Category: Sacramento Kings

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Will Joerger return to Kings next season?; Kings have improved over last season

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @James_HamNBCS

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie, what’s your biggest takeaway from this season as the Kings finish below .500 (39-42)?

#2 The Kings head coach Dave Joerger had been the subject of discussion. There had been talk that he will be back next season and also talk that the Minnesota Timberwolves are interested in his handy work as well. After Sunday’s game, Joerger said that while he’s a Minnesota kid, his focus is with the Kings.

#3 There is that great feel the Kings had taking 12 more wins than what they finished with from last season. Although the playoffs alluded them, they are a couple players away from the postseason next year.

#4  The Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and team general manager Vlade Divak are noted friends with Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton would he be a possibility.

#5 The Kings De’Aaron Fox finished Sunday’s game with 24 points, six rebounds and 11 assists. Charlie talks about the kind of season that Fox had.

Charlie O did the Kings podcasts each week throughout the 2018-19 season join for the Oakland A’s podcasts each Tuesday starting next week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings fall to Pelicans 133-129

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: London Marq

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It has been a unique season this year for the Sacramento Kings. For the first time in a long time, there is the sense that the Kings have taken a major step forward. Going into the last home game of the season, the Kings have 12 more wins than last year and a great group of young developing talent. Although the playoffs elude the team, again, there is confidence that the Kings will get back to the postseason.

Th Kings had the New Orleans Pelicans on tap for the final game of the season. Opening the game, the Kings came out with a strong first quarter that ended with the Kings leading 39-32. De’Aaron Fox made a impact early, including an impact steal for the breakaway score, Fox would end the game with a hearty 24 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists.

The second quarter was where the Kings had some defensive woes. The Pelicans were able to capitalize and outscore the Kings 34-29 in the second, but the Kings still held a 2-point advantage going into halftime.

Unfortunately for the Kings, the defense failed to improve and they would be outscored in the both second half quarters as well. Pelicans guard Ian Clark led all scorers with 31 points. Harrison Barnes was the Kings’ leading scorer with 29 points.

The Kings wrapped up the final home game with a 4-point 133-129 loss, which was indicative of their competitive season that came up just short of the playoffs.

The Kings are looking forward to the future. They missed the playoffs this year, but next season, we will hopefully see the franchise end their playoff drought and bring the Kings back to relevance.

Final: New Orleans defeated Sacramento 133-129.

Up Next: Sacramento wraps up the 2019 season at Portland on Wednesday, April 10. Game time set for 7:30 pm PT.

Kings never trail in their 117-104 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday night

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Cle-4
Buddy Hield shoots a 3-point basket Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

By Charlie O. Mallonee

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings won their 39th game of the 2018-19 season on Thursday night as they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-104. It was not an easy win. The Kings had to earn this victory. The Cavs are not a great team, but they are professional basketball players who belong on an NBA court.

The Cavs may have never held the lead in the game, but they did cut the Kings’ lead to just one point with 4:40 to go in the third quarter. Sacramento was able to make a surge in order to take a nine-point lead into the final period.

The Cavs reduced the Kings lead to just six points at the 8:03 mark in the fourth quarter, but Sacramento with the help of Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic opened up a lead that would never put them in danger of losing the game again.

With the win, the Kings sweep the season series from the Cavaliers who drop to 19-60 for the campaign.

SAC is one game away from winning 40

Some fans have asked — is winning 40 a big deal? Yes, it is. The Kings won 27 games last season. Most analysts projected them win between  30-35 games this season (this reporter projected them to win 32). To improve their win-loss record by 13 wins and climb into the 40-wins stratosphere is psychologically a big deal for a young team.

As a Western Conference team, the Kings will have to win 45-47 games next season just to make it into the playoffs. If they can win 40 games, they will know what it takes to get where they need to be in order to reach the next level.

This team has already has recorded the best win total for a Kings deal team since the 2005-06 season. Winning game number 40 would make them the first Sacramento team to win at least 40 games since that 2005-06 team won 44 games.

Dave Joerger postgame thoughts

  • Thought it was a good win
  • Getting to 40 wins is a big deal
  • Tonight, it didn’t feel like we made a lot of shots; they did make a lot of shots
  • Out defensive activity was good — steals, deflections forced 22 turnovers
  • We took care of the ball — seven turnovers that resulted in just eight points
  • We scored points in the paint which was huge for us (SAC 62 CLE 54)
  • When we moved the ball and we got in the paint, we were more successful

Top Performances

Cle-2
Fox takes it to the hoop Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings

  • Buddy Hield was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points shooting 9-for-16 from the field. He hit 5-of-11 from downtown. Hield needs just six 3-point baskets to beat Damian Lillard’s record of 599 three-pointers in the first three seasons of a players career.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic had a strong game coming off the bench to score 18 points in just over 27 minutes of playing time. “Bogi” shot 7-for-13 from the floor including four 3-point baskets. He also dished out five assists. Bogdanovic seemed to play with more energy than he has in some time.
  • De’Aaron Fox bounced back nicely after having a disappointing game versus the Rockets. Fox recorded a double-double scoring 16 points and distributing 10 dimes.
  • Marvin Bagley III played only 20 minutes, but he made the most of his time on the floor. MB35 put up 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. His play was very important to the Kings opening up their lead in the fourth quarter.
  • Odd facts: the Kings were outrebounded by the Cavs 50-36 in this game. The Kings made 12 steals while the Cavaliers managed only three steals. Sacramento only turned the ball over seven times while Cleveland turned over 22 times.

Cleveland

Cle-1
Larry Nance, Jr, jams home Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
  • Jordan Clarkson was the Cavs leading scorer with 22 points. Clarkson came off the bench to play just over 31 minutes and shoot 9-for-13 from the field.
  • Point guard Colin Sexton was very impressive in almost 38 minutes on the floor. For a player who is not supposed to shoot well, he was very impressive as a shooter. Sexton hit 8-of-14 shots overall and 3-of-5 from 3-point land.
  • Second-year player Cedi Osman recorded 17 points and three assists. He was key to the Cavs first half performance.
  • Cleveland shot 54.3-percent (44/81) for the game and hit 11-of-25 (44%) 3-point attempts.

Up Next

The Kings left immediately after the game for Salt Lake City where they will play the Jazz on Friday night.

The Cavaliers boarded their buses and headed for the Bay Area where they will face the Golden State Warriors tomorrow night.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Lechler to go into Hall as Raiders punter for 13 seasons; Raiders sign Grant at wide receiver; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @TDenFamilia

On the Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Former Oakland Raider Shane Lechler can look forward to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame after the five year wait . He played in 206 games for the Raiders and missed only two games in 13 seasons. In those 13 seasons, Lechler called Oakland his home. A seven-time Pro Bowler, he was one of the best punters in NFL history.

#2 Wide receiver Ryan Grant has signed with the Oakland Raiders. Grant formerly with the Indianapolis Colts signed with Oakland on Wednesday Grant’s deal is worth one year, $2.5 million.

#3 You can’t win them all the A’s, who won the first two games against the visiting Boston Red Sox on great pitching, and delivered two shutouts, but they dropped game three of the four-game series to the Red Sox. However, the A’s have been delivering excitement each night.

#4 The Giants had some troubles on this road trip, but still, they have gone 2-5 thus far. They have concluded their road series with the Dodgers with a 5-3 loss. They have their home opener on Friday, can they get back on track with some home cooking?

#5 The Sacramento Kings might be making changes again and knowing how much Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and general manager Vlade Divak like Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton. Do you see Walton getting fired by the Lakers as rumored and going to the Kings, which means Kings head coach Dave Joerger will get the boot at season’s end?

Headline Sports with Tony R is heard each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Ice meltdown in Vancouver–Sharks can’t answer Canucks’ 3 goals in third period; Quakes’ best game in 0-0 draw against Colorado so far; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 In one that you can call just a big meltdown, the San Jose Sharks started a two-game road trip in Vancouver Tuesday night, had a 2-1 lead and looked like they might actually win this one against the Canucks, but all for not as the Canucks scored three unanswered goals to hand San Jose its ninth loss in 10 games 4-2.

#2 The San Jose Earthquakes are a team that is all shook up. They have not won one a game yet this season and have played six games and their best game was against Colorado in a 0-0 draw. London tells us from he has seen of the Quakes what the problem is?

#3 The San Francisco Giants have shown some improvement on the current road trip taking the first game against the Dodgers on Monday night 4-2, thanks to Brandon Belt’s home run to help pace the win. On Tuesday night, the Giants lost by a run, but it’s been something to look forward to after they struggled in San Diego losing three out four.

#4 The Oakland A’s are getting plenty of pitching they got a 7-0 shutout over the World Champion Red Sox on Monday and then on Tuesday they got a 1-0 shutout with great A’s starting pitcher Mike Fiers and A’s reliever Blake Treinen.

#5 The Sacramento Kings just couldn’t do anything with James Harden and the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night in Golden One Center. Harden put away 36 points and he was again a scoring machine in a 130-105 win.

London Marq does the Headline Sports podcast for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings get plastered in 25-point loss to Rockets on Tuesday night

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @DreamShakeSBN

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings (38-40) lost badly on their home floor to the Houston Rockets (50-28) 130-105. Fear the beard James Harden couldn’t be contained on Tuesday night with 36 points.

#2 The Kings were dominated by the Rockets in every quarter except for the third quarter when the Kings outscored the Rockets 31-29.

#3 How badly did Kings defense let down in this one?

#4 Harden also had help from scorers Clint Capela with 13 and Chris Paul with 12.

#5 Next up are the Cleveland Cavaliers (19-59). The Cavs are on a six-game losing streak and the Kings have lost four of their last six games as this one sets up for a 7 pm tip on Thursday night.

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

Rockets make it “rain” 3-pointers, crush the Kings 130-105 on Tuesday night

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
402-4
Barnes tries to contain Harden Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

By Charlie O. Mallonee

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings goal of finishing the season with a 41-41 record took a serious hit on Tuesday night when the Houston Rockets beat them 130-105 at the Golden 1 Center. The young, upstart Kings never held a lead in the game. The win gave Houston a four-game season-series sweep over Sacramento.

In his postgame comments, Kings head coach Dave Joerger noted that the Rockets have beat his team by over 20 points on average in all four games this season. He later would point out that the Rockets as a team are staffed with great players.

Why Did the Kings Lose?

Sacramento lost the game because they could not shut down the dynamic 3-point shooting of the Rockets. Houston literally made it “rain” 3-pointers at they attempted 61 shots from behind the arc and hit 26 of them. The 26 made 3-point shots tied the Rockets NBA record for most 3-point shots made in a game that they set against the Wizards back on December 19, 2018, at home in Houston.

The Rockets made 46 of their 94 field goal attempts (48.9%) in the contest. They converted 26 of their 61 3-point field goal attempts (42.6%). Yes, you are reading that correctly. The majority of the Rockets’ field goals made and attempts were from long range. Houston was very happy to trade 3-point baskets for Kings 2-point baskets all night long.

The Kings shot 44.2-percent overall (42/95) and went 7-for-23 (30.4%) from downtown.

Dave Joerger was not happy after the game

“We did not come with the mental or physical attitude of playing with some force and (weren’t) mentally locked in enough. We can’t play that way. We’re better than that. That’s disappointing if we had a hangover from a long trip – a bunch of games – young guys – but we cannot let go of the rope and we’re not going to.”

Top Performers

402-3
Bagley and Capela prepare to battle for the rebound Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings (38-40)

  • Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with 20 points. He shot 8-for-16 and four of his field goals were 3-pointers. Hield also grabbed seven rebounds and added five assists.
  • Marvin Bagley III put 19 points up on the board to go with eight rebounds.
  • Nemanja Bjelica scored 12 points and went 6-for-7 from the floor.
  • Sacramento outrebounded Houston 51-43.

Rockets (50-28)

402-1
Harden gets ready to score three of his 36 points Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
  • James Harden was the leading scorer in the game with 36 points, and he made it a double-double by dishing out 10 assists. He went 12-for-19 shooting and seven of those buckets were 3-pointers.
  • Eric Gordon and Danuel House, Jr. each scored 19 points for the visiting Rockets.
  • Chris Paul scored seven points and distributed 12 dimes.
  • Kenneth Faried posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Up Next

The Kings return to action on Thursday night when they will host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Rockets play the second game of a back-to-back on the road in Los Angeles versus the Clippers on Wednesday night.

Kings beat Spurs on the road for the first time since 2012–113-106

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBA

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

Sunday’s matchup featured the Sacramento Kings and the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center. The Spurs have guaranteed themselves a playoff spot, and the Kings were recently eliminated from contention. Sunday’s game for the Kings was the last stop on a five-game road swing taking them through Los Angeles, Dallas, New Orleans, Houston, and San Antonio. The tip-off was set for 4:00 PM PST.

In the first quarter, the Kings showed what appeared to be a lack of energy, which is understandable considering this game was the second night of a back-to-back. With seven minutes having already passed in the first, the Kings were down by 10 with the score being 21-11. At this point, the game was looking close to getting out of hand. LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers in the first with a terrorizing 18 points. However, the Kings weren’t gonna go away quietly in the first. They battled back to make it a two-point game after the first quarter 30-28.

In the second quarter, the Kings and Spurs traded baskets. It’d prove to be one of the more entertaining quarters this year. Buddy Hield led the Kings in scoring in the first half dropping 11 points with Fox behind him with nine points. For the Spurs, LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points with Rudy Gay behind him with 12. Going into halftime, the Kings managed to take a slim lead 58-57 into the locker room.

The third quarter was filled with excitement and back and forth between the Kings and Spurs. The Kings scored 31 points compared to the Spurs’ 30. This gave the Kings a two-point 89-87 lead going into the last 12 minutes. In the third, the fiery Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected after an out-of-bounds call going against the Spurs. Popovich was immediately T’d up following the play then proceeded to go onto the court and was dealt the ejection. It was a entertaining turn of events as the teams continued to put on a show. Leading the way through three quarters for the Kings were Buddy Hield with 24 points, Harrison Barnes with 11 points, and Willie Cauley-Stein with 10 points.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Kings seemed confident and that was exactly what the Kings played with. The Kings started the fourth by scoring the first nine points to take a 98-87 lead. From there, the Spurs made a run to tie the game, and it was a back-and-forth affair until the final minute of the game. The Kings managed to get a few key defensive stops paired with some makes to beat the Spurs 113-106. It was a great game for a young Kings team that was eliminated from playoff contention just the night before.

NOTES: Kings swept the season series for the first time ever against the Spurs. The Kings beat the Spurs at home for the first time since 2012.

UP NEXT: The Kings head home to host the Houston Rockets Tuesday at 7:00 PM PST.

Rockets knock Kings out of playoffs with 119-108 win

Published on by jeremy2878Leave a comment

Photo credit: @TSN_Sports

By Jeremy Harness

The Sacramento Kings saw their slim playoff hopes officially dashed on Saturday, as they were downed by the Houston Rockets, 119-108, inside of Houston’s Toyota Center.

The team has been feisty all season and held on to their postseason chances as long as they could, even on Saturday. Sacramento entered the fourth quarter with the lead, but they were outscored 28-15 in the final stanza as their fate was sealed.

The Rockets, meanwhile, are still fighting for one of the top spots in the Western Conference postseason picture to get home-court advantage for at least the first round. Houston is currently in the third spot with a 49-28 mark, three games behind Golden State and Denver, who are tied for the top spot in the West.

James Harden recorded a triple-double in spearheading the win, scoring 50 points while making 13 of his 31 shots in the process, to go along with 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Clint Capela put up 24 points while going 10-of-13 from the field and also pulled down 15 rebounds, while Chris Paul had 22 points and five assists.

The Kings had a couple of guys get a double-double in the loss. Marvin Bagley III had 20 points and 12 rebounds – seven of those coming on the offensive end – while making 10 of his 20 field-goal attempts. Meanwhile, De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points and handed out 10 assists, while making four of his seven 3-point attempts.

Bogdan Bogdanovic just missed a triple-double while coming off the bench, leading the Kings with 24 points while pulling down nine rebounds with eight assists.

The Kings next play the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at 4:00 pm PT.

Kings fall hard in the “Big Easy” as Pels pull out a last-second 121-118 win

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NO starting 5
Kings starting five in New Orleans Photo @SacramentoKings

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings are now on the verge of mathematical elimination from playoff contention after losing to the Pelicans in New Orleans 121-118 on Thursday night. The Kings chances of making the playoffs were remote, but now, they are non-existent.

The Kings are just 14-23 on the road after the loss in New Orleans. That really is not surprising for a young team like Sacramento. Learning to win on the road in the NBA is one of the most difficult lessons to learn for a young team.

The biggest lead in this game was nine points by the Pelicans. The game was tied 13 times and the lead changed between the teams 15 times. This was the very essence of what is defined as a “close game”.

Julius Randle put a driving layup through the basket for the Pelicans with 8.7-seconds to go in the game to give New Orleans a 121-118 lead.

Buddy Hield took a potential game-tying 3-point shot from 28 feet away from the basket with 4.0-seconds remaining on the clock. Unfortunately for the Kings, the shot was not good and the Kings would lose by three points.

The loss dropped the Kings record to 37-38 on the year with seven games to play on the schedule. The Pelicans are now 32-45 for the season.

Key Performers in the Game

NO Kosta
Koufos drives on Randle Photo @NBCS

Kings

  • Buddy Hield – the Pels former first-round draft pick – was Sacramento’s leading scorer with 27 points. He shot 11-for-21 from the floor but went just 1-for-8 from 3-point range.
  • De’Aaron Fox recorded a double-double by scoring 25 points and dishing out 12 assists. Fox hit 11-of-22 his shots from the field. He also grabbed five rebounds, made three steals, and had one blocked shot.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein also put a double-double in the book by scoring 18 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. WCS who has struggled at the charity stripe went 4-for-4 at the free throw line on Thursday night.
  • Bogdon Bogdanovic scored 14 points in just over 18 minutes of playing time.
  • Marvin Bagley III and Harrison Barnes each scored 10 points.
  • The Kings were outscored in the paint 74-64.
  • The Pelicans won the battle of 2nd chance points 14-9.

New Orleans

  • Julius Randle was the leading scorer in the contest with 34 points. He hit 12-of-24 shots from the floor and went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Randle made it a double-double game by pulling down 10 rebounds.
  • Christian Wood came off the bench and scored 25 points in just over 27 minutes on the floor. He sank 11 of his 16 shots.
  • Elfrid Payton put 16 points up on the board shooting 50-percent from the floor (7/14). He also recorded nine rebounds.
  • Anthony Davis did not play due to “lower back spasms”.

Up Next

The Kings traveled to Houston after the game and will take on the Rockets on Saturday night.

The Pelicans will host the “hapless” LA Lakers on Sunday.