Category: Sacramento Kings

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings fall short to Rockets 113-104; Fourth consecutive loss for Sacramento

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photo from sacbee.com: Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield (24) shoots over Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook (0) for three-points during a game at Golden 1 Center on Monday, Dec 23, 2019 in Sacramento

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Coming off three straight road loses the Sacramento Kings (12-18) played host to the Houston Rockets (21-9) at Golden One Center in Sacramento and yet lost another game 113-104.

#2 The Rockets had 16 points to the Kings 25 in the fourth quarter and still the Kings never held the lead in the game and never got that burst on the scoreboard. The Kings are missing a number of their offensive plays to stay a step ahead of their opponents.

#3 The Rockets got top scoring from James Harden 34 pts and Russell Westbrook 28 pts who have pave the way to the win

#4 De Aaron Fox and Richaun Holmes led the Kings with scoring Fox with 31 and Holmes 12. Fox carried the weight of the team and the Kings fell nine points short.

#5 After their last win to the Golden State Warriors the Kings have now lost four straight and host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night

Join Charlie Tuesdays for the Kings podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

Another Night in Sacramento: Rockets race to big lead, then hold on to beat the Kings, 113-104

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By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–You know the story: since the Kings’ last playoff appearance in the spring of 2006, they’ve accumulated 13 losing seasons, run through 10 coaches, two arenas and finished last in the Pacific Division five times.

But that’s just the surface. Below the surface–or below .500–the Kings’ story gains greater focus. Eliminating the first 10 games of each of the last 14 seasons, including the current one–a sample size of 956 games–the Kings have held a winning record just 66 times.

That’s a winning record 6.9 percent of the time in 13 plus seasons. The most significant Kings’ won-loss record since 2006? March 6 when the Kings were 33-32. They lost three of their next four games and haven’t been over .500 since.

51 of the 66 occasions with a winning record happened last season under coach Dave Joerger, but the occurrence wasn’t treated as an upswing. Joerger was fired by GM Vlade Divac after the season.

So Monday was business as usual: a new Kings’ coach, Luke Walton, a losing record, and a tough loss–113-104 to the Houston Rockets–at home. The Kings have dropped four straight, and are just 12-13 since their 0-5 start to the season that foreshadowed continued playoff irrelevance.

By one measure, the Kings put themselves in harm’s way on Monday by beating the Rockets 119-118 at the buzzer on Nemanja Bjelica’s 3-pointer December 9 in Houston. Since then the Rockets have won six of seven and seen the one-two punch of James Harden and Russell Westbrook grow more cohesive. The pair came into Monday’s contest averaging 62 plus points per game. They scored 62 Monday after combining for just five points in a first quarter in which the Rockets exploded to a 37-21 lead.

After leading by 16 points after a quarter and 86-63 with 4:34 remaining in the third quarter, the Rockets made it interesting. Houston clanked through a 16-point fourth while seeing their lead paired to 102-96 at one point. But that’s as close as it got: the Rockets responded with a pair of Clint Capela free throws then Westbrook’s 3-pointer that increased the lead to 107-96 with 4:13 remaining.

The Rockets shot 3 for 17 in their uncharacteristic fourth quarter, but all three of the makes were 3-pointers.

“You get up 18, 20 points and you start doing things that you weren’t doing to gain the lead,” Harden said. “It happens.”

De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 31 points, 19 of those in the fourth quarter. Fox didn’t get much help; starters Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield missed 12 of their combined 13 3-point attempts and finished with nine and 10 points, respectively. The Kings outrebounded the Rockets, 49-39, but couldn’t fully take advantage of Houston’s smallish lineups with Capela the only player over 6’6″ to see action.

Hield, the Kings’ leading scorer, was a spectator in the fourth quarter as the Kings mounted their comeback. Walton explained afterwards.

“It wasn’t a punishment at all. It was more, `Look, we’re a team and we’re trying to win out here and if these guys are going well, well then we keep rolling with them,'” Walton said.

Bogdan Bogdanovich missed his second straight game with a sore ankle. Harry Giles continues to be out, he’s missed the last 13 games for the Kings.

Capela contributed 15 points, 14 rebounds in 41 minutes on an admittedly sore right heel. Harden played 38 minutes with a brace on his knee that coach Mike D’Antoni revealed was bothersome. Still, the NBA’s leading scorer put up 34 points, five assists with Westbrook adding 28.

The Rockets conclude their road swing in San Francisco in a meeting with the Warriors on Christmas Day.

The Kings host the reeling Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

The Kings lose the final game of their road trip in Memphis 119-115

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Buddy Hield vs Memphis
Buddy Hield goes for the steal @NBC CA

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings had to fly home from Memphis licking their wounds after losing the final three games of their four-game road. On Saturday night, the Kings dropped the final game of the road swing to the Grizzlies 119-115. The game was never as close as the final score might imply.

Lead Changes

There were three lead changes in the game; however, the Kings never held the lead after the first quarter of the game. The largest lead of the game for Sacramento was seven points. The Grizzlies biggest lead was 17 points.

Memphis held a 10 point lead – 60 to 50 – at halftime.

By the end of three quarters, the Grizzlies were up 91-78 over the Kings.

The Kings made a big charge in the final period as De’Aaron Fox scored 14 points while Memphis went 12 players deep to rest their starters. Sacramento outscored the Grizzlies 37-28 the fourth quarter but came up four points short of winning the game when the final buzzer sounded.

3-point baskets made the difference 

The Grizzlies hit 15 of 35 attempts (42.9%) from downtown in the game versus the Kings.

The Kings shot just 30.6% (11-for-36) from behind the arc in the contest which ultimately led to their downfall.

The charity stripe was unkind to SAC

The Kings went to the line 24 times but hit only 18 shots.

The Grizzlies went 24-for-29 from the charity stripe. Those six points proved too big when the final horn sounded.

Sacramento

  • Harrison Barnes led all scorers with 25 points in the game.
  • De’Aaron Fox – who got the start in the game – finished with 22 points.
  • Richaun Holmes put up a double-double putting in 18 points and hauling in 12 rebounds.
  • Marvin Bagley III also had a double-double game with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Memphis

  • Jaren Jackson Jr. was the Grizzlies leading scorer with 18 points.
  • Jae Crowder recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
  • Dillon Brooks scored 16 points.
  • Ja Morant and Grayson Allen both scored 13 points in the contest.

Up next

The Kings return home to host the very tough Houston Rockets on Monday night.

The Grizzlies will host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

Kings Struggle in 119-105 Loss to Pacers in Indianapolis

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Photo credit: @SoleCollector

By Jeremiah Salmonson

Just when you thought the Sacramento Kings were at full strength, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Trevor Ariza were unavailable for the Kings in Friday night’s tilt against the Indiana Pacers. Bogdanovic is dealing with a sore ankle and Trevor Ariza is not with the team for personal reasons. The Kings were coming off a tough loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday and would look to bounce back Friday.

In the first quarter, Nemanja Bjelica got off to a hot start. Bjelica scores 13 points in the first and helped lead the Kings to an early 32-30 lead. The Kings weren’t able to play their style of defense against the Pacers in the first, but that was overshadowed by the Kings offensive prowess.

In the second quarter, the Pacers went on a bit of a run that allowed them to build a double digit 53-42 lead with 6:00 left in the half. The rest of the half, the Pacers’ lead held true. The Kings would get the lead down to 8 points, but the Pacers were able to get it back by putting up 38 in the quarter. Richaun Holmes led the way for the Kings in the first half putting up 14 points. The Pacers’ T.J. Warren scored 13 points to lead the Pacers to a 68-57 lead going into halftime.

In the third quarter, the Kings couldn’t get anything going on offense. They had their chances, but players like Buddy Hield couldn’t get anything going in terms of hitting shots. The Kings were only able to put up 22 points and headed into the final quarter down 92-79. The bright spot for the Kings was Justin James, who had managed 10 points for the Kings off the bench.

In the fourth quarter, the implosion for the Kings continued. The Kings’ shot-making evaporated in the third and fourth quarters, and they weren’t able to shut down the Pacers’ offense. These negative ingredients for the Kings would lead to a blowout loss 119-105 to the Pacers on the road.

The Kings still look a bit lost on the offensive end. Kings head coach Luke Walton has a lot of work ahead of him to get this group to gel together and start putting wins together. A bright spot for the Kings was Justin James. James is definitely earning minutes with the absence of Trevor Ariza who is away from the team and Bogdan Bogdanovic dealing with some injury issues. Leading the way for the Kings in defeat was Richaun Holmes with 20 points. Leading things for the Pacers in victory was T.J. Warren with 23 points.

Up Next: The Kings travel to Memphis for a back-to-back against the Grizzlies on Saturday at 5 PM PST.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Hornets force turnovers as Kings go down 110-102

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Photo credit sacbee.com: The Charlotte Hornets Terry Rozier (3) drives towards the basket against the Sacramento Kings D’Aaron Fox as the Hornets defeat the Kings by eight points in Charlotte on Tuesday night.

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O

The Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night in Charlotte just simply got outplayed physically. In fact, that was one of the things that Kings head coach Luke Walton said. The Kings just physically got beaten up by the Hornets. It wasn’t in a bad way. It wasn’t like they played dirty.

The Hornets just went out and played a very physical game. They were determined. The biggest number that showed how physical Charlotte was that the Hornets outrebounded the Kings 53-31. When a team is outrebounded with 18 rebounds in a game, you’re not going to win.

Charlie O does the Kings podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings fall to Hornets 110-102 in Charlotte

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings have not been at full strength since the first game of this 2019 season. Tuesday would mark the first time since then the Kings would have all players available. The matchup was the Sacramento Kings visiting the Charlotte Hornets. For Kings fans, they hoped Tuesday would mark the beginning of the season they could have had started if fully healthy.

In the first quarter, the Kings offense sputtered out of the gate. Sloppy ball handling and missed shots allowed the Hornets to only be trailing 9-7 with 6:00 left in the quarter. The rest of the way, the offense continued to sputter.

It’s hard to fault the Kings who are playing with lineups they haven’t seen all year.

Unfortunately, the offense looked a little lost in the first quarter something the Kings would look to remedy in the second quarter. All in all, the Kings put up 21 points compared to the Hornets 26. Leading scorer for the Kings thus far was Harrison Barnes with 5 points while Marvin Williams put up 8 for the Hornets.

In the second quarter, the Kings perimeter shooting continued to struggle. The Kings shot a mediocre 33.3% in the first half from downtown. That being said, they were able to put up 47 in the half. The Hornets didn’t play exceptionally well either, who shot an identical 33.3% from three, were able to put up 53 in the half to lead the Kings 53-47 going into halftime. The leading scorers in the game were De’Aaron Fox for the Kings with 11 points and Hornet Marvin Williams with 10 points. The Kings offense didn’t look smooth, but it wasn’t all red flags. De’Aaron Fox, after missing the last 17 games, looked good in the opening half. Sure the offense didn’t flow the same way it has in recent games, but the Kings are well on their way to getting the rhythm back.

In the second half, the Kings started to hit their three-point shots. The Kings shot much better from downtown making five threes and it makes a difference in the score. The Kings were able to put up 32 in the third out scoring the Hornets who added 27. In his return, De’Aaron Fox continued to lead the Kings putting up 15 points through three quarters. The Kings would try and do something they haven’t done all year on the road; win trailing after three quarters. The Kings went into the fourth trailing 80-79.

In the fourth quarter, the Kings faltered early. Hornets guard Malik Monk started hitting shots after struggling early and the Kings were in a 101-90 hole with 4:25 remaining. From there, the Kings weren’t able to muster anything against the Hornets. The Kings didn’t attack the basket with enough urgency as the Hornets were in foul trouble and that led to a disappointing defeat. The Kings dropped the first game of the road trip by a final of 110-102 in a game dominated by the Hornets in the fourth quarter. The Hornets ended up out scoring the Kings 30-23 in the fourth. The positive for Kings fans from this game was the return of a healthy De’Aaron Fox. Fox led the Kings with 19 points.

Up Next: The Kings travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers on Friday at 4 PM PST.

Kings get over the Warriors 100-79

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

By Charlie O. Mallonee @Charlieo1320

After losing to the NBA’s worst team — the New York Knicks — on their home court on Friday night, the Sacramento Kings (12-14) needed to bounce back into the win column in a big way versus the Golden State Warriors (5-23) on Sunday night in the brand-new Chase Center in San Francisco. After years of being the perpetual underdogs when facing the Warriors, the 2019 Kings knew they were the more talented team going into the game on Sunday evening.

The Kings dominated the first quarter shooting 62.5% from the field while outscoring the Warriors 26-18. It appeared that injury-depleted Warriors were well on their way to another humbling defeat at the hands of their Northern California neighbor.

The Warriors woke up in the second quarter
Golden State started attacking the basket using the dribble-drive to make layups and cut into the Kings lead. D’Angelo Russell (who may or may not be a Warrior much longer) and Damion Lee did most of the damage in the quarter. The Warriors outscored the Kings 16-8 in the paint.

Both teams shot 9-for-16 from the field in the second period. Sacramento held a 16-point lead at one point in the quarter, but Golden State trailed by just nine points at the half.

The Kings changed the story in the second half
Sacramento came out in the third quarter and shot 64.7% overall and 60.0% from 3-point range to outscore Golden State 28-17. The Kings were up 79-59 at the end of 36 minutes and had the game well in hand.

Luke Walton used 11 players in the game rather than just eight as he had in the previous games. A big lead will give a coach that luxury. The Kings outscored the Warriors in the final quarter 21-20. It was like the kid who has been bullied for years finally had the opportunity to get even and they did.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Kings had beaten the Warriors 100-79.

Lead tracker
The Kings biggest lead in the game was 25 points. The Warriors largest lead was just three points.

The game was tied four times.

The lead changed four times in the game.

The Kings never trailed in the second, third and fourth quarters.

Team Numbers

  • Points in the Paint: SAC 46 GSW 44
  • 2nd Chance Points: Kings 6 Warriors 5
  • Fastbreak Points: SAC 10 GSW 4
  • Rebounds: Kings 38 Warriors 26
  • Assists: SAC 27 GSW 24
  • Turnovers: Kings 27 Warriors 20
  • Field Goal %: SAC 60.3% GSW 39.0%

Leading Scorers

  • Bogdan Bogdanovic was the games high scorer with 25 points
  • Former King Willie Cauley-Stein led the Warriors with 14 points

The Glass Cleaners

  • Marvin Bagley III led the Kings with six rebounds
  • Marquese Chriss was the Warriors leading rebounder with six

Distributing Dimes

  • D’Angelo Russell was the assist leader with eight
  • Cory Joseph was the Kings assist leader with five dimes

Up Next
The Kings travel to Charlotte to take on the Hornets on Tuesday night.

The Warriors also hit the road to play the Trail Blazers in Portland on Wednesday evening.

Knicks Stun Kings, Win 103-101

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Photo credit: @KnicksNationCP

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings are flying. After taking down formidable opponents in Texas in the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks, the Kings came home and defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. So, the Kings were coming off a three-game win streak and facing the dysfunctional New York Knicks in Golden 1 Center on Wednesday night.

In the first quarter, the Kings did what they should have. Behind the scoring from Buddy Hield (14) and Nemanja Bjelica (6), the Kings jumped out to an early 32-20 lead over the Knicks. The Knicks leading scorer was Julius Randle, who managed to score 9 points. The Kings managed to shoot 71.4% from downtown and that played a big role in the early lead. Going into the second quarter, the Kings had a comfortable 32-20 lead.

In the second quarter, the Knicks made a little run at the Kings’ lead. Thanks to more scoring from Julius Randle, the Knicks put a dent in the Kings’ 12-point first-quarter lead. The Knicks put up 25 second quarter points to make it a 54-45. Buddy Hield continued to torch the Knicks and finished the first half with 22 points. Nemanja Bjelica followed behind Hield as the King’s second-leading scorer with 9 points. The Knicks were led by Julius Randle who was the game’s second-leading scorer with 17 first-half points. The Kings didn’t play their best first half of the year, but considering the opponent, it got the job done. In the second half, the Kings would look to put away the worst team in the NBA.

The third quarter was not the best for the Kings. Playing against the worst team in the NBA, the Kings were unable to increase their lead. In fact, their lead decreased by one point in the quarter as the Knicks outscored the Kings 27-26 in the third. Buddy Hield added 5 points to his total in the third to bring his total to 27 on the night. Julius Randal continued his hot hand in the game to give him 22 on the night. The Kings would take a 80-72 lead into the final quarter of action.

In the fourth quarter, things got a little dicey for the Kings. The Knicks, the worst team in the NBA, managed to make up the deficit coming into the quarter and tie the game at 93 with 5:15 remaining in the game. The Kings had to get back to work if they wanted to keep their win streak alive. Unfortunately for Kings fans, they weren’t able to do that. The Knicks came roaring back in the fourth to beat the Kings.

It was easily the worst loss of the season for the Kings, who should have defeated the Knicks. Julius Randal led the victorious Knicks with 24 points followed by Elfrid Payton with 16. Leading the Kings in defeat was Buddy Hield with 34 points followed by Harrison Barnes with 15. The Kings and Luke Walton will remember this loss. In a game against the worst team in the NBA the Kings couldn’t hold an 8 point lead going into the final quarter. The final in Sacramento was the Kings 101 and the Knicks 103.

Up Next: The Kings travel to San Francisco to play the Warriors on Sunday evening at 5:30 pm PST.

The Knicks stay West and play the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at 7 pm CST.

Kings Roar Back, Beat Thunder 94-93

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings were back home. After over a week on the road, the Kings returned home after splitting the road trip 2-2. The two wins for the Kings on the trip came on the toughest part, the back-to-back against Dallas and Houston. The Kings were able to pull off both those wins and came home with a good feeling about rising to .500 in the coming week. The Kings started off the homestand with a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.

In the first quarter, the Kings were looking to get off to a good start against a team they should have a good chance beating on paper. The Kings didn’t shoot as well as they would have hoped in the first at just 40% from the floor. However, that was better than the showing the Thunder put on shooting only 30% in the first from the floor. Leading the Kings was Nemanja Bjelica with 7 points, followed by Trevor Ariza with 5 points. For the Thunder, Steven Adams led with 5 points. Going into the second quarter, the Kings led the Thunder 23-18.

In the second quarter, things would unravel a bit for the Kings. Thanks to poor shooting and the Thunder knocking down shots, the Kings would give up the lead going into halftime. The Kings were only able to manage 15 points in the second as opposed to the Thunder’s 29. Dennis Schroder finished the first half as the game’s leading scorer with 15 points. Continuing to lead the Kings in scoring, despite not adding a basket in the second, was Nemanja Bjelica with 7 points. Buddy Hield got on the board, scoring 5 in the second quarter. Overall, the Kings shot 35.65% from the field in the first half compared to the Thunder’s 41.5% clip.

In the second half, the Kings looked to come out with the energy they lacked in the first half. Unfortunately, the Kings were lackluster on offense. Taking a 9-point deficit into halftime, the Kings had only let that deficit grow to a 64-50 Thunder lead with five minutes remaining in the third. The Thunder had been shooting extraordinarily well at a 40% clip from downtown. The rest of the way in the third it would get much better for the Kings. They finished the third down by two points 71-69. Buddy Hield finished the third with 15 points and Marvin Bagley had 11 points.

In the fourth quarter, the Thunder would retake the lead early. They retook a 10-point lead 83-73 at the 7:49 point in the game. From there, it would be all Kings as they came roaring back to tie the game with 1:00 remaining in the game. Bogdan Bogdanovic would foul the Thunder and they made both their free throws. The Kings took a timeout with the ball with 30 seconds left down 93-91. Bogdan Bogdanovic was able to get open and knock down a three to set up the last possession for the Thunder with 13.4 seconds left in the game. The Thunder got the ball to Chris Paul, who was defended by Richaun Holmes. Paul tried to hit a pullup jumper but missed it and the game ended. The Kings came away victorious 94-93.

What’s Next?
The Kings stay home to host the New York Knicks on Friday at 7 PM PST.

The Thunder continues the West Coast trip against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday at 6 PM PST.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings take two on the road, host OKC and Knicks in upcoming homestand

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Photo credit: mavsmoneyball.com

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

Looking at the road trip, our initial projections were the two teams they could beat on the road trip were Portland and San Antonio, they lost to Portland and they lost to San Antonio. The two teams we figured that they had no chance to beat the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets.

The Mavericks and the Rockets were back to back and that’s almost asking too much on the road. They lost to the Trail Blazers, they lost to the Spurs a heartbreaker, turned around and they beat the Mavericks and the Rockets in a back to back.

Charlie O does the Kings podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com