Category: Sacramento Kings

Short-handed Kings battle, but fall to Trail Blazers 127-116

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Photo credit: @trailblazers

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings were coming off a tough loss to the Chicago Bulls. They arrived at the Moda Center to play the Portland Trail Blazers, who have struggled this year coming off a tough double-digit loss to the Clippers the night before. Both the Kings and the Blazers are banged up with starters and role players hurt. Namely, the Kings started the game having declared Bogdan Bogdanovic out with a knee contusion. So, the Kings needed big contributions from Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, and Richaun Holmes to compete with the Blazers.

In the first quarter, it was a tale of two stories. In the first six minutes, the Kings looked like a team lost in the Pacific Northwest as the Blazers jumped to an early 24-16 lead. From there, the Kings looked a different team. Struggling guard Buddy Hield started making shots and the Kings took off to finish the quarter up 35-30. Buddy finished the quarter with 14 points to lead the Kings.

In the second quarter, both teams continued their torrid pace. Thanks to both teams continuing to get the ball up and down the court, the game turned into a shootout. Buddy Hield and Richaun Holmes led the Kings on the offensive end scoring 17 and 11, respectively, in the first half. For Portland, a major portion of the offense was scored by CJ McCollum, who had 23 points while shooting better than 75% from the field. Headed into halftime, the Kings trailed the Blazers 66-64.

The first half treated fans to a shootout. In the third quarter, both teams continued to put up points. Kings center Richaun Holmes had a great quarter in which he scored 10 points. Buddy Hield and Nemenja Bjelica also continued to score to keep the Kings close. However, the Blazers were able to hit a few more shots and led the Kings 95-100 going into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Kings hoped to turn what had been a shootout into a win. If they hoped to accomplish this, they needed to tighten up their play on the defensive end and continue to hit shots on offense. Unfortunately, the Kings fell victim to what the NBA knows as “Dame Time” as Damian Lillard played extremely well in the fourth and made a series of difficult shots to lead the Blazers to a 127-116 victory. CJ McCollum led all scorers with 33 points and Richaun Holmes led the Kings with 28 points and 10 boards. The Kings fell to 8-12 on the season as the Blazers improved to 9-13.

The Blazers stay home to face the LA Lakers on Friday evening at 7:30 pm PST.

The Kings continue the road trip with a three-city Texas swing that starts in San Antonio on Friday evening at 7:30 pm CST.

Headline Sports with Barbara Mason: Warriors drop their third straight 104-79; Raiders at their lowest point; plus more

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On Headline Sports with Barbara:

#1 The Atlanta Hawks handled the Golden State Warriors 104-79 loss Eric Paschall lead all Warriors scorers with 24 points on Monday night. The Warriors’ Draymond Green didn’t play.

#2 Have the Oakland Raiders sank to their lowest point of the season losing huge to the Kansas Chiefs 40-9 on Sunday for their second straight loss?

#3 The San Francisco 49ers saw Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker kick a winning field goal to end the game Sunday in 20-17 loss for San Francisco.

#4 Last Saturday, the Sacramento Kings came back from a long four city road trip going 1-3. On Saturday they defeated the Denver Nuggets 100-97. The Kings lost to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night 113-106.

#5 The Cal Bears insured themselves a bowl spot after their victory over the UCLA Bruins 28-18. Cal quarterback Chase Garbers went 17-29 for 230 yards.

Headline Sports can be heard with Barbara each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings getting consistent scoring from Barnes and Hield

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Photo credit: aroyalpain.com

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings came back after a four-game road trip to defeat the Denver Nuggets on Saturday 100-97 and then played the Chicago Bulls on Monday night and lost it 113-106.

#2 Talk about the recent consistent scoring from the Kings’ Harrison Barnes.

#3 Buddy Hield has come into his own, consistently scoring in the Kings’ top three.

#4 Talk about the Kings defense. For example in their game against the Denver Nuggets last Saturday, they held them to just seven points in the fourth quarter and they closed in on the Bulls on Monday night.

#5 The Kings head to Portland to face the Blazers on Wednesday. Talk a little about what’s in store for the Kings.

Join Charlie O for the Kings basketball podcasts Tuesday nights at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings suffer frustrating loss to the Bulls, 113-106, when their comeback falls short

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By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–The rope-a-dope strategy employed by the Kings that shocked the Nuggets on Saturday didn’t translate on Monday against the visiting Chicago Bulls.

The Kings again spotted their opponent a sizeable lead, but this time the comeback fell short. Behind 28 points from Laurie Markkanen, and 20 from Zach LaVine, the Bulls survived Sacramento’s fourth quarter rally to win 113-106.

The Kings failed to climb within one game of .500, falling to 8-11 on the season. The loss also dropped the Kings a game behind the Suns–who won in Charlotte Monday–for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Kings had won 8 of 13 coming in, including their unquestioned best win of the season to date over the Northwest Division-leading Nuggets, in which they trailed by 17 at the half, only to rally for an overtime win, 100-97. Against the Bulls, the Kings trailed by 11 at the half, and 10 after three, but could get no closer than 102-100 with 2:18 remaining.

Buddy Hield led the Kings with 26 points, despite missing 10 of his 13 3-point attempts. Afterwards, he pointed to the Kings’ slow start as the reason for the loss.

“When you give a team confidence, they come back and bite you quick,” Hield said of the Bulls, who had lost both of their previous stops on their current road trip, and seven of nine.

After a fast start, things unraveled for the Kings in the second quarter, when the Bulls surged to a double-digit lead behind their five reserves that saw action.

Rookie Coby White, Ryan Arcidiacono, Thaddeus Young and Denzel Valentine each hit a 3-pointer, and along with center Daniel Gafford combined to shoot 8 for 15 from the field. Meanwhile, the Kings’ reserves committed seven turnovers as the home team fell behind by as much as 16 points, 47-31 with 3:20 remaining before the break.

Hield and Harrison Barnes combined to miss 11 of their 15 shots attempts in the first half, as Sacramento was again without Marvin Bagley III, De’Aaron Fox and Harry Giles.

Bogdan Bodanovic, the Kings’ spark off the bench, admitted afterwards that his balky, left hamstring has forced coach Luke Walton to put him on a minutes restriction where he’s limited to five minutes on the floor in any stretch. Since missing the Kings’ road game in Brooklyn on November 22, Bogdanovic has logged fewer than 30 minutes a game, and failed to make at least half of his shots from the floor. On Monday, Bogdanovic finished with 11 points, on 4 of 9 shooting.

For the Bulls, the win marked the first time this season their two, young stars, LaVine and Markkanen have each reached 20 points in a game.

“We’re still encouraging him,” LaVine said of Markkanen. “He had a great game. He needs to play that way all the time.”

The Kings start a four-game road trip in Portland on Wednesday with stops in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston after that. The Kings are in the midst of a stretch where they play 12 of 16 games outside of Sacramento.

Kings come back to beat Denver 100-97 in OT

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — Saturday marked the return home for the Sacramento Kings after a long road trip. The trip took the Kings through the cities of New York, Washington D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia. It was a tough trip for the Kings who went 1-3 beating the Washington Wizards. The Kings were looking to continue their climb back to .500 against a formidable opponent in the Denver Nuggets on Saturday afternoon. The tip-off was set for 2 PM PST.

In the first quarter, the Kings struggled early. No one on the Kings could seem to hit a shot and Denver began knocking down their’s after struggling in the opening minutes as well. With 2:00 minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Kings were already down 27-13. The rest of the quarter the Kings were able to put up a few more points to cut the deficit to 27-17 going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Yogi Ferrell ran the point, the Kings offense seemed to show life in the early minutes for the second. In the opening 2 minutes of time, the Kings managed to cut the lead to 5 points. However, the Nuggets starting piling on again after that. The Nuggets would put up a total of 57 first-half points compared to the Kings’ 40. This obviously wasn’t what Luke Walton and Co. planned for the first half. The King’s fans let out a subtle chorus of boos as the team headed into the locker room. Garry Harris led all scorers in the first half putting up 20 points. The leading scorer for the Kings was Harrison Barnes, who had 8 points for the Kings. If the Kings hoped to come back they needed to shoot better. Specifically, be better from long range.

In the third quarter, the Kings played better than they had all game. That’s not to say there wasn’t room for improvement. The Kings outscored the Nuggets 27-18, which was a marked improvement on both ends of the floor. Led by Harrison Barnes (12 points in the 3rd), the Kings managed to cut the deficit 67-75. The Kings would need to make a big ground in the fourth quarter to have a chance.

In the fourth quarter, the Kings still struggled to hit open shots. Namely, Buddy Hield really struggled. Buddy had a considerable number of open shots that he was unable to knockdown. Regardless of the shooting struggles, the Kings managed to hang tough. With 3:20 left in the game, the score was 87-80 and the Kings had a chance to execute. The Kings managed to do just that. The Kings were able to come back and tie the game with a Buddy Hield layup with 22.9 seconds left. The Kings then got the defense stop with a Rashaan Holmes block and it sent the Kings to overtime. In overtime, the Kings and Nuggets would battle and trade baskets. The game would come down to the final 14 seconds with the score 98 to 97 Kings up. Buddy Hield would be fouled on the inbound and make both his free throws. From there, the Kings got a stop and would go on to win 100-97.

The Kings stay home to host the Chicago Bulls on Monday at 7 PM PST.

Embiid goes off as the Sixers beat the Kings 97-91

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Sixers B
Photo: @Philadelphia 76ers

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings wrapped up their four-game road trip in Philadelphia on Wednesday on a “low note”. The 76ers Joel Embiid exploded for a game-high 33 points and 16 rebounds to lead his team to a 97-91 victory.

Embiid really was in need of a good game after being held scoreless in his team’s loss to the Raptors on Monday night. Embiid said he didn’t feel any pressure to have a “statement game”, but he was happy his team came away with the “W”.

3rd Quarter letdown

After trailing by just one point at halftime, the Kings put themselves in a great position to steal this game on the road. After starting a bit slow in the third period, Sacramento came alive and kept the score close until midway through the quarter.

The Kings went into a 3:04 scoring drought at the end of the third quarter which allowed the Sixers to outscore them 29-19. Philly led 76-65 after 36 minutes of play and the Kings would never be able to catch up.

SAC outscored the 76ers in the final quarter but it was too little too late. The Sixers (12-6) won the game 97-91.

Spotlight on the Kings

Looking at the final box score there is one glaring stat that jumps off the page. The Kings (7-10) went to the free throw line only nine times on Wednesday night and converted just four of those opportunities. An NBA team is not going to win a game going to the charity stripe just nine times.

To give you a comparison, the 76ers went to the line 24 times in the game – a very acceptable number. They went 20-for-24 (83.3%) from the stripe which helped them to win the game.

Ironically, the Kings outscored the Sixers in the paint 40-38 even though they were facing Embiid, Al Horford and Tobias Harris.

The biggest lead for Sacramento in the game for SAC was one point. The 76ers held a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Kings also had a tough night from “downtown”. They shot just 9-for-34 (26.5%) from beyond the 3-point line.

Sacramento scoring:

  • Buddy Hield was the team’s high scorer putting 22 points in the book. He had a tough night shooting going 9-for-24 overall and 3-for-12 from 3-point land.
  • Dewayne Dedmon came off the bench to put up 18 points and grab six rebounds.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 points hitting 7 of 15 shots.
  • Harrison Barnes scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Focus on the Sixers

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Embiid had a big game @ Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers blocked 10 Kings shots in the game while SAC blocked just three of the Sixers shots.

Philly scoring:

  • Matisse Thybulle came off the bench to score 15 points. He went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and hit 3 of 3 from behind the 3-point line.
  • Forward Tobias Harris scored 14 points.
  • The veteran Al Horford scored 12 points and hauled in seven rebounds.
  • Point guard Ben Simmons recorded a double-double putting up 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Up next

The Kings return home and will host the Denver Nuggets on Saturday afternoon at the Golden 1 Center.

The Sixers will face the Knicks on Friday night at the Garden.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings winners 7 of 11, lose to Celtics by one

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Photo credit: goldengatesports.com

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings lost a close battle with the Celtics 103-102 in Boston Monday night. Ironically, the same score the Kings beat the Celtics by in Sacramento.

#2 Bubby Hield gave it all he got this time scoring 41 points, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Celtics.

#3 Harrison Barnes whose had a hot hand of late scored 20.

#4 The score was close in the fourth quarter the Celts were just a little better 28-27 in a real razor-close quarter.

#5 The Kings get Tuesday off and face the 76ers in Philadelphia Wednesday night.

Sacramento Kings podcasts are heard each Tuesday with Charlie O at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

So close yet so far – the Kings lose to Boston 103-102

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
BOS 3
TD Boston Gardens @ SacramentoKings

By Charlie O. Mallonee

If the Sacramento Kings (7-9) had emailed their performance in on Monday night versus the Boston Celtics (12-4), no one would have criticized them. They were facing the Celtics on the second night of a back-to-back on the road after winning a very tough game over the Washington Wizards on Sunday.

The Kings didn’t just sleepwalk through the game on Monday night. They came out looking for a win which would mean they would sweep the season series with the mighty Celtics. In the end, the Kings would come up one point short, but they put themselves in a position to win the game.

Luke Walton was not unhappy with his team

Luke Walton said in his postgame comments that all you can ask of your team in the second game of a back-to-back on the road is to put themselves in a position to win the game at the end of the fourth quarter. Walton said his team did that but came up just short.

With 5.7 seconds to go in the game, Cory Joseph inbounded the ball to Bogdan Bogdanovic. “Bogi” put up a 3-point shot with 3.0-seconds remaining. The ball hit the back of the rim and one of the Kings in the lane put the rebound back up, but it went over the backboard. Time expired and Boston won the game 103-102.

Record-setting night for Buddy Hield

BOS 1
Graphic @SacramentoKings

“Buddy Love” set a franchise record by sinking 11 three-point buckets on Monday night. The previous record was held by Mike Bibby who connected on nine 3-point shots on March 25, 2007, versus Phoenix.

Hield also set a personal record by scoring 41 points in the game. He shot 15-for-26 from the floor and went 11-for-21 from downtown. Hield also had five rebounds and two assists.

Spotlight on the Kings

This game featured 22 lead changes and seven ties. The Kings held the largest lead of the game – 11 points in the second quarter. The Celtics built up a 53-46 lead at halftime. After the game, Luke Walton felt his team’s play in the final six minutes of the first half is where they lost the game.

Individual scoring:

  • Harrison Barnes put 20 points in the scorebook. He went 7-for-10 from the free throw line.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic added 13 points but had a tough night shooting. He went 5-for-20 from the field and 2-for-13 from 3-point land. “Bogi” did dish out eight assists.
  • No other player on the Kings scored in double figures.

Team numbers:

  • Sacramento hit 37 of 78 (46.8%) shots from the floor in Boston.
  • The Kings went 18-for-47 (38.3%) from behind the 3-point arc.
  • This was the Kings downfall: they only went to the free throw line 15 times. They converted 10 of those opportunities, but that number of attempts should have been at least 25. Sacramento could have won the game at the charity stripe.
  • The Kings were destroyed in the paint. The Celtics outscored Sacramento 50-26 down low in the game. That just can not happen.

Focus on Boston

Four of the five Celtics starters scored in double figures:

  • Jaylen Brown scored a team-high 24 points.
  • Jayson Tatum put up 20 points shooting 7-for-18 from the floor.
  • Enes Kanter added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Team stats

  • The Celtics hit 20 of 23 (87.0%) attempts from the free throw line. That was the key to their victory.
  • Boston shot 44.7% (38/85) from the floor.
  • The Celts hit just 7 of 30 (23.3%) from downtown.

Up next

The Kings wrap up their four-game road trip on Wednesday in Philly versus the 76ers.

Boston hosts the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night before they sit down to turkey dinner.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings winners 7 of 11, lose to Celtics by one

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Photo credit: goldengatesports.com

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings lost a close battle with the Celtics 103-102 in Boston Monday night ironically the same score the Kings beat the Celtics by in Sacramento

#2 Bubby Hield gave it all he got this time scoring 41 points but it wasn’t enough to beat the Celts.

#3 Harrison Barnes whose had a hot hand of late scored 20.

#4 The score was close in the fourth quarter the Celts were just a little better 28-27 in a real razor close quarter

#5 The Kings get Tuesday off and face the 76ers in Philadelphia Wednesday night

Sacramento Kings podcasts are heard each Tuesday with Charlie O at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Kings win on the road, beat the Wizards 113-106

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
wiz 112419
Graphic: @SacramentoKings

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings (7-8) jumped back into the win column on Sunday afternoon by defeating the Washington Wizards 113-106 in game two of their four-game road trip. The victory did not come easy, but the Kings never let their concentration wavier which allowed them to win the game.

Sacramento outscored Washington (5-9) in three of the four quarters. They also avoided the dreaded “third quarter letdown”. The Kings outscored the Wizards 33-30 in the third quarter, and then, they outscored the Wizards 33-28 in the fourth quarter. That is another major step forward for the Kings.

Kings starters carried the day

The Sacramento starting five scored 79 of the teams 113 total points. Harrison Barnes scored a game-high 26 points. Richaun Holmes recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Buddy Hield put 18 points in the book. He shot 4-for-14 from the field with 3 of his field goals coming from behind the 3-point line. Hield drove the lane very hard and went to the foul line seven times and was successful on all seven attempts. He also dished out five assists.

Cory Joseph had a big game for the Kings scoring 10 points and distributing five dimes. Joseph hit 5 of 10 shots from the floor.

All of the Kings starters expect Bjelica played well over 30 minutes in the game.

Sacramento bench

The key man off the bench was Bogdan Bogdanovic. “Bogi” scored 21 points shooting 7-for-16 from the floor while hitting 3 of 9 attempts from 3-point land. He also went 4-for-6 from the free throw line while dishing out four assists.

Focus on the Wizards

  • Bradley Beal scored a team-high 20 points while distributing eight assists. Beal has been averaging 29.6 points per game this season.
  • Thomas Bryant put up 14 points and added eight rebounds
  • Former King – Isaiah Thomas – scored 17 points against his old team.
  • Mo Wagner recorded a double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
  • The Wizards bench outscored the Kings bench 48-37.

Addition to the Kings roster

After having several outstanding games in the G-League with the Stockton Kings, Kyle Guy has been called up to join the Kings NBA roster. He joined the team in Washington but did not play.

Up next

The Kings have the unenviable task of playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road in Boston on Monday night.

The Wizards will travel to Denver to face the Nuggets on Tuesday night.