcus Cousins 26.6 ppg
Center Kosta Koufos 5.3 ppg
Guard Aaron Afflalo 9.6 ppg
Guard Ty Lawson 5.4 ppg

For Entertainment Purposes Only

FiveThirtyEight.com predicts the Clippers have a 69-percent change of winning the game to just a 31-percent chance for the hometown Kings. FiveThirtyEight says take the Clippers minus five points.

Other sites from that desert town in Nevada project an over/under of 204.5 points. They favor the Clippers minus 8.0 to 8.5 points.

Sacramento Kings Wednesday game wrap: Kings can’t beat “better Spurs squad” 110-105 at Golden One

Published on November 16, 2016November 17, 2016 by tonyrenteriaLeave a comment

by Tony Renteria

AP photo: DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings tries to get off a shot but is snuffed by the San Antonio Spurs Pau Gasol in the first half of Wednesday night’s contest at Golden 1 Arena

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (4-7) played host the Spurs of San Antonio (8-3) on a wonderful fall night here in the capital city but the night was the only thing wonderful as the Kings fell to a better Spurs squad 110-105.

The Kings had been off for five days and looked to retool and revamp the rotation as head coach Dave Joerger has had eleven games to to see his team perform. The Kings did the start the season by playing more games than anyone else int he league before this long break. The Spurs had come off a home win against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.

Sacramento looked to improve on the consistency of the team flow that has been lacking by coming out strong against the visiting Spurs. They lacked the the play of All Star forward DeMarcus Cousins who committed two quick fouls and only played six minutes in the opening quarter as the Kings fell quickly behind 27-22.

The Kings tried to battle back in the second quarter but the quick passing and long range shooting of the Spurs quieted every run the the Kings seem to make. Pau Gasol seems a perfect fit to the Spurs well oiled roster as he netted 16 first half points, as the Spurs raced to a 57-46 half time lead.

The the third quarter was just an extension of the result of the second quarter as the superlative passing and outstanding outside shooting extend the lead to 84-71.

The Spurs used this recipe for success as the pulled away early int he fourth to a 14 point lead, as the Kings looked lost on both offense and defense. The Kings seemed to fade as the fourth quarter continued as they were already thinking about Fridays game against the Clippers. The kings made a mad dash run at the end of the game to make the score look so much closer than how the game actually went.

The Kings were lead by Cousins who scored 26 points to go along with 17 rebounds. The Spurs were lead by Gasol who finished with 24 points and nine rebounds.

The Spurs head to Los Angles to play the Lakers on Friday as the Kings host the other Los Angeles team, the Clippers on the same night.

The Warriors defeat the Raptors, it was not easy

Published on November 16, 2016 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Toronto- The Golden State Warriors downed the Toronto Raptors 127-121 Wednesday night in Toronto. The Raptors were playing the second game of a back-to-back series. They faced the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night and lost 121-117. The Raptors, however, did not show any signs of fatigue as they scored thirty-eight points in the first quarter to take a four-point lead 38-34 over the Dubs. The Warriors, as has been their custom so far this season, started slowly. The trailed by ten 29-19 late in the quarter. The Raptors were controlling the boards on defense and driving the lane attacking the rim on offense. Raptor center, Jonas Valanciunas, scored eight points and clogged the middle for Toronto. The Dubs closed the gap to four late in the quarter. Kevin Durant hit a three-point shot as time expired. The Warriors came to life in the second quarter. The Warriors took the lead 41-40 when Durant hit another three. Toronto regained the lead and led by four 49-45 when Steph, KD, and Draymond Green went to work. The Dubs went on a 21-2 run at the end of the quarter to take a thirteen point lead 66-53. They outscored the Raptors 32-15 in the second quarter.

In the second half, Klay Thompson got hot, and the Dubs increased the lead to twenty(74-54). The Dubs appeared to have put the game away, but the Raptors are not exactly chopped liver. They fought back behind the play of Demar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. The Dubs had no rhythm and were committing dumb fouls. DeRozan kept going to the charity stripe and the Raptors went on a 17-4 run to trail by nine 95-86 at the end of three.

The Warriors behind Steph, Andre Iguodala, Patrick McCaw were able to fend off the Raptors as they refused to go down. DeRozan kept making free throws, but Shaun Livingston and David West made key buckets for the Dubs. McCaw sank a three-point shot from the corner and played well on defense making a couple of steals. The Warriors held on to win 127-121.

Game Notes- With the win, the Dubs improve to 9-2. The Raptors drop to 7-4. Steph led the scoring with thirty-five points. KD had thirty, and he had six assists and nine rebounds. Draymond added eleven, and he had five assists and seven rebounds. Draymond also had a couple of steals and several blocks in the contest. Klay Thompson scored fifteen, but he made three key three-point shots in the third quarter.

DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with thirty-four points. He made all seventeen free throws, too. Kyle Lowry had twenty-four. Valanciunas had twelve, and Corey Joseph(14) and Terrence Ross(11) helped the Raptors, albeit in a losing cause.

The Warriors became the first team since 1990 to shoot better tan 50% from the floor and had thirty plus assists in five straight games.

The Warriors travel to Boston to play the Celtics Friday night.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Cousins back on the trade block could be gone; Other Kings players could be up for grabs

Published on November 15, 2016 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

AP photo: The Sacramento Kings DeMarcus Cousins shoots over the Portland Trailblazers forward Jake Layman in the first half of Friday’s game in Portland

It’s been very interesting that suddenly that everybody that’s on the Kings is looking to be traded at least that’s been the rumor. First of all the guy that’s being talked about that’s been out there in a big way again DeMarcus Cousins and is being shopped again. Yes DeMarcus is going to be traded at some point. It’s strongly believed that Cousins will be traded before the draft next June because they want to move him before he enters the last season of his contract.

The chances of him being extended in a new contract with the Kings it’s not good. I like DeMarcus and I not only follow the Kings as a reporter but I live in Sacramento when I’m not reporting on the Kings I’m not at every game I’m rooting for the Kings. I make no bones about that I would love to see DeMarcus be here for his career.

Charlie O does the Sacramento Kings podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA D-League: There are eight types of players in pro basketball’s minor league

Published on November 14, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

kings-bighorns-logos

by Charlie O. Mallonee

In talking or reading about players in the NBA D-League, you will often come across different designations for players. For example, Lamar Patterson who was the leading scorer for the Reno Bighorns on Sunday is listed as an “affiliate player of the Sacramento Kings”.

What does that mean? There are several categories of player in the D-League, so let’s try to work our way through the basics.

NBA Affiliate Player

As NBA teams waive players in the preseason, they have the first opportunity of signing those players to their D-League affiliate.

Teams can designate up to four “affiliate players”. These player remain free agents in the NBA and those players are free to sign with any of the 30 NBA organizations. The affiliate status allows teams to keep players they like learning their system should the need arise for a player at the NBA level.

Only 22 teams can have affiliate players because not all teams have a dedicated D-League team associated with their organization.

Lamar Patterson and second-round draft pick Isaiah Cousins are affiliate players with the Kings who are playing for the Bighorns.

Returning Players

NBA D-League teams retain the rights to any player who has played for that team within the last two seasons – as long as the team has not released that player.

The Bighorns have two returning players – forward Kadeem Jack and guard Mark Tyndale.

NBA Assignees

NBA organizations can assign players with three years or less service to their D-League affiliate an unlimited number of times. Unlike baseball with the its complicated options rules, NBA can move players up and down as often as they see fit.

For example in 2014-15, 56 different players were assigned to D-League teams a total of 195 times. Because most the development teams are in close proximity to the parent clubs, free movement between the organizations is very feasible.

The Kings have three players assigned to Reno in this designation: forward Skal Labissiere, center Georgios Papagiannis and guard Malachi Richardson.

reno3 — Labissiere, Ricardson and Papagiannis Photo credit: NBA.com

NBA Draft Rights Players

These are affectionately known as “domestic draft-and-stash” players. The “draft rights player” rule allows D-League teams to directly acquire players from their NBA parent team’s draft list bypassing the usual D-League player selection processes.

The Oklahoma City Thunder was the first team to use this rule in 2012 when they selected Josh Huestis from Stanford in the first round for the purposes of sending him to the D-League.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Miami Heat — Josh Huestis OKC Thunder Photo Credit: Getty

NBA Draft-Eligible Players

These are players who are eligible but have not entered the NBA Draft. They can instead enter the NBA D-League and keep their NBA Draft status.

If a player signs with the D-League before the season, he is eligible to enter the D-League Draft. If the player signs mid-season, he is available to D-League teams through the wavier pool claiming process.

NBA Draft-Eligible players cannot be called up by NBA teams. This the only category of players in the D-League that has that limitation.

Players who have used the route to eventually enter the NBA are: P.J. Hairston – who is back in the league with the Vipers, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Glen Rice,Jr.

pj-hariston — P.J. Hairston Photo Credit: Sergio Hentschel/Getty Images

Local Tryout Players

These are my favorite players. Guys who have not given up the dream and believe if given the chance, they can make it happen. D-League teams can invite up to five players from their open tryouts to join their training camps.

Jonathan Simmons who played college basketball at Houston attended an open tryout for the Austin Spurs in 2013. He was added to the San Antonio Spurs roster in 2015 and is now a major component of their second unit this season.

Other ways to make the D-League

D-League Draft: around 200 players are signed by the league in put into a draft pool. Approximately half of these 200 players are selected on Draft Day.
Free Agents: there will be an influx of free agents hitting the market for the D-League as winter approaches. Players will be returning to the country from playing overseas and there will be NBA players who been released who are trying to work their way back into the league. These players are selected by the D-League teams on a rotational wavier system.

Information supplied by dleague.nba.com was used in the writing of this article

Reno Bighorns lose season opener to Rio Grande Vipers 112-103

Published on November 13, 2016November 13, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

patterson — Kings affiliate player Lamar Patterson

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings NBA D-League entry – the Reno Bighorns – opened their 2016-17 season with a 112-103 loss on the road deep in the south of Texas to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets) on Sunday night.

The Bighorns started the game very slowly and appeared ready to suffer a blowout as the Vipers shot 50-percent from the floor and outscored Reno 32-13 in the first quarter.

Things improved for the Bighorns in the second quarter as they scored 22 points but the Vipers continued to stay hot as they shot 50-percent again for the period and put up 29 points of their own.

At the half, Rio Grande Valley held a 61-35 lead over the Bighorns.

A different Bighorns team stepped out on the floor to start the third quarter. The Bighorns turned on their defensive intensity and then added improved play on offense to put themselves right back into the game. Led by Malachi Richardson’s and Isaiah Cousins’ eight points each the Bighorns outscored the Vipers 33-17 to close within 10 points of the lead after three quarters of play.

The Vipers came out in the fourth period with the realization that they needed to step up their game or they faced the possibility of losing a contest they once had under their control. Viper forward Isaiah Taylor scored 12 points and dished out five assists to lead the charge as Rio Grande Valley went back up by as many as 16 points. Reno did not lay down in the final quarter. The Bighorns scored 35 points led by Malachi Richardson’s 11 points and Lamar Patterson’s 10. Reno outscored the Vipers 35-34 in the fourth.

When the final buzzer sounded, Rio Grande Valley had defeated Reno 112-103.

Kings fans will recognize the names of the Bighorn players who made a difference

Lamar Patterson – signed to Reno as an affiliate player to the Sacramento Kings- was the Bighorns leading scorer with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Patterson was an impressive 9-for-18 from the field. He played 32 minutes.
Malachi Richardson – who came to the Kings from Charlotte in exchange for Marco Belinelli – added 22 points. He went 4-for-12 from the floor including hitting on 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Richardson also went 11-for-16 from the free throw line. He played 38 minutes.
Other former Kings roster players who had an impact were center Georgios Papagiannis who scored 15 points in 29 minutes on the floor. Second-round draft pick and affiliate player Isaiah Cousins scored 14 points. Forward Skal Labissiere put up 9 points and grabbed 11 points in his 31 minutes of playing time.
Chane Behanan – who played in Mexico last season and for Rio Grande Valley the year before that – added eight points in 13 minutes of playing time

Rio Grande Valley Vipers

The Vipers scoring was led by forward Isaiah Taylor who is an affiliate player of the Houston Rockets. He scored 24 points and hit four 3-pointers. Taylor distributed seven assists in his 31 minutes on the floor.
Three other Viper player players scored in double figures: Kyle Wiltjer (22), PJ Hairston – who has played in the NBA – added 15 points and Le’Bryan Nash scored 21 off the bench.
The Vipers outscored the Bighorns 60-44 in the paint

What’s coming up for the Bighorns

The Bighorns travel to Austin where they will play two games with the Austin Spurs. They will play a game on Tuesday at 9:00 AM PST and on Thursday at 5:30 PM PST. The Bighorns will then head home for their home opener on Saturday, November 19 with the Oklahoma City Blue.