Category: Sacramento Kings

Too much Aldridge, Gasol and Ginobili ends the Kings two-game win streak: Spurs win 108-99 on Saturday night

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
More Hield SAS
Buddy Hield drives to the hoop for two of his 24 points Photo: USA Today Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – The Kings stayed with the Spurs stride for stride in the opening quarter and played them to a 33-33 tie at the end of 12-minutes. The energy was high in the Golden 1 Center. Kawahi Leonard was declared unavailable due to injury management, so Sacramento fans felt their team was on a more even playing field talent wise.

They were wrong.

The Spurs outscored the Kings 29-16 in the second quarter as they shot 50-percent (11-for-22) from the field, hit 3-of-5 three-point attempts and converted 4-of-5 free throw attempts. San Antonio began a scoring drive at the 10:10 mark of the quarter and built up a 13 point lead by the time the horn sounded for halftime.

The Spurs went to the locker room at the half with a 62-49 lead over the Kings.

Sacramento came out in the third quarter knowing they had to make a run at the Spurs immediately. The Kings kept chipping away at the San Antonio lead and cut it to six-points twice. When the third period ended, SAC trailed by just eight points, 84-76.

Buddy Hield scored 10-points shooting 4-for-6 (including two 3-pointers) to lead the Kings 27-point scoring attack. Willie Cauley-Stein added eight-points.

The Kings needed to put together a run and cut the Spurs lead to five-points or less with two-minutes to go in the game to have a chance to win. That did not happen.

Former King Rudy Gay – who had previously not scored in the game – sank two jump shots and 25-foot 3-pointer in the opening 2:18 of the final quarter to help the Spurs rebuild a 14-point lead. The San Antonio lead would reach 15-points twice in the period which was too much for the Kings to overcome.

San Antonio won the game 108-99.

Top Performers

Spurs (22-11)

Gasol SAS
Pau Gasol recorded a triple-double versus the Kings on Saturday night Photo: USA Today Sports
  • Star of the Game: Paul Gasol – the Spurs 37-year old, 17-year NBA veteran – recorded a triple-double on Saturday night. Gasol scored 14-points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 10 assists in just over 30-minutes on the floor. After the game Gasol said, “I have to give credit to my teammates. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to get the assists, so it’s a team accomplishment. Just happy it turned out that way tonight. It’s been a couple of years since my last triple-double.” (February 27, 2016 as a member of the Chicago Bulls)
  • Co-star: LaMarcus Aldridge only gets a co-star billing for the game because he recorded just a double-double putting up a game-high 29-points and pulling down 10 rebounds. He also played a game-high 38-minutes and 33-seconds.

  • Ginobili to hoop
    The ageless Ginobili goes to the rack versus the Kings Photo: USA Today Sports
  • Co-star: The final co-star for the Spurs is man who should probably be playing “wheelchair basketball” if you listen to “the experts” who say he should retire at the end of every season he plays. 40-year old Manu Ginobili evidently does not know he is too old to play in the NBA. On Saturday night, he scored 15-points in just over 21-minutes of playing time coming off the bench.

Kings (11-21)

  • Star of the Game: Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with 24 points versus the Spurs on Saturday night. He played almost 32-minutes shooting 9-for-17 overall and 4-for-7 from behind the 3-point arc. Hield also hauled in eight rebounds in the contest. In what was also a major improvement, he committed no turnovers.

  • WCS vs SAS
    Willie Cauley-Stein posted a double-double on Saturday night Photo: USA Today Sports
  • Co-star: Willie Cauley-Stein posted his fifth double-double of the season as he scored 22 points and recorded 11 rebounds. Cauley-Stein shot 10-for-18 for the game and added three assists.
  • Co-star: Bogdan Bogdanovic had a perfect shooting night as he was 6-for-6 overall and 3-for-3 from 3-point land. Bogdanovic played 28-plus minutes against the Spurs.

Key Team Stats

San Antonio

  • Field Goal Shooting: 44-for-88 (50-percent) It’s tough to beat a team that is sinking half of its shots
  • 3-point Shooting: the Spurs made 11-of-23 (47.8-percent) 3-point attempts. Six different players made 3-point baskets
  • Free throw shooting: the Spurs went to the line only 11 times but the made nine free throws (81.8-percent) which helped them to win this game
  • The Spurs also had a fantastic assists to turnover ratio. They dished out 29 assists and turned the ball over just eight times. That is very close to a 4 to 1 ratio with a 2 to 1 ratio being the goal

Sacramento

  • Field Goal Shooting: 46.5-percent (49-for-86) which is respectable until you look and see your opponent shot 50-percent from the field
  • 3-point Shooting: The Kings actually out-shot the Spurs from behind the 3-point line. They hit 12-of-22 3-point attempts (54.5-percent). Four Kings did all of their 3-point scoring – Randolph, Temple, Hield and Bogdanovic.
  • Free throw shooting: the Kings went to the line just 11 times and converted just seven of those shots. They still need to get more attempts per game
  • Assists to turnover ratio – The Kings finished with 20 assists and 10 turnovers or the magic 2 to 1 formula. It just was not enough in this case.

Up Next

Sacramento

The Kings are done until after Christmas. Sacramento will return to action on Tuesday, December 26 when the team will travel to Los Angeles to face the Clippers at the Staples Center.

San Antonio

The Spurs headed home after the game and will have Christmas Day off. San Antonio will host the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

 

Randolph’s 10,000th rebound is icing on the cake for Kings as they top Nets 104-99

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Brooklyn Nets’ Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (24) defends Sacramento Kings’ Zach Randolph (50) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, in New York. The Kings won 104-99. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

By Jessica Kwong

BROOKLYN–The Sacramento Kings won back-to-back games for the first time this season on Wednesday night, surviving a late rally by the Brooklyn Nets to win 104-99 at Barclays Center.

As icing on the cake, Kings forward Zach Randolph surpassed 10,000 career rebounds.

“It’s a good win for us,” Kings head coach Dave Joerger said.

“It’s been a tough place for our organization to get some wins. I think in seven years we’ve only done it once,” Joerger said. “We got some good performances tonight from some guys who had tough nights last night.”

Sacramento led throughout most of the match at Barclays Center until about halfway into the final quarter. The Kings lead by as many as 15 points, but the Nets chipped away until Joe Harris made a driving layup to cut Sacramento’s lead to 97-95 with 5 minutes remaining in the game.

Kings forward Bogdan Bogdanovic was fouled with 10.7 seconds to go with his team up 101-99 and made one of two free throws. Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie missed a triple but the ball went out of bounds off the Kings with 4.8 seconds remaining. Brooklyn blew it when Harris made a bad pass.

Dinwiddie fouled Kings guard George Hill, who made both free throws, allowing his team to win the game 104-99.

“That was a team win,” Joerger said. “Teams are going to make runs, teams are going to make shots, so it’s how do we handle that, where do we get the ball to.”

Sacramento’s leading scorers were Hill with 22 points, Randolph with 21 points and Bogdanovic with 14 points.

Kings beat the Sixers 101-95 in Philly Tuesday night to sweep the season series

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Z=bo vs sixers
Zach Randolph was a leader in the Kings victory over the Sixers Photo USA Today Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings picked up their first win on their four-game road trip Tuesday night when they downed the Philadelphia 76ers 101-95 in Philadelphia. The victory gave the Kings the series sweep over the Sixers who they defeated in Sacramento on November 9th 109-108.

That is a bit ironic after the Kings just finished being swept by the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

The Kings found themselves down 78-71 as they headed into the fourth quarter. They would need a 10-point effort from Buddy Hield and nine-points from Garrett Temple to lead a 30-point scoring barrage that would help them to victory. Willie Cauley-Stein added six-points in the final period as the Kings outscored the Sixers 30-17 in the fourth quarter.

Sacramento used 12-of-13 players on their bench in the contest. Only Georgios Papagiannis did not play. George Hill was not available due to illness.

The Sixers held a 57-48 lead at halftime due to some solid play from Robert Covington, Ben Simmons, T.J. McConnell and JJ Redick. Philly outscored the Kings 30-18 in the second quarter and it looked like the Sacramento squad might be in for a long night.

Sacramento kept things close in the third period which allowed them to have opportunity to take control in the fourth quarter.

Kings star of the game

Frank Mason to hoo[
Frank Mason had another strong game off the bench for the Kings Photo USA Today Sports
Rookie reserve point guard Frank Mason gets the star of the game nod for the win over the Sixers on Tuesday night. Mason scored 16-points in just over 22-minutes of playing time on the floor. The four-year Kansas alum shot 7-for-9 from the floor and went 2-for-2 from behind the 3-point line. He also recorded two blocked shots in the game. Mason has demonstrated a maturity and confidence coming off the bench that has served the Kings very well this season.

Kings co-stars of the game

  • Zach Randolph made a good argument that he should have been the star of the game. The veteran power forward put up 27-points and grabbed five rebounds in just over 28-minutes on the court. The man who was brought in as a “role model” has become “a game changer” for the Kings.
  • Buddy Hield did not have his best night from 3-point land but he shot 9-for-19 for the game. He recorded 24-points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out two assists and made three steals in just over 28-minutes of playing time.

Sixers star of the game

Ben Simmons has to get the star as he came within one assist of recording a triple-double. Simmons scored 13-points, hauled in 12 rebounds and distributed nine assists in his 32-plus minutes on the floor.

Sixers co-stars of the game

  • Forward Robert Covington recorded 17-points despite having a very tough shooting night. Covington shot 5-for-19 overall and just 2-for-13 from 3-point range. He did go a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
  • Jerryd Bayless scored 15 points for the second-unit coming off the bench and seeing just over 26-minutes of action in the contest. Bayless shot 5-for-12 overall and hit 4-of-8 opportunities from downtown.

Key Team stats of the game

Sacramento

  • The Kings shot 41-for-91 (45.1-percent) in the game and hit 7-of-27 (25.9-percent) from behind the 3-point line.
  • Sacramento went 12-for-23 from the free throw line ( the percentage was poor but the number of attempts was excellent and was a real improvement)
  • The Kings committed just 12 turnovers which became 15 Philly points

Philadelphia

  • The Sixers shot 34-for-81 for the game. That was 10 less attempts and seven less conversions than the Kings.
  • Philly hit 10-of-35 3-point attempts. That was three more conversions than the Kings.
  • They went 17-for-24 from the free throw line. The Sixers hit five more free throws than the Kings.
  • Philly out-rebounded the Kings 53-39

Up next

Kings (10-20)

Sacramento wraps up their four-game road on Wednesday night when they will face the Brooklyn Nets in Brooklyn. The Nets are 11-18 on the season. FiveThirtyEight.com gives the Kings a 27-percent chance of winning the game and makes them a six point underdog.

Sixers (14-16)

Philly will host the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night. FiveThirtyEight.com makes the Sixers a 0.5 underdog and gives them only a 48-percent chance to win.

 

The Raptors sweep the season series with the Kings; winning Sunday in Toronto 108-93

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Bogi assists
Bogdanovic dishes an assist versus Raptors Photo: USA Today Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings record dropped to 0-2 on their four-game trip as they lost game two on Sunday to the Toronto Raptors 108-93. With the win on Sunday, the Raptors completed a season sweep of the the two-game series between the two teams. The Kings swept the series in 2016-17 but DeMarcus Cousins was still on the Sacramento roster when that happened.

The Kings did manage to avoid falling behind 13-0 as they had one week ago in Sacramento. The Kings trailed trailed by just five points – 35 to 30 – after the first 12-minutes of play. Garrett Temple was the leading scorer in the opening quarter with 10-points.

The Kings went with an interesting starting five. Vince Carter, Kosta Koufos, Willie Cauley-Stein, Garrett Temple and George Hill took the floor to start the game for Sacramento. Zach Randolph was held out for rest. De’Aaron Fox was unavailable because of a Right Quadriceps Contusion suffered in the Minnesota game. JaKarr Sampson had to be sent to the G-League as a two-way player to fulfill his commitment to the Bighorns.

The Kings really shined in the second quarter as they outscored the Raptors 33-26. Bogdan Bogdanovic led the scoring with 11-points shooting 4-for-5 overall while hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point land. George Hill posted nine-points going a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point arc.

Sacramento went to the locker room at halftime with a 63-61 lead. That would be that last positive highlight for the Kings in the game. The Raptors would outscore the Kings 22-14 in the third quarter and 25-16 in final period of the game. Too much experienced talent and the low percentage chances of winning on the road had caught up the Kings on Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

Kings star of the game

Bogdan Bogdanovic gets the star of the game for Sacramento. The Kings oldest rookie came off the bench to score 18-points in just over 28-minutes on the floor. He shot 7-for-10 overall and hit 4-of-7 from behind the 3-point line. He also handed out five dimes while grabbing three rebounds.

Kings co-stars

Willie scores
Willie Cauley-Stein scores against Toronto Photo: USA Today Sports
  • Garrett Temple – the talented swing-man also recorded 18-points hitting 6-of-13 shots from the floor including two 3-point baskets. He added two rebounds and two assists.
  • Veteran George Hill put 16-points in the book by sinking 6-of-11 shots. Hill converted 4-of-7 3-point attempts. He also distributed five assists.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein continues to get back into the swing of things as he recorded 12 points and hauled in six rebounds. He also added four assists.

Raptors star of the game

It really comes as no surprise that DeMar DeRozan was the star of the game for the Raptors. DeRozan put up a game-high 21-points as he shot 6-for-17 from the field. He was much more successful from charity stripe where hit 9-of-12 opportunities. DeRozan also handed out five assists and had two blocked shots.

Raptors co-stars

  • Guard Kyle Lowry had a better statistical on Sunday than he did last week against the Kings. He put up 14-points hitting 5-of-11 shots from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point land. Lowry added seven assists and five rebounds.
  • OG Anunoby scored 13-points, Norman Powell added 13 off the bench, Fred VanVleet recorded 11 points and Delon Wright came off the bench to add 10-points.

Important team stats

Sacramento

Vince got a start
Carter got the start in Toronto Photo: USA Today Sports
  • Field goal percentage: 46.9-percent (38-for-81)
  • 3-point shooting percentage: 42.3-percent (11-for-26)
  • Free Throws: 6-for-8 (75-percent) not nearly enough attempts
  • 32 rebounds – that’s too low
  • 25 assist and 17 assists ( led to 13 Raptor points)

Toronto

  • Toronto shot 36-for-45 (42.4-percent) from the field
  • They hit 13-of-30 (43.3-percent) from 3-point range
  • The Raptors converted 23-of-28 free throw attempts (this was a major difference in the game)
  • Toronto grabbed 46 rebounds (14 more than the Kings)
  • The Raptors had 20 assists
  • Toronto committed just 12 turnovers that yielded only three points for the Kings

Up next for the Kings

The Kings move on to the “City of Brotherly Love” to take on the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.

Towns, Timberwolves blow out Kings 119-96

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Sacramento Kings forward Zach Randolph (5) reaches for the ball in front of Minnesota Timberwolves center Taj Gibosn (67) in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves defeated the Kings 119-96. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

By: London Marq

The explosive Minnesota Timberwolves welcomed the Sacramento Kings in a midseason tilt with plenty of young talent to go around. The Kings, who are 5-5 over their last 10 games, continue to search for rhythm and consistency. The Timberwolves, led by Karl-Anthony Towns, would prove difficult for the Kings to handle.

Slow starts have been a problematic trend for Sacramento. On the road in hostile territory, the Kings fell behind early and were outclassed by the Timberwolves stars: Towns and Jimmy Butler, whose offensive prowesses were too much for the Kings, who are inconsistent and exhibit poor defense.

The Timberwolves were in control from start to finish. All five of Minnesota’s starters scored double-digit points. Towns led all scorers with 30 points and 14 rebounds.

George Hill led the Kings in scoring with 16 points.

16 points was all the Kings could muster in the third quarter, as the Minnesota defense came out rolling in all cylinders after halftime.

The Timberwolves walked away with a 119-96 blowout win over the Kings at the Target Center.

Up Next: Kings visit the Raptors on Sunday, December 17 at 12:30 pm PST.

Kings Press Row Podcast for 12-13-17: A split at home and back on the road again

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
DSC00656
De’Aaron Fox was not afraid to go up against the veteran DeRozan (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

Host: Charlie O

  • A look back at the home games with Toronto and Phoenix

  • A look ahead at a very tough four-game road trip to Minnesota, Toronto, Philly and Brooklyn

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Buddy Hield directs the offense against the Raptors (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kings black out Suns 99-92; Sac wins two out of last three

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Sacramento Kings forward Zach Randolph, left, drives against Phoenix Suns forward TJ Warren during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. The Kings won 99-92. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By Tony Renteria

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Kings (9-18) were looking to rebound from a bad home loss against against the Toronto Raptors and got what they were looking for with a much-needed 99-92 win over the struggling Phoenix Suns (9-20) at Golden 1 Center in California’s capital.

The Kings, who have now won two of the last three games, are looking to make a move up from last place in the Pacific Division by beating the Suns, who are directly above the Kings in the standings. With tonight’s win, the Kings are now in fourth place and a game ahead of the Suns.

Kings’ George Hill made a nice return to the starting lineup with a solid stat line of 18 points with seven boards and five assists. Hill has been averaging only nine points a game, but in this return, he played a quality game in only 28 minutes. Veteran Zach Randolph, who has been playing center for the young Kings, chipped in 17 points himself.

The Suns, who are are really on a tail spin by dropping eight of their last 10 games before tonight’s loss, really need to turn things around soon if they hope to salvage this season at all.  Interim coach Jay Triano is not not helping his cause to remain at the helm of this once proud franchise with effort from his squad like tonight. The Suns were led by third player T.J. Warren, who scored 18 points, but had less than 40% shooting from the field.  He missed all four of his three point attempts against the Kings.

With the win tonight, the Kings have evened up the series this season to one game apiece with each team winning on their home floor.

The Suns head up to Canada to play the mentioned Raptors Wednesday night. while the Kings also head up north to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves on Thursday.

Another slow start sinks the Kings: Raptors win sixth straight 102-87

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

 

DSC00648
JaKarr Sampson drives to the hoop versus the Raptors (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

by Charlie O. Mallonee with Jordan Chapin

Sacramento – On Sunday afternoon, I had to keep slapping myself in the face and saying we’re not in Milwaukee anymore Toto. Still it felt like we were in Wisconsin eight nights ago when the Bucks opened the game with a 14-0 run on the Kings because the Toronto Raptors opened the game on Sunday in Sacramento with 13-0 run on Kings.

Just like they did last week in Milwaukee, the Kings made a game out of it thanks to some outstanding play by their second-unit led by the scoring of Buddy Hield and the hustle of “Two-way” signee JaKarr Sampson. Zach Randolph also continued to be the grind it out, being the blue collar leader the Kings hoped he would be by producing another double-double game.

At the end of 48-minutes of basketball, the results in Sacramento were the same as they were in Milwaukee. The Kings had to hang another “L” on their schedule board as they lost the game 102-87. The Kings record now stands at 8-18 for the season

With the victory, the Raptors improve to 17-7 for the season. They have won six consecutive games including the first two games of this four-game road trip. Toronto plays the Clippers in LA on Monday night and then face the Suns in Phoenix on Wednesday before heading back across the border.

Sacramento

Kings star of the game

DSC00655
Z-Bo settles his team during a timeout late in the game (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

Co-writer Jordan Chapin and I had a split decision on who should be the Kings star of the game.

Chapin went with Zach Randolph which is a very difficult choice to argue with in this case. The 36-year old veteran led the Kings in scoring with 19 points and in rebounds with 11. It is his fourth double-double performance of the season. Randolph also led the team in time on the floor playing almost 34-minutes.

I selected Bogdan Bogdanovic who tallied 15 points in the game shooing 5-for-10 from the floor and hitting 4-of-8 3-point attempts. He made the start in place of George Hill who was not with the team for personal reasons. Bogdanovic played almost 30-minutes and scored seven points in the first-half and eight in the second-half. The Kings “oldest rookie” also always impresses with his hustle on defense

Kings co-stars

DSC00650
Buddy Hield directs the offense against the Raptors (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

Buddy Hield was given strong consideration for star of the game. “Buddy Buckets” posted 17-points connecting on 7-of-13 field goal attempts and converting 3-of-5 tries from “downtown”. He grabbed three rebounds, had two assists and added one steal. The one downside to his game was six turnovers.

JaKarr Sampson played hard in his 19-minutes on the court. Sampson went a perfect 5-for-5 shooting including one 3-pointer. He also made four rebounds and blocked three shots. Before you get to excited about Sampson, Dave Joerger indicated in the postgame press conference that JaKarr would be headed back to Reno as soon as Willie Cauley-Stein is game-ready again. Sampson is a victim of too many players and too few playing minutes.

Also seen in limited supporting roles for the Kings

Skal Labissiere rejoined the Kings after playing one game with the Reno Bighorns. Labissiere actually made the start playing just over 14-minutes. He scored six points and pulled down six rebounds.

Justin Jackson also returned from his stint in Reno. He played just over 33-minutes scoring three-points, hauled in five rebounds and dished out three assists.

Toronto

Raptors star of the game

DeMar DeRozan made it easy to choose him as the Raptors star of the game by scoring 25-points while shooting 9-for-15 from the field. The talented guard also converted 7-of-11 attempts from the free throw line. DeRozan also handed out nine assists in his almost 35-minutes on the court.

Raptors co-starts

Serge Ibaka was a 20-point man for Toronto in the game. He shot 8-for-13 overall and sank 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Ibaka also grabbed four rebounds.

The other member of the Raptors dynamic backcourt duo Kyle Lowrie has to be given credit as well. He scored 15 points and recorded a double-double by adding 12 rebounds. He did all of that while working through a 4-for-17 shooting night. That is what you call hanging in there.

Team numbers

DSC00656
De’Aaron Fox was not afraid to go up against the veteran DeRozan (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

Sacramento

  • Turnovers 21 which resulted in 27 Raptors points. They had just 15 assists – that ratio will never be acceptable at any level of basketball
  • 42 rebounds including 7 offensive rebounds
  • Shooting: 47.9-percent overall (35-73) – 10-for-23 (43.5-percent) for 3-point field goals
  • Free throws 7-for-14: percentage is too low. The number of attempts is too low.
  • Kings biggest lead of the game: 1

Toronto

  • Shooting 39-for-87 (44.8-percent) from the floor. The Kings had a better shooting percentage but the Raptors made 14 more attempts and while making 3 additional two-pointers, 1 more three-pointer and they converted six additional free throws for the 14 points they outscored the Kings by in the game.
  • 44 rebounds – 12 on offense.
  • Raptors largest lead 15 points

Up next for the Kings

The Phoenix Suns will visit the Golden 1 Center to take on the Kings on Tuesday night. Sacramento will then head out on a four-game road trip and will not return home until December 23.

 

 

Z-Bo goes head-to-head with Boogie and leads Kings to a 116-109 OT win in NOLA

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

kingspels graphic

by Charlie O. Mallonee with Jordan Chapin

The Sacramento Kings went into the game in New Orleans on Friday night as eight to 10.5-point underdogs. FiveThirtyEight.com gave the Kings just a 15-percent chance of leaving the “Crescent City” with a win. By the end of 53-minutes of playing time in the Smoothie King Arena, everyone who picked the Pelicans to win were 100-percent wrong.

The Kings needed five extra minutes but they defeated DeMarcus Cousins and the New Orleans Pelicans 116-109 to finish their four-game road trip with a record of 2-2. Sacramento won the games in Chicago and New Orleans. They had a realistic chance to win the games they lost in Milwaukee and Cleveland. The Kings played at a higher level on this road trip.

The Kings had to fight and claw their way through the 53-minutes of playing time to stay in this game. There were 12 lead changes and the game was tied 11 times. The Pels biggest lead was 10-points and the Kings largest lead was nine-points. This contest was a “Battle Royale” from start to finish.

Z-Bo was the star of the game for the Kings

Zach Randolph
Randolph and Cousins battled each other all game long Friday night (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The 36-year old veteran center played like a man half his age on Friday night. Randolph was the Kings leading scorer with 35-points and he made it a double-double game by hauling in 13 rebounds. He shot 14-for-22 from the field and hit 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Randolph did all of that while dealing Cousins on defense during his almost 34-minutes of playing time.

Kings co-stars

kingspels buddy
Buddy Hield drives the lane in NOLA
  • Buddy Hield showed the fans in New Orleans what they lost when he was shipped to SAC for Cousins. Hield posted 18-points and grabbed seven rebounds. He shot 7-for-12 for the game and 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point line. Hield sank the 3-point basket that tied the game and sent it into overtime.
  • De’Aaron Fox played over 36-minutes in the game and scored 14-points. He was teamed up with Frank Mason down the stretch and in overtime to help lead the Kings to the victory.
  • Frank Mason came off the bench to lead the second-unit again on Friday night. The rookie out of Kansas scored 12-points, grabbed five rebounds and added three assists.
  • The Kings other “O.G” – Vince Carter – played a big role for the Kings versus the Pelicans. The 40-year old veteran played 32-plus minutes and scored six-points. He also recorded four rebounds and distributed two assists.  Carter also had two dunks ( three if you count the one at the final buzzer that was waved off that could have been the potential game winner).
  • Georgios “Papa G” Papagiannis played an important nine-plus minutes off the bench. The big man was almost a surprise contributor in this game. He came in and played “Boogie” tough while scoring six-points and hauling in three rebounds. Papa G was a perfect 3-for-3 shooting in the game.

DeMarcus was the star of the game for New Orleans

There are very few observers of the NBA who do not see DeMarcus Cousins as being the premiere center in the league. On Friday night, Boogie reminded everyone in Sacramento what they lost when he was traded to the Pelicans.

Cousins dropped in a game-high 38-points and made it a double-double game by adding 11-rebounds. The big man also had four assists and three steals.

Cousins shot 14-for-30 from the field (4-for-10 from 3-point land). He converted 6-of-7 opportunities from the charity stripe.

Love him or hate him – Cousins is an awesome talent.

Other Pelicans who contributed

  • Anthony “the Brow” Davis returned to action after missing three games. Davis played 30-minutes and scored 18-points. He went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
  • Ian Clark scored 15 points in just under 28-minutes of playing time. He shot 6-for-8 from the field.
  • Jrue Holiday added 14 points. He shot 50-percent for the game hitting 6-of-12 field goal attempts.
  • Rajon Rondo – who has been “hot” for the Pels since returning from injury was held out for rest. That decision may be questioned after this disappointing loss.

Team stats that matter

Kings

  • SAC shot 48.5-percent (47-for-97) for the game and 43.3-percent (13-for-30) from behind the 3-point line.
  • The Kings out-rebounded NOLA 46-35
  • Sacramento dished out 21 assists and turned the ball over 20 times (good for 12 Pels points).
  • The Kings made 12 steals in the game.

Pelicans

  • New Orleans posted a 46.1-field goal percentage (41-for-89). They hit 10-of-28 3-point attempts (35.7-percent).
  • The Pelicans converted 17-of-19 free throw attempts.
  • The Pels booked 19 assists and committed 17 turnovers (became 22 Kings points).

Update from Reno

Skal Labissiere scored 29-points, grabbed 17 rebounds and added seven blocks in his start for the Big Horns this week. Look for him to be in Sacramento on Sunday.

Up next

Kings (8-17)

The Kings will return to action on Sunday versus the very talented Toronto Raptors (16-7). The game has an unusual start time as it will tip-off at 12:30 pm.

Pelicans (13-13)

New Orleans wraps up a four-game homestand on Sunday when they host the 76ers.

 

 

 

 

Kings Press Row Podcast for December 6, 2017: On the road and a return home for SAC

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

press row podcast

hosts Charlie O. Mallonee & Jordan “Chapes” Chapin

  • The Kings had a very interesting finish to their time in Northern California with a win in Oakland and a loss at the Golden 1 Center to the Bucks

  • Sac Kings picked up a win in Chicago but it was a very close game that they were very fortunate to come away with the “W” in their column

  • The Kings had to face the “Greek Freak” and company last Saturday night. It was a very strange game that SAC had a chance to win after trailing 14-0 to begin the game

  • SAC came home after the game in Milwaukee on Saturday then flew back out to Cleveland on Tuesday to continue the four-game road trip

  • Now it’s time to face the King James and Boogie before coming home to face the Raptors on Sunday