Category: NBA

Kings fall short in loss to Bulls

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

Photo credit (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

SACRAMENTO- A Chicago Bulls team without All Star Jimmy Butler gives opponents a much better chance at winning, or at least competiting. Butler sat out Wednesday night’s ball game with left knee tendinitis. The Kings did do a good job of sticking around with the Bulls, but allowed E’Twaun Moore to tear up the defense as if he was Butler.

Sacramento once again allowed a player who never really impacts games to get a career high in points. The Kings had a lot of sloppy play and their defense was not consistently strong enough to ever allow them to over come the Bulls. Missed free throws cost the Kings as well especially when it counted. Even with another monster game from DeMarcus Cousins, who was honored as an All Star prior to the game, Sacramento could not overcome the Bulls. The Kings (21-27) lost to the Bulls (27-21), 107-102, in a tightly contested match up in Sacramento at Sleep Train Arena.

The Kings lacked urgency to start the game. Sacramento looked slow and the Bulls took advantage, especially Moore. Moore scored ten of Chicago’s first 13 points causing Sacramento to take a timeout at the 7:02 mark. Moore would finish the quarter with 13 points, a point shy of his career high.

Marco Belinelli’s shot started to look better, scoring six points in the quarter, as he got another start. The Kings were able to hang around in the quarter in big part to DeMarcus Cousins, who scored eight points in a row later in the quarter causing the Bulls to call a timeout with Chicago up by eight. The Kings’ defense caused five turnovers, but could not find a way to stop the Bulls from scoring as Chicago shot 57.1% from the field. The Bulls did an excellent job behind the three-point line, going six for eight.

The Bulls took advantage of the Kings’ four turnovers with nine points off those turnovers. Allowing the Bulls to shoot at a high percentage had the Kings down, 35-24, after one quarter of play. For the fifth straight game, the Kings allowed their opponent to score 30 or more points in the first quarter.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Coach George Karl.  “I’ve never had this many games on your home court come out flat.”

Coming off of a sluggish first quarter, Darren Collison helped pick up the pace for Sacramento. Off the bench, Collison finished the half with 13 points, eight of those from the second quarter. The Kings’ defense did a better job against the Bulls’ offense and found some of their own as well.

With 4:35 left in the second quarter, Omri Casspi and Bobby Portis received a technical foul each after the pair were yapping at one another over a prior play.

Down by four, Sacramento looked to keep the game close but the Bulls went on a 6-0 run to go up by ten as Chicago continued their good ball movement with a little under three minutes to play in the half.

Belinelli scored six more points in the second quarter. Belinelli hit two three-pointers for a total of 12 points in the half. Belinelli’s threes helped keep the Kings within reach with one of those threes coming from a Cousins’ screen and put the score at 60-57. Belinelli’s three would be the last field goal of the half with the Bulls leading the Kings, 60-57 after one half of play.

Omri Casspi and Bobby Portis  received a double technical after the pair were yapping at one another over a prior play.

Moore eclipsed his prior career high of 14 points with 15 in the first half for a halftime high. Cousins scored 14 points for a team high. Chicago had ten second chance points in the first half, as they out rebounded the Kings, 26-18. Chicago crashed the boards much harder than the Kings, but with 28 points in the paint Sacramento kept it close.

The Kings started the third quarter off with a 5-0 run, giving them their first lead since early in the first quarter. But the Bulls followed it up with a 5-0 run of their own. The Kings got to 66 points, which was later changed to 64 as a Rudy Gay field goal was changed to a shot clock violation. After that point, Sacramento turned the ball over on five straight possessions, but luckily the Bulls did not do so well either. Throughout the quarter, Sacramento inched closer and closer, but the eight third quarter turnovers never gave them a chance to regain the lead.

Both teams did very little offensively, with Chicago scoring 20 and Sacramento scoring 18. The Kings did a much better job of rebounding the ball with four offensive boards and 14 total in the quarter. Gay scored six points on 3-6 shooting for a total of ten, looking much better in the third quarter after foul trouble in the first half.

Moore continued to play well out of the break with seven points in the third. Cousins also had a big quarter with eight points, as him and Moore tied for a game high with 22 points. After a lot of careless basketball, the Bulls still maintained their lead, 80-75 through three.

The fourth quarter came down to the wire although the Bulls started out the quarter on a 6-0 run. Again, the Kings were able to stay in the game and went up by as many as ten in the quarter. With a little over three and a half minutes to play, Chicago was up 99-90 over the Kings. But Belinelli’s improved shooting came in clutch for Sacramento as they got the lead down to four, 105-101, after he hit a three pointer while getting fouled.

Belinelli missed the free throw, but Cousins grabbed the board and was fouled. Cousins only made one free throw to cut Chicago’s lead to three with 45 seconds in the game. Sacramento kept getting stops and had possession down three with 17.9 seconds.

Out of a timeout, the Kings drew up a play to get Cousins the ball inside for a quick two, but Boogie could not convert on two separate tries. The Kings fouled Moore with 10.4 seconds left and the game seemed basically over. However, Moore missed both free throws and Sacramento got the rebound with nine seconds remaining. Cousins got fouled and missed the first free throw, letting out great frustration afterwards. Boogie missed the second shot on purpose and got called for a lane violation.

Pau Gasol, who finished with 16 points and 13 boards, made two free throws to close out the game and give the Bulls the victory, 107-102. Rudy Gay fouled out by fouling Gasol.

Derrick Rose had a solid fourth quarter with eight points, totaling 21 points and adding nine assists with six boards. Moore finished with a career high 24 points as he filled the shoes of Butler tonight.

Cousins added another double double on the season, 30 points and 11 rebounds, finishing with a game high. Cousins admitted to being banged up after a very physical game, but is still ready to go. Belinelli scored 18 points for Sacramento, 7-14 from the field.

Off the bench, Collison scored 19 points but did not see much playing time in the second half. Rajon Rondo added nine assists for the Kings, who continue to score well in the paint, but have lacked good starts in games.

The defense got better, but Chicago shot 52.4% from the behind the arc, which was a  big difference maker as well as their 19 fast break points. Both teams finished with 17 turnovers in a very sloppy game.

“Starts. Turnovers hurt us tonight, transition defense hurt us tonight,” Cousins said.

The Kings have now lost five of their last six games and are looking for answers with four games left before the All Star break.

“I would probably say our only pattern is our effort coming out early on in games. We’ve got to find a way to improve that,” Cousins said when asked about characteristics in their losses.

The Kings, now 21-28, will need to practice what they preach heading into the last four games to gain momentum as they near the break. On Friday, Sacramento will take on the Brooklyn Nets on the road as they look to get the roller coaster season back in their favor with some much needed road wins.

“We’ve got to get three, we have to,” Cousins said.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings break a loss streak without Cousins big plans to hold things together

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O, the Kings break a four game loss streak by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks without their star player DeMarcus Cousins. The victory was key and the Kings who went on that four game slide after winning five straight game. Also thoughts on Rajon Rondo and his future with the Kings and will they keep him.

Trade talks continue regarding the Kings Rudy Gay and will they keep him. Other teams just don’t seem to want him bad enough to sign him. Will he fit in somewhere else or will the Kings keep him. Also what’s coming up for the Kings in the second part of this NBA season.

Charlie O does the Kings podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com take a listen below

Sacramento Kings Monday night post game report: Kings Win After Minor Controversy

Published on by tonyrenteriaLeave a comment

By Tony Renteria

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (21-27) defeated the visiting Milwaukee Bucks (20-30) at Sleep Train Arena 111-104 after DeMarcus Cousins voiced concerns over a marketing campaign held by the Kings Organization.

One the first day of Black history month the Kings were giving away T-shirts celebrating the Chinese New Year.  The Kings were giving shirts with a monkey until Cousins took exception of the give away and Kings had the ushers take the shirts down before tip off.

Cousins did not play due a a sprained ankle, so Rudy Gay took the team on his back as scored 32 points to lead the Kings.

The Kings used a strong 2nd quarter to take the lead over the visitors and poured it on the fourth quarter for the Win.

The Bucks were led by Greg Monro who took advantage of a King’s team with Cousins to work the paint for 24 points to pace the Bucks in the loss.

The Bucks head up to Portland on Tuesday to face the Trail Blazers and the Kings host the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

 

Kings Can’t Beat Short-Handed Pelicans

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: Pelicans Ryan Anderson (33) goes up toward basket over the Kings Marco Belinelli (3) on Thursday night

The New Orleans Pelicans were without their two best players in All-star Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans, but they still managed to defend home court at the Smoothie King Center Thursday night. Ryan Anderson scored a career-high 36 points to beat a George Karl-less Sacramento Kings 114-105.

Anderson scored 30 points in the first half to push New Orleans (17-28) to a 63-53 lead at the half despite a 34-26 second quarter by the Kings. Sacramento would pull within 5 in the 4th, but a Pelican run extinguished all hope for the Kings (20-26).

Rajon Rondo and Western Conference All-star DeMarcus did the usual, each producing a double-double. The Kings point guard picked up 15 assists, matching a franchise record with 14-straight double-digit assist contests, and 17 points. Cousins earned his double on the glass, pulling in 10 boards along with 26 points. Ben McLemore also picked up 26 points.

For the Pelicans, Jrue Holiday pitched in off the bench. He scored 25 points on 8 of 24 shooting. Norris Cole picked up a double-double for the hosts after scoring 17 points while dropping 10 times.

The Kings were without coach Karl, who missed the contest due to illness. Associate coach Chad Iske took over the coaching duties looking to end a two-game losing skid for Sacramento. There is no word who will be behind the bench when the Kings travel to Memphis Saturday.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Despite all the injuries the Warriors stay hottest team in NBA

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by David Zizmor

photo credit: warriorsworld.net–Festus Ezeli is one of the Warriors players whose been hampered with injuries

OAKLAND–The Golden State Warriors who have struggled with some of the injuries that they’ve had, I won’t say they were kind of dragging a bit and in January it’s the part of the season it happens a bit. Even with the best teams it could be a bit of a problem. The injuries on top of the type of year they’ve had kind of exacerbated the situation.

Even though the Warriors were still getting a lot of wins they weren’t winning by a ton they were playing games that were closer than you think. The W’s needed a little bit of a wake up call and there were a lot of injuries and the Warriors appreciate how healthy the team was and that they didn’t have any truly serious injuries yet this season.

That is a very fortunate thing that could be said for last year and the Warriors Harrison Barnes was out for several weeks and it took him close to a month before he was ready to play. Then Steph Curry had an ankle issue that was later swelling down a little bit. There was Leandro Barbosa and Festus Ezeli who had their issues too.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcast each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com hear more of the podcast click below

 

 

The Warriors get a measure of revenge, defeat the Dallas Mavericks by twenty.

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for golden state warriors klay thompson

photo provided by Google Images

Well, The Dubs did it again. They won their fortieth straight home Wednesday night at Oracle Arena as they defeated the Dallas Mavericks by twenty points 127-107. While the score looks like it was a runaway, it was not. The Dubs had to work really to beat a very determined Dallas team. The Mavericks defeated the Warriors earlier in the season. However, Steph Curry missed that game due to an ankle injury. The Warriors got off to a good start early in the game and led the Mavericks by ten at the end of the first period 32-22.

The Mavericks played the Dubs tough in the second period but could only cut the lead to eight points. The Mavs trailed by two with 3:27 left in the half but Golden State wouldn’t yield and built the lead to eight at the half 56-48. Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 26 points. Steph Curry, if you can believe this, had just three points, and Draymond Green didn’t score at all. Green had to sit as he committed three fouls.

Steph finally got it going in the third period. He hit a three-point shot early in the period to, hopefully, jump start the offense. Steph has hit three-point shots in 117 straight games and is closing in on the NBA record of 127 straight. The Mavericks, at this point in the game, refused to wilt. They trailed by just one point 65-64 with 7:29 left. The Dubs increased the lead to seven 71-64 as Steph made two more three-point shots. The Mavs trailed by three 73-70 when Draymond Green scored his first five points of the night. Draymond scored another five points in the period, and Klay Thompson pitched in with another five as the Warriors, now playing an uptempo game, outscored the Mavs 39-29 in the period and they led by eighteen at the end of three.

In the fourth period, Klay Thompson scored fourteen points and finished with 45 for the night. The Mavs could not crack the Golden State defense and the Warriors reserves finished the game. Final score 127-107.

Game Notes- Klay Thompson led the Warrior offense with 45. Draymond Green had ten, all in the third period, but he played terrific defense, as usual. Harrison Barnes pitched in with thirteen. Shaun Livingston and Mo Speights each had eight off the bench. Steph Curry, who scored thirty-seven against San Antonio, scored just thirteen. It is not a misprint. Steph Curry scored just thirteen points. However, there is no ego on this team. The Warriors do not care who score the most points. They care about winning. They move the ball and find the open man. Yes, Curry is the NBA’s MVP. He did not score a lot of points, but they won the game and their record for the year is now 42-4. They have won 40 straight games at home. The NBA record is 44, held by the Chicago Bulls.

The Warriors first-round draft choice, Kevon Looney, made his NBA debut and scored his first two points of his career on his first shot from the floor.

The Warriors will be holding a press conference Thursday morning to announce the J.P.Morgan Chase has secured naming rights for the new arena in San Francisco. J.P.Morgan Ceo Jaime Dimon was seated next to Warrior owner Joe Lacob at Wednesday night’s game.

The Warriors in Philadelphia Saturday at 1pm PT.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: NBA admits blowing travel call in Kings loss Monday night vs. Hornets

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by Charlie O Mallonee

photo credit: newslocker.com–Charlotte’s Troy Daniels take a shot against Sacramento’s Willie Cauley-Stein Monday night at Sleep Train Arena

SACRAMENTO–The Kings coaching staff watched very closely when the Charlotte Hornets Troy Daniels who made a shot that was counted on Monday night at Sleep Train Arena but traveled. It’s one of those things that could easily get by especially in that kind of a confused state with double OT going and the last few seconds of the game ticking down.

That everybody was watching in the second overtime, the reason the non-travel call was discovered and this is for those of you who might not notice this in every game in the NBA the last two minutes of the game is gone over like a fine tooth comb with all of the cameras, all of the angles and there are a lot of cameras and angles that people don’t know that exist in games that are preset that their using for stats.

In those final two minutes they had to call the officials in New Jersey to caucus with the game officials. This why they found it and look at the video and they share that with the teams and with the media. It was also found by another reporting site that noticed it as well.

Charlie O has the rest of the Sacramento Kings podcast listen below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Worn Down Kings lose, 112-97, in Portland

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

Picture by (Steve Dykes/AP Photo)

SACRAMENTO- DeMarcus Cousins has been a treat to watch, notching career highs in points in back to back games. 48 in a win against the Pacers and 56, a Sacramento franchise high, against the Hornets in a double overtime loss. But Boogie looked tired and struggled mightily tonight, which really hurt the Kings who were without Rudy Gay who suffered a corneal abrasion in last night’s ball game. Nobody for the Kings stepped up and there was not much from the bench besides Marco Belinelli, giving the Portland Trailblazers the victory, 112-97.

Early on, the Kings looked good with Rajon Rondo and Willie Cauley-Stein connecting on consecutive alley-oops for the team’s first two field goals. Rondo penetrated the defense well and did a nice job of getting open looks or easy baskets for his teammates, especially Cauley-Stein. Rondo tried to give a team who looked tired some early energy. The team’s ball movement was nice with nine team assists in the quarter.

Tied at 15, Cousins got called for a charge and Coach George Karl was not happy, picking up a technical foul. Once the Blazers knocked down the free throw, Portland never looked back and held the lead for the majority of the game afterwards. Both teams were not too careless with the ball and scored well in the paint as the Blazers led 33-29 at the end of the first. Nonetheless, the game still looked close.

As the second quarter got underway, Cousins frustration grew and Rondo and Cauley-Stein couldn’t continue their hot start. Rondo scored nine in the first and WCS notched eight. Cousins could not buy a basket from the field going 3-14 in the half, but getting to the line seven times and making six of the seven shots. The Kings played pretty good defense, but the Blazers found a way to shoot at a high percentage, 50% for the half. The Kings found a way to hang around even with their offensive struggles as Portland’s largest lead in the half was nine. Cousins had a half time high with 12 points and CJ McCollum had 11 to lead Portland.

With just under three minutes to play in the quarter, Cauley-Stein took a bump to the eye and headed to the locker room. Willie received stitches and donned a bandage on his eyebrow in the second half.

After a tough half of basketball, the Blazers held a six-point lead, 58-52.

In the third, the Blazers continued to shoot at a high percentage and the Kings faltered. Portland put up a 30-point quarter on 50% shooting. Every Blazers player who entered in the third scored, while the Kings shot at 40% and couldn’t get a bucket from their best player. Cousins only way of scoring was from the free throw line and in the quarter he went 2 of 8. The Kings were down seven at one point and could not score on possessions where they had a wide open look from Cousins and a couple of missed lay ups by Rondo. When the Kings failed to cut the lead to five, Portland attacked the Kings defense and went up by as many as 14 points. Missed free throws also kept the Kings from hanging around, 4-12 in third. With three quarters in the books, Portland led, 88-74.

The Trail Blazers started the fourth with a 10-4 run causing Sacramento to call a timeout. Portland’s offense continued to sizzle as they went up by as many as 22. With the lead very much out of reach, Karl took out Cousins, Rondo and Willie to give them some much needed rest after logging a ton of minutes the night before.

In garbage time, Seth Curry put up seven points and gave the Kings a little offense. The Kings turned the ball over six times in the quarter and after a good first quarter and mostly first half, slowed down. The Blazers took advantage of a tired Kings team to put themselves in line for the eighth seed, defeating Sacramento, 112-97. Portland came into tonight’s ball game a game behind the Kings for that eighth spot.

Myers Leonard frustrated Boogie big time and Cousins was absolutely drained. His legs weren’t quite under him, 4-21 on field goals and 9-17 from the free throw line. Cousins had a team high with 17 points. McCollum finished with a game high 18 points. The Blazers shot really well and the Kings did not shoot as well as they would have liked, 41.9%. Seven of Portland’s players scored in double figures, with their leader Damian Lilliard notching 15 points.

Rondo finished with 15 points and 11 assists for another double double as he played an excellent game, but just couldn’t get enough energy from the rest of the team. Belinelli finished with 14 points as his shot looked much better. Belinelli and the Kings hope that he can get his stroke back. Cauley-Stein finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Willie’s defense has been a huge plus for the Kings since his return.

The Kings have an off day tomorrow before they face the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday. Tomorrow will be a well deserved rest day as the team travels and hopefully Boogie will find his stride once again. After all, this is his first mediocre game of January, Big Cous has been dominant. The Kings have dropped two in a row now and will look to get back to their winning ways in January on Thursday at New Orleans.

Kings Lose In Double OT

Published on by tonyrenteriaLeave a comment

By Tony Renteria

photo credit: Sacramento Bee–Charlotte’s Marvin Williams (2) drives on Sacramento’s Rudy Gay (8) Monday night at Sleep Train Arena

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (20-23) headed into tonight’s match up with five straight wins looking for six against the visiting Charlotte Hornets (21-23) but the Hornets took the Kings for a double overtime win 129-128.

The Kings jumped out to an early 31-16 lead in the first quarter but lost that pace in the third when the Hornets came roaring out of the locker room at half time to score 42 points in the third.

DeMarcus Cousins scored a career best 56 points in the game before fouling out in the second overtime.   He previous high was 48 points.   Rajon Rondo had 20 assists as he worked the court like a Field General feeding player after player great passes for easy baskets.

The Hornets were led Kemba Walker and his 24 points.   Jeremy Lin also chipped in 20 points.

The Kings head to Portland on Tuesday night as the Hornets head to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder.

 

 

 

Curry’s triple double helps Warriors to victory in Kerr’s return

Published on by jhawkes51Leave a comment

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

photo credit: The Sporting News–Golden State Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton and head coach Steve Kerr

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry recorded his seventh-career triple double (second of the season), finishing with a game-high 39 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds, helping the Golden State Warriors pick up their 40th win of the season with a 122-110 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers Friday night at Oracle Arena in head coach Steve Kerr’s first game of the season.

Kerr, who missed the first 43 games of the season while recovering from multiple back surgeries, was welcomed back with a thunderous applause from the sold out home crowd of 19,596.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time … I really missed the routine,” Kerr said after the game. “It feels like the first game of the season, which it is for me. Fortunately our team’s in a pretty good groove and hopefully we can keep going.”

Curry, who was voted to start in his third-straight All-Star game Thursday, shot 11-of-19 from the floor, including knocking down 8-of-15 three-pointers. Curry drilled two half-court shots (one after the first quarter ended which didn’t count, and the other at the buzzer to end the first half).

For the season, Curry has connected on 204 three-pointers, becoming the first player in NBA history to have four-straight seasons with 200 made three-pointers.

Ray Allen is the only player in NBA history with five seasons of 200 made three-pointers.

Curry shot 9-of-9 from the free throw line as he recorded his sixth 30-plus point game in his last eight contests.

In addition to Curry, Golden State finished with five players scoring in double figures.

Starters Draymond Green had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Klay Thompson scored 18 points, while Leandro Barbosa had 13 points and Andre Iguodala finished with 10 points off the bench.

Golden State raced out to a 25-8 lead in the first quarter by making 10 of their first 14 shots from the floor, before Indiana shot 47-percent from the floor, while limiting Indiana to 17.3-percent on three-pointers.

Rookie forward Myles Turner led the Pacers with a career-high 31 points off the bench. Former Warrior Monta Ellis scored all 18 of his points in the second half, as Golden State swept the season series from Indiana, 2-0.

Pacers All-Star forward Paul George scored just 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

Many believed that this could’ve been a trap game for Golden State (40-4), who will put their 38-game home winning streak dating back to last season and 20-0 home record this season on the line when they host the equally hot San Antonio Spurs (38-6) Monday night.

Indiana (23-20) continues its West Coast swing Saturday night at Sacramento.