Category: Sacramento Kings

Without Cousins, Kings drop fourth straight

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit Rocky Widner/Getty Images

SACRAMENTO- For most teams in the NBA, playing without your only All Star is a difficult task. Tonight, the Kings were without their All Star center DeMarcus Cousins who was suspended by the team for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

This season, Sacramento is 2-7 without Boogie and 13-40 since Cousins first joined the team back in 2010. But, the team did put themselves in a position to win.

At the half the Kings were only down by one, 50-49.

Rajon Rondo came out of the half and had a great third quarter. Rondo hit a three pointer at 6:38 to give the Kings their first lead of the game, 64-61. The Kings struggled to shoot the ball efficiently and Orlando took the lead right back in the quarter. Rondo’s 10 points and four assists in the third alone kept the Kings alive. The Magic led, 80-75, through three quarters.

The Kings fell off defensively in the fourth quarter. While the Kings defense was pretty solid through three quarters, they allowed Orlando to shoot 52.6% in the fourth. The Magic were able to go up by 14 a little less than half through the final quarter, there Kings were never able to get back into after.

The Kings cut the lead to six but with only 18 seconds in the game and no hope of a victory.

The Kings dropped their fourth straight game, 107-100, as their offense struggled, turnovers were in bunches and the team was out rebounded.

Without DeMarcus Cousins the Kings struggled to find offense.

Orlando’s fast start to the game put the Kings at an early disadvantage. The Magic came out with confidence going on a 12-0 run to start the game. The Magic out hustled the Kings throughout. 

The Kings had little ball movement, dribbled way too much and had little presence inside when they struggled. This was true for most of the game with the Kings turning the ball over 17 times leading to 24 points for Orlando.

Aaron Gordon made his return to Northern California with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Victor Oladipo totaled 18 points while Evan Fournier and Jason Smith both added 16.

Marco Belinelli had a solid game as he’s been shooting much better, 4-7 from behind the arc, scoring 17 points. Kosta Koufous also played well in Boogie’s absence with 19 points. Rondo had a good game as well with 16 points, 7-14 from the field, and 14 assists.

Minus Cousins, the Kings were dominated inside. Out rebounded 51-37 and letting the Magic score 50 points in the paint. Unfortunately, the Kings missed shots that typically fall for this team. Sacramento shot at a poor 39.8% from the field.

Right now, the Kings will look to try and finish the season off strong, but some might hope to pile up a few more losses for a better pick.

The Kings will take on Utah on Sunday at 3 p.m. at home. We’ll see how the team fares with their big man back on the court.

 

 

Cousins suspended by Kings

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

demarcus cousins sac kings bing photo

by Charlie O. Mallonee

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings have suspended center DeMarcus Cousins for one game for conduct detrimental to the team. The announcement was made by Vlade Divac, Vice President of Basket Operations for Sacramento. Cousins will sit out the game against the Orlando Magic on Friday night and forfeit his pay for that game.

The suspension was imposed because Cousins began yelling at head coach George Karl during a timeout in the game versus Cleveland on Wednesday night. In video posted by the Sacramento Bee, Cousins can be seen being very animated while sitting during the timeout. Rudy Gay and assistant coach Corliss Williamson can be seen trying to calm Cousins. Rajon Rondo then stepped in front of Cousins in order to block his view of Karl.

Reports are indicating that Cousins was upset because Karl was not doing enough to defend him with the referees in the game last night. Frankly in this reporter’s opinion, the game was not well officiated. Cousins did take a beating under the basket and did not receive obvious foul calls. However, there was not much Karl could have done to change the situation.

The officiating crew called three technical fouls including one on Cousins – his 15th “T” of the season. Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue was issued a technical and is still not sure what he did to deserve the call. This reporter could not see where Lue’s actions deserved the call from my position on press row.

This was the second time this season that Cousins reportedly yelled at his head coach. Earlier in the season, he went into a tirade aimed at Karl after a Kings loss. It was reported that Karl wanted to suspend Cousins at the time but was overruled by Divac and the front office.

Kings fall to the Cavs 120-111

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at Sacramento Kings
Photo Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Cleveland Cavaliers –  featuring “King” LeBron James – rolled into Sacramento on Wednesday to kick off a four-game West Coast swing. If you are a Cavs fan, you were very pleased with the result as Cleveland (45-18) downed the Kings 120 – 111.

The surprise may have been that James was not the star of the game. Kyrie Irving took that role as he scored 30 points shooting 11-for-22 from the floor including three 3-point baskets. Irving hit on five of six tries from the free throw line. He was literally at the right place at the right time for the Cavs for the entire game.

It was a hard fought contest that featured eight lead changes and eight ties. The Kings led at halftime 60 – 54. Then came the third quarter and one of the Kings dreaded “black holes”.

Cleveland outscored the Kings 35 – 24 in the third period. The Cavs shot 13-for-20 from the floor and hit on five of eight 3-point attempts. They out rebounded the Kings 11 – 7. The quarter ended with Cleveland leading 89 – 84 and they would never look back.

The Kings (25-38) put up a good fight in the fourth quarter and cut the Cleveland lead to three points with 2:37 remaining in the game. The Cavs used their offensive rebounding ability to get second and third chance shots to run away with the game.

Kings

The Kings were led by DeMarcus Cousins’ 29 points. The Kings big man had to fight for those points as he shot just 8-for-22 from the floor. He struggled from the free throw line going 12-for-18 from the stripe. Cousins missed the front end of a two shot opportunity from line five times in the second half. It was another double-double game for Cousins as he pulled down 11 rebounds.

Rudy Gay had a good night for Sacramento scoring 19 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assist in 41-minutes of playing time.

Darren Collison started in the place of the injured Ben McLemore and scored 15 points. Collison alternated with Rondo on the point and distributed eight assists and added two steals.

Rajon Rondo did not have a great night for the Kings. He scored 11 points and had six assists but seemed frustrated all night long by the defense of Irving and JR Smith.

Omri Casspi scored 13 points while Caron Butler added seven, Kosta Koufos five and Willie Cauley-Stein four points.

Sacramento shot 47.6-percent (40-for-84) from the field and hit eight of 22 (36.4-percent) of their 3-point shots. The Kings struggled from the free throw line making just 23 of 32 opportunities (71.9-percent) from the charity line.

The Kings were out rebounded 51 – 38. They gave up 15 offensive rebounds to the Cavs. That is just too many second-chance opportunities to give a team as powerful as Cleveland.

Turnovers were not a problem for Sacramento. The Kings gave up just six points off 10 turnovers in the game.

Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving had plenty of help on his way to a 30 – point night. All five of the Cleveland starters finished in double digits.

James scored 25 points. Tristan Thompson – who started for the ill Timofey Mazgov – put up 18 points and added 15 rebounds. Kevin Love scored 17 points despite shooting just 4-for-13 from the floor. JR Smith added 15 points.

The Cavs shot 43.3-percent (39-for-90) for the game. They went 13-for-44 from beyond the 3-point line. Cleveland took advantage of their opportunities from the free throw line converting 29 of 35 opportunities.

The Cavaliers turned the ball over 14 times which resulted in nine points for the Kings.

What they said after the game

“We play good teams. We do a lot of good things for extended periods of time then we hit a black hole or it seems like we run short,” said Kings head coach George Karl. “They didn’t miss a lot of shots, even in the fourth quarter, but it was the offensive rebounds, scramble situations where we didn’t come up for the loose balls. It’s kind of frustrating. We’re playing pretty damn good basketball at times; (we) just don’t have that edge or that finishing way of winning a game against them.”

“Well coming into the game we said we want to play with pace but we know this team plays at a great pace,” said Cleveland head man Tyronn Lue. “Number one in pace. I think second in fast break points so we don’t want to get out there and get wild. I think the team kind of misunderstood what I was saying so in the third quarter we want to play at our pace. We want to attack downhill. We want to get easy open three’s. We want to get to the basket. If we don’t have it, then pull it out and run something. I thought in that third quarter they scored but we were able to score also. We scored fast.”

Up next

The Kings will practice on Thursday and return to action on Friday night when they host the Orlando Magic in Sacramento.

Cleveland travels to Los Angeles where they will face the Lakers on Thursday night. That will be the second game of the doubleheader on TNT.

 

Sacramento Kings podcast and commentary with Charlie O: Kings need to keep Rondo in a multi year deal

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by Charlie O Mallonee

photo credit:basket4us.com–Sacramento Kings Rondo Rajon will he be back in a Kings uniform next season?

SACRAMENTO–I wasn’t that definitive last week because I wanted to see what was going to happen for the Sacramento Kings chances in getting a shot at a playoff spot. This last road trip they didn’t have a complete disaster they did pick up one brilliant win over Dallas where they played a complete game on offense and defense against a very respectable team the Mavericks. The loss in Memphis where that could have been a win, the loss in San Antonio without three starters in the line up.

Its understandable that the number six or ten guys on the Spurs roster might well be on the starting five of a team that’s of lesser talent. When you got three starters out on the Kings and then last night’s debacle in New Orleans and from the stand point of being an NBA fan that was a wild game last night with the Kings just losing by three points 115-112.

Also the Kings Rajon Rondo has been great for the Kings, he helped out the younger players, he’s been great in the clubhouse for his teammates, he’s been performing doing all the things the Kings have asked him to do, head coach George Karl is happy with his experience and leadership, he’s good enough to be team captain, he’s been good for DeMarcus Cousins, and the Kings should consider giving him a multi year deal and keeping him in Sacramento and look out the New York Knicks Carmelo Anthony said that Rondo would be perfect for the Knicks. The Kings shouldn’t let Rondo get away.

Listen to the rest of Charlie O’s Kings podcast below right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Turnovers cost Kings in New Orleans

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit USATSI

SACRAMENTO-I’m just as confused as the next person who watched tonight’s game against the Pelicans. The Kings looked dominate early on and played great basketball, however the team could not find a way to close out.

Turnovers and lackluster defense hurt this team especially down the stretch. After leading for the majority of the game, the Kings let a 17 point lead in the third quarter completely vanish. And while the Kings kept holding onto their lead, they let the Pelicans come back late and win the game, 115-112.

Out of the gate, both teams scored very quickly. Offense came in a hurry and the Kings started with a fast paced tempo. This allowed Sacramento to take the lead for most of the quarter, but the Pelicans never quit.

Up 27-20 with 3:35 left in the first quarter, the Kings allowed New Orleans to go for a 10-0 run that ended after Omri Casspi put back a lay up for the Kings’ first field goal in two plus minutes.. The Pelicans held a 30-29 lead, but Casspi knocked a pair of free throws to regain the lead. The Pelicans would finish the quarter with the lead after Alonzo Gee made a layup and was fouled with .3 seconds in the quarter. Gee made the free throw to put the Kings at a disadvantage after one, 33-31.

DeMarcus Cousins and Norris Cole put on a scoring frenzy for their respective teams. Cousins finished with 13 points and Cole scored 14 for team highs. The Pelicans shot 56% from the field, but their seven turnovers allowed the Kings to keep it close. Rajon Rondo added five points and five assists with Rudy Gay scoring seven.

The second consisted of a lot of scoring runs. New Orleans started it off with a 6-0 run, 9-0 continuing from the first quarter. But the Kings were able to hit a 9-0 run of their own. Again, the Pelicans scored 5 straight to take a 44-40 lead.

Sacramento once again answered with an 11-0 run to lead 51-44. Jrue Holiday stopped the run with a lay up but the Kings kept their scoring up. The Pelicans turnovers really cost them. Their 15 first half turnovers led to 18 Kings’ points. The Kings largest lead in the quarter was 15 and Sacramento would hold a 63-50 lead heading into the locker room.

Cousins held a game high with 23 points in the first quarter and tallied nine rebounds. The Kings shot at 54.2% in the half as they dominate the second quarter with their uptempo offense.

The third quarter is where things changed. Pelicans’ head coach Alvin Gentry picked up a technical before the third started. Gay hit the free throw for a 14 point lead before any time came off the clock.

Anthony Davis was dominate and chipped away at the Kings’ early 17 point lead. Davis kept the Pelicans right in the game in the third and the score was 89-83 after three. Cousins was once again phenomenal but Sacramento had seven turnovers in the third, which led to eight Pelicans’ points. The turnovers allowed the Pelicans to hang around even after the Kings had been up by so much.

The Pelicans started the final quarter with a 6-0 run to tie it up at 89. The Kings answered right back with an 8-0 run to go back up, 97-89. Sacramento was unable to figure out a way to close out the resilient Pelicans. The turnovers cost Sacramento again as they gave the ball away seven more times in the fourth quarter.

Holiday was huge for the Pelicans with nine fourth quarter points. With a little under two and a half to play, the Kings had a 108-106 lead. Cousins knocked down a pair of shots at the charity stripe to go up 110-106. Davis had dunk to keep the game within two.

With a under a minute remaining, the Pelicans had the ball. The Kings left Dante Cunningham wide open for a three and the forward nailed the jumper. The Pelicans took the lead 111-110. Holiday came up big as he knocked down a shot after a Sacramento miss to put the lead up to three.

Out of the timeout with 12.8 to go, Gay was able to score a quick two. Cole was then fouled and made both free throws. Darren Collison rushed to bring the ball up court and lost it to Holiday who let time expire.

Cousins was his usual self, scoring 40 points and grabbing 16 boards. Rondo had a nice game with 18 points, 10 assists but the point guard had five turnovers. Gay added a double double as well with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Kings shot the ball at a great 49.4 shooting percentage from the field but 24 total turnovers led to 22 points for New Orleans. Davis had 31 points and 10 rebounds. The backcourt duo of Cole and Holiday was key to the Pelicans success. Cole totaled 23 points and Holiday scored 20 while adding 10 assists for the double double.

After looking to have a sure win, the Kings will need to regroup and figure out how to close out games. This is the Kings’ second consecutive loss after losing to San Antonio on Saturday.

The Kings will take on the LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. at Arco Arena.

Kings come up short in San Antonio 104-94

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Sacramento Kings at San Antonio Spurs
Photo Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

George Karl has talked all season about the tendency of his Sacramento Kings (25-36) to fall into “black holes” and lose games because of it. A black hole to Karl is a loss of momentum that continues for seven to eight possessions allowing the opponents to go on a scoring run that the Kings ultimately cannot overcome.

The Kings played well in the first half against the Spurs (53-9) trailing by just three points at halftime, 57-54. As the third quarter began, Sacramento fell into a proverbial “black hole” and allowed San Antonio to go on a 12-0 run led by Kawhi Leonard’s nine points in the opening minutes of the period. The Spurs would outscore the Kings 29-13 in the third and would go on to win the game 104-94.

As the game began, it appeared the Kings had drawn the lucky straw. Spurs head coach Greg Popovich had decided to rest Tim Duncan and Danny Green. A third San Antonio starter – LaMarcus Aldridge – was unable to answer the bell due to a migraine headache. A situation that should have been advantage Kings was negated by the outstanding play of Leonard and Manu Ginobili who returned to the team after missing 12 games due to surgery.

Kings

Sacramento was led by DeMarcus Cousins who scored 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Cousins shot 50.0-percent (10-for-20) from the floor and hit on 10 of 15 free throw attempts.

Quincy Acy had a monster game starting at forward for the Kings. Acy – who is known more for his defense that his offense – scored 16 points for his team. Acy was a perfect 7-for-7 including two 3-pointers from the field.

Rajon Rondo had a quiet night scoring nine points, recording just one rebound and dishing out eight assists.

Darren Collison continues play well off the bench adding 12 points, seven assists and three rebounds.

Marco Belinelli – who had two strong outings heading in San Antonio – had a tough night versus his old team. Belinelli scored seven points going just 3-for-11 from floor.

Rudy Gay scored nine points, Ben McLemore (3), Omri Casspi (6) and Willie Cauley-Stein (1). Kosta Koufos was not available due to a case of food poisoning.

Sacramento shot 45.7-percent (37-for-81) and hit on six of 16 (37.5-percent) from 3-point land. The Kings struggled from the free throw line going just 14-for-21 (66.7-percent) at the stripe.

The Spurs out-rebounded the Kings 46-33.

Spurs

MVP-candidate Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 25 points despite going just 9-for-24 from the floor. Leonard made it a double-double game by hauling in 13 rebounds.

Manu Ginobili played just 15 minutes in his return to play but he scored 22 points in that limited playing time. Ginobili shot 8-for-12 from the floor and went a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

The Spurs shot 49.4-percent (40-for-81) from the field. They were just 8-for-23 (34.8-percent) from beyond the 3-point line. San Antonio shot an impressive 84.2-percent (16-for-19) from the charity stripe.

The victory lifted the Spurs record to 30-0 at home for the season.

Up next

The Kings will wrap up their four-game road trip on Monday night in New Orleans. The Kings are 0-2 versus the Pelicans this season. Sacramento desperately wants to finish 2-2 on this road trip to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. They will have to play better against Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson than they have so far this season if they want to post a win in “the Big Easy”.

 

 

Sacramento Kings Thursday night game wrap up: Kings end four game skid in Dallas, win 104-101

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit Ronda Churchill/AP

Wednesday night in Dallas was an important match up for the Sacramento Kings. The team headed into the night on a four gaming losing streak and a 22 game losing streak on the Mavs’ home court. Overall, the Kings put in a tremendous team effort and were able to defeat the Western Conference’s sixth seed, Dallas Mavericks, 104-101.

Rudy Gay was in the starting line up for the Kings who played tough against Dallas in the first quarter. The Kings’ only flaw was five turnovers but they did a great job of rebounding and passing the ball. Rajon Rondo had four of the Kings’ eight assists in the quarter as he headed back to Dallas.

Sacramento struggled with the three ball to start the game, 0-7, but managed to stay in it. Nobody on the Kings scored more than four points and the Mavs got a nice first quarter out of David Lee. After one, the Mavs led Sacramento, 24-19.

The Kings played an even better second quarter. Marco Belinelli came alive with eight points to start the quarter for the Kings, who would go on an 11-4 run. Sacramento moved the ball extremely well throughout the half, but best of all they played great defense. The Kings did not allow the Mavs to get inside and forced Dallas to shoot out on the perimeter, who shot 1-11 from beyond the arc at the half.

At the half, the Kings held a 50-45 and shot well in the half. The team did a better job with the ball, only one turnover in the second quarter. DeMarcus Cousins and Rondo had a team high with eight points apiece with Rondo adding seven assists.

The Kings did much of the same in the third quarter as the second.

The Kings kept the momentum from the second quarter.With 7:38 remaining,  Ben McLemore  had a fast break jam causing a timeout by Dallas with the Kings up 60-55. Out of the timeout, Sacramento went on another run, 7-2, which finished with a sweet McLemore crossover who nailed a three off the dribble. Dallas was forced to call another timeout. The Mavs did answer back with eight straight points of their own

The third was a very clean half four both teams and Chandler Parson kept finding a way to score for the Mavs. Through three, Sacramento was able to shoot over 50% from the field and hold their lead, 73-69. The quarter was pretty even and both teams had 46 points in the paint. The Kings defense was still very solid, however.

In the fourth, the Kings went on another run, 7-2, to start the quarter off. The run would become an 11-2 run in a little less than four minutes. Belinelli was once again clutch for the Kings as he hit a three to put Sacramento up, 89-76, as Dallas took another time out.

The Mavs were able to make a push and after being down by 14 at one point, were only down by five with a little over a minute left to play. Unfortunately, the Kings could not make a free throw to save their life. At the 35 second mark, Cousins was fouled and missed both free throws. Darren Collison was fouled 12 second later and went one for two at the charity stripe to lead 102-97. Dirk Nowitzki scored very quickly to cut the lead to three.

Belinelli was fouled and missed both free throws. On the second miss, the Kings fought for the rebound and the ball squirted out. Both teams scrambled for the loose ball and Collison came up with it and fouled.

Collison finally put down two free throws for the Kings to go up 104-99 with four ticks remaining. Nowitzki was able to put in a late lay-up for a final score 104-101.

Many Kings player had great games. Cousins finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Rondo notched 18 points and tallied 12 assists.

Off the bench, Collison had 14 points and Belinelli added 16. Belinelli appears to be coming out of his season slump and was a huge spark for Sacramento. The Kings shot the ball extremely well shooting at 52.5% although their three pointers were mostly off. Parson finished with 28 points in the game but the Kings defense was able to hold on and they closed out a fourth quarter for the victory.

The Kings are now 25-35 and will head to San Antonio on Saturday. The team faces off against the Spurs, who clinched their 19th consecutive playoff berth in their last game. Tipoff starts at 5 p.m. as the Kings look to redeem a loss to San Antonio from a couple weeks ago.

Sacramento Kings Wednesday night game wrap up: Kings Lose in Memphis

Published on by tonyrenteriaLeave a comment

by Tony Renteria

photo credit: sportal.com.au–The Sacramento Kings DeMarcus Cousins led all scorers with 18 points and 16 rebounds on Wednesday night

The Sacramento Kings headed to Memphis to play the Grizzles and fell 104-98 on a Wednesday night.   The Kings had been on a slight roll but recent loses have pushed backed their hopes for a playoff berth.

DeMarcus Cousins has been consistently putting up great numbers as he scored 18 points and grabbed a game high 16 rebounds.  Cousins has been the rock on the Kings offense.  As the Kings have used the up scale and full speed offense they have helped Cousins score points but have they really helped the best big man in the league shine.

Having Cousins run up and down the court at a high paced speed might have countered what could be his best asset, putting his back to the basket and intimidating opponents  down low.

The Grizzles were lead by Mike Conley and his 24 points.   Conley also led the his team with Five assists.

 

 

Next 5 games pivotal for the Kings

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

memphis - kings

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The dim light you can see in the west is the Kings playoff hopes setting on the horizon. Sacramento is currently in tenth place in the NBA Western Conference Playoff standings. They are four games behind Houston who is in the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Kings have lost three consecutive games at home to San Antonio, the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City – all playoff teams. The Kings inability to create home court advantage has been devastating to their playoff hopes.

In his postgame press conference on Monday night, Kings head coach George Karl pointed out that his team has been playing some of its best basketball on the road. When he made that statement, it sounded like Karl was trying to convince himself that there is still hope for his team to make the postseason.

The team will need to play great basketball if they are to survive this four-game road trip. The Kings will play in Memphis, Dallas, San Antonio and New Orleans.

The Kings are a combined 1-7 versus the four teams this season. Their only win came over Dallas in Sacramento back on November 30th.

To make matters worse, the Kings will come home after the four road games to host “King James” and the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 9th.

The best scenario for the Kings would be to finish the road trip 2-2 for the four games. The Memphis and New Orleans contests should be winnable games for the team.

Memphis is without Marc Gasol who is out for the season due to a fractured foot. Even without Gasol, the Grizzlies are going to be a playoff team. They are currently 35-24 on the season and are in fifth place in the Western Conference. Sacramento will have to start fast and finish strong to beat Memphis.

A win in Dallas is going to be tough for the Kings. The game is second game of a back-to-back for the team. Sacramento is 2-12 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.

The Spurs are on a five game winning streak and have lost only nine for the season. The best the Kings can hope for is to have San Antonio rest one or two of their starters to give Sacramento a fighting chance.

That brings us to the final game of the road trip in New Orleans. There is no reason for the Kings not to come away with victory from the Crescent City. The Pelicans are 23-35 on the year and in 11th place in the West. The Kings will need to play some top-notch perimeter defense to shutdown Ryan Anderson – the 3-point making machine that killed them on their last visit to NOLA.

In order to make the playoffs, it is going to take 37 to 41 wins. Looking a best case scenario of 37 wins being the magic number – the Kings need post a 13-11 record over the final 24 games. To say that is a tall order is to make an understatement about the Kings chances.

The next five games will make or break the Kings chances of making the playoffs. The Kings schedule will get easier later in March but later will be to late to make a playoff run.

 

 

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings hit the road for four games in crucial last bid for a post season spot

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On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O the Kings are hanging on by a thread in their playoff hopes. They are 2-3 in their last five games and that hasn’t helped them. We talked about this when they got into this five game stretch and they had two games with Denver one at home and one on the road. The Kings really hoped to see that they could win both of those games knowing how their playing on the road in Denver is so difficult.

They did it and pulled it off and they won both of those games and what we talked about it and what the Kings needed to do is to steal one of those big games at home. The Kings had San Antonio, LA Clippers and then Oklahoma City. The problem was they weren’t able to steal one of those games. That became a real problem and in none of those games they got all that close to winning one of those games. If they can come out of there 3-2 in a five game stretch they would be in much better position. The Kings are on a four game road trip which starts on Wednesday in Memphis then Thursday in Dallas, Saturday in San Antonio, and Monday the 7th in New Orleans.

Charlie O is a beat writer covering the Sacramento Kings and does the Kings podcast each week right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: Sacramento Bee–The Sacramento Kings DeMarcus Cousins holds back from what would be a sure suspension if he fired on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Steven Adams