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

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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

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Well-prepared Barracuda get a healthy two-goal win over Bakersfield in last game

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda took on their on nemesis the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday night and never looked behind, which is a first in a long time against a team that usually is all over them.

#2 The Barracuda got a two-goal win and just really never let up. What was the difference in their game preparation for them?

#3 One the important things is the Barracuda’s five-game losing streak against the Condors is over. The Cuda finished 5-5 for the season against Bakersfield.

#4 Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer knows to win games it’s best to score early and that’s what the Barracuda did when Matt Fonteyne’s stick took a deflected pass and was directed in the net for the first goal of the night.

#5 In the third period, there were three goals in five minutes to make things interesting, but the Barracuda came up two goals ahead 4-2.

Join Marko for the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday night 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
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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

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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)

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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.

Bellinger hits grand slam in Dodgers’ 6-5 win over Giants

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Photo credit: brobible.com

By Jeremy Kahn

With a chance to possibly tie up the game, Pablo Sandoval ended the game with one swing of the bat.

Cody Bellinger hit a towering grand slam in the bottom of the third inning, as the Los Angeles Dodgers hung on to defeat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 at Dodger Stadium.

Madison Bumgarner committed a throwing error on a Russell Martin come backer that Brandon Belt was unable to dig out.

Bumgarner then walked Hyun-Jin Ryu on four pitches, and then Enrique Hernandez singled in Martin and then Bumgarner regrouped to get Justin Turner and Corey Seager; however, Bumgarner then gave up a single to A.J. Pollock and then Bellinger launched a Bumgarner offering over the center-field wall to give the Dodgers a 5-0 lead.

Ryu was cruising along until he gave up a single to Gerardo Parra in the top of the sixth inning and then Bumgarner hit his first home run of the season, a two-run blast into the left field bleachers.

Despite allowing the home run to Bumgarner, Ryu went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits, not allowing a walk and striking out five, as he won for the second time in as many starts on the season.

It was the 18th career home run for Bumgarner, tying him for 20th place all-time for home runs by a pitcher.

Those five runs allowed by Bumgarner were unearned, as he went six innings, allowing five hits, walking two and striking out four; however, he saw his record fall to 0-2 on the season.

Turner gave the Dodgers what proved to be the deciding run in the bottom of the seventh, as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Martin, who doubled to lead off the inning and went to third on a throwing error by Steven Duggar on a pinch-hit single by Alex Verdugo.

Things began to get interesting in the top of the ninth inning, as Evan Longoria doubled to lead off the inning against Yimi Garcia, then Buster Posey walked and that would be the end of the night for Garcia, as closer Kenley Jansen came on to face Brandon Crawford, who reached on a throwing error by Jansen that loaded the bases with nobody out.

Jansen then walked Yangervis Solarte to narrow the Dodgers lead down to 6-3, and then after Joe Panik struck out for the first out of the inning, Parra hit a two-run single to cut the lead down to 6-5 and put the tying run on third base.

Unfortunately, Sandoval grounded into a double play to end the game and even up the three-game series.

NOTES: Kevin Pillar was acquired by the Giants from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Alen Hanson, Derek Law and Juan De Paula.

Pillar, 30, spent the first seven seasons with the Blue Jays. This season, Pillar is 1-for-16 in his first five games this season.

To make room for Pillar on the roster, the Giants designated outfielder Michael Reed for assignment.

Pillar, who grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of West Hills in the San Fernando Valley struck out in the top of the eighth inning.

UP NEXT: Derek Holland makes his second start of the season on Wednesday night, as he takes the ball against Ross Stripling, who is also making his second start of the season.

Canucks score three in third period, defeat Sharks 4-2  

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Pearl Allison Lo

San Jose had a 12-0-1 record versus Vancouver, but the Canucks were able to treat their fans in the home finale with a 4-2 win at Rogers Arena Tuesday.

After a scoreless second period, former Los Angeles Kings player Tanner Pearson had the first goal in the period again. With 8:42 to go, the score was initially waved off with a whistle, but was subsequently overturned. Pete DeBoer then followed the call up with a challenge for goalie interference, but the referee’s decision stood.  

One goal later, the Sharks had a 6-4 power play in the final five minutes of the period for the third time, but it was the first time they were down during it. The scenario went quite the opposite way, as Troy Stecher scored at 18:30, shortly after goalie Martin Jones vacated his post.

San Jose fell behind early after Pearson scored at 1:28 of the first.

Kevin Labanc though, was able to tie the game at 5:09. It was his second goal in two games  and marked a six-game point streak

Then Joe Pavelski made a triumphant return, after missing a week’s worth of games which spanned over two weeks. He replied, “felt good to be back with the guys and the game.”

After being stuffed on the left side, he passed behind the net to Joe Thornton, who passed to Tomas Hertl and back to Pavelski, who scored the go-ahead goal on the man advantage at 10:47. Hertl continued a a five-game point streak and Thornton earned his second straight assist, matching him on the all-time assist list with Steve Yzerman (8th place). Thornton commented, “That’s the reason I wear #19. It’s pretty cool.”   

San Jose outshot Vancouver 12-6.

In the second, Stecher passed up ice to Loui Eriksson, where Jones robbed him up close.

The Sharks’ Jacob Middleton earned his first NHL penalty, when he was called for tripping at 5:03. It was Middleton’s second game. He last played January 5.

With under five minutes to go in the middle period, Jones went post to post to block Brock Boeser.

San Jose’s Micheal Haley blocked Luke Schenn’s shot with his hand during the opening five minutes of the third and headed to the locker room.

Markus Grandland scored the game-winner at 13:30 off a deflection.

The Sharks had 35 shots on net after just 15 versus the Calgary Flames. San Jose has now killed ten straight penalties.

Despite the turn of events in the game, Thornton expressed optimism, “We got two kind of practice shots at this again and then the real season starts.”

Up Next: The Sharks finish their road regular season against the Edmonton Oilers Thursday at 6 pm.

A’s shut out the Red Sox again

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Photo credit: @NBCSAthletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s were led by Mike Fiers’ six scoreless innings, limiting the Red Sox to five hits. Fiers earned his second win of the season. The As’s bullpen shut out the Sox the rest of the win and the A’s won by a score of 1-0. Sox ace, Chris Sale, who was roughed up by the Seattle Mariners in his first start last week, made just one mistake. He gave up a solo home run to Matt Chapman, and that was the run the A’s needed to shut down the potent Red Sox offense for the second night in a row. The last time the A’s shutout the Red Sox in back-to-back games was on August 30th and 31st in 1996.

Sale, as Fiers, went six innings he allowed one run and three hits. Sale did not display his blazing fastball. He kept the hitters off-balance with a variety of speeds that ranged from 75 to 92 MPH. Sale, known as a strikeout artist, managed to strike out only one A’s hitter.

The A’s third baseman, with one out, hit his third home run of the year. With the count 3-2, Chapman sent Sale’s 88 MPH fastball over the wall in left field to give Oakland an early 1-0 lead after one inning of action.

That was the whole ballgame. The Sox had chances, but failed to get the clutch hit that would have tied the game. They had a threat going in the fourth when they were able to have men on at first and third with two out. Fiers retired Brock Holt on a ground ball to first baseman Kendrys Morales to end the inning. In the sixth, Boston managed to get a man as far as third, but Fiers again rose to the occasion as he struck out Xander Bogaerts for the third out. In the top of the ninth, with closer Blake Treinen on the hill, Xander Bogaerts lined a shot to right center. The ball hit the 388-foot marker and remained in play. Had the ball been a couple of inches to the left, it would have been a home run. The ball stayed in play. Ramon Laureano, who made two tremendous defensive plays Monday night, performed his magic as he played the ball off the wall and threw a strike that nailed Bogaerts at third for the second out of the inning. Mitch Moreland walked. Treinen regrouped and struck out Brock Holt to record the save.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s are now 5-3 for 2019. Mike Fiers, who had six innings of work, was the sixth game in a row that an A’s starter has gone at least six innings. Mike Fiers is now 2-1, and Chris Sale is 0-2. Treinen recorded his third save. Chapman’s homer was his third of the year. The Red Sox are 1-5.

Up Next: The teams play game three of the four-game series Wednesday at the Oakland Coliseum. Game time will be at 7:05 pm. Marco Estrada (0-1) will go for Oakland, and Nathan Eovaldi (0-0) will pitch for Boston.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: How much did the Minnesota loss fire up Golden State?

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On the Warriors podcast with David:

#1 The Warriors just were livid, fired up, couldn’t get over in that loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in which the Warriors felt the officiating decided the game. Instead of complaining, however, the Warriors sought retribution and got some huge wins since including the 137-90 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

#2 Playoff are coming and the team is pushing toward the end here. How much of a motivator was that Minnesota game for the Warriors?

David does the Warriors podcast each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: Final Four–Who’s going to win it all?; Stanford eliminated by Norte Dame women; plus more

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Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez:

#1 The Final Four is amongst us and taking a look at each game this coming Sunday. Taking a look at Auburn-Virginia, Auburn has been the surprise — do you see this game being a real contest?

#2 Texas Tech-Michigan State is the next game on Sunday. The Red Raiders gave it their all when they beat Gonzaga last Sunday and the Spartans are one the winningest and high-ranking teams in the Tournament.

#3 The Stanford Women (31-5) and Notre Dame (34-3) battled it out, but after giving it their all all season long, the Cardinal could not withstand and lost to the Fighting Irish 84-68.

#4 The Oakland A’s started the 2019 season with two loses in Tokyo to the Seattle Mariners. Since that trip, it looks like the A’s have shaken off the jet lag and have been on track winning taking three of four from the Angels since coming back to Oakland and a win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night to open another four-game series.

#5 The San Jose Sharks’ troubles continue after they dropped their eighth loss in nine games to the Western Conference first place Calgary Flames on Sunday. The win secures the Flames for first place and what was worse was that it was done on the Sharks’ home ice.

Barbara Mason does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

AAF folds up league, couldn’t get NFL to get on board with business model

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By Jeremy Harness

Thomas Dundon, the majority stake holder of the Alliance of American Football, and his partners could not reach a happy medium to continue to keep the league going and has decided to suspend all operations as announced on Tuesday. The AAF issued the following statement with the reasons why the league was folding. One was the AAF partners wanted the NFL to be part of their business model in creating an AAF network, marketing, revenue sharing, partnering in supporters the AFF’s teams, and creating a marketing plan that would get the AAF to a level of profit to make the league viable. These plans never came to fruition and the league’s owners and partners couldn’t agree on a direction.

The league statement reads:

“Over the last year, we have been able to realize some amazing accomplishments. We launched a football league, a ground breaking sports technology and APP, and established production and broadcast arrangements to air our content on major networks. Together we created some incredible moments for football and our fans. We are very proud of what we accomplished and appreciate the contributions each of you made during that process.”

Sadly, eight AAF teams will also fold with the league Atlanta Legends, Birmingham Iron, Memphis Express, Orlando Apollo, Arizona Hotshots, Salt Lake Stallions, San Antonio Commanders, and the San Diego Fleet. Co-founder Bill Polian expressed his disappointment in the suspension of the league after some eight months and one season, stating in a press conference today.

“I am extremely disappointed to learn Tom Dundon has decided to suspend all football operations of the Alliance of American Football,” said Polian to the media on hand.

“When Mr. Dundon took over, it was the belief of my co-founder, Charlie Ebersol, and myself that we would finish the season, pay our creditors, and make the necessary adjustments to move forward in a manner that made economic sense for all.”

Mr. Polian also expressed that not only is this a hit to the league and it officers and front office staffs, he expressed sadness for it’s players and many of the people who work on the day-to-day operations, the stadium employees, tickets sales staff, concessions, ticket takers, marketing staff, TV and radio production staffs and media who covered the league are all now out of work.

“The momentum generated by our players, coaches and football staff had us well positioned for future success. Regrettably, we will not have that opportunity.”

It was also reported that players on this week’s current road trips must pay for their own airfare to get back home and clean out their locker. The players were caught off guard by today’s announcement. Trainers, coaches, ball boys, media relations staffs, game day staffs, and everyone else, including cheerleaders traveling with the team, must pay for their own airfare to get back home because the league will seek bankruptcy.

AAF quarterback Johnny Manziel tweeted to his teammates and fellow players: “If you’re an AAF player and the league does dissolve. The last check you got will be the last one that you get. No lawsuit or anything else will get you your bread. Save your money and keep your head up. It’s the only choice at this point unless something drastic happens.”

Jeremy Harness has covered the XFL, the UFL, and is currently covering the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Belt keys Giants’ late rally in 4-2 win over the Dodgers

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By Morris Phillips

Somehow, Dodgers’ home runs didn’t destroy the Giants. And Julio Urias couldn’t pitch the Giants into submission for a full nine innings.

Instead, Brandon Belt did the most with his final two at-bats of the evening, and the Giants rallied for an unlikely 4-2 win.

“We had a tough series in San Diego,” Belt said. “We wanted to change the tide when we came over here.”

Clearly, the tide was rising on the Giants by just entering the ballpark of the two-time National League champions on Monday. In just four games, the Dodgers hit 14 home runs and scored 42 runs in taking three of four from the Diamondbacks. Seven of those homers came in one game.

Then on Monday, Urias took control on the mound, and the Dodgers’ home run total swelled to 16 as they built a 2-0 lead after five innings.

The Giants–with just home run over their first, four-plus games–needed a response. Frankly, it wasn’t apparent that they had one.

Belt homered leading off the sixth to trim the Dodgers’ lead to 2-1. But Joe Kelly, on in relief of Urias, retired Evan Longoria, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford in succession. The Giants have scored twice face five pitchers from the opposition in 26 1/3 innings and all were starters Urias although it wouldn’t happened pitched well enough to complete the game although he pitched his five innings, giving up three hits and seven strikeouts.

Meanwhile San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said that his pitching staff put his mind at ease with keeping the Dodgers line up off balance after the Giants came back from behind with relievers Trevor Gott, Mark Malancon, Tony Watson, and Will Smith closing.

Giants starter Drew Pomeranz pitched for five innings giving up six hits, two runs, two earned, one walk, and six strikeouts. The Dodgers scored all their runs in the bottom of the fifth.

The Giants face the Dodgers in game two of the series tonight Madison Bumgarner (0-1) goes for the Giants and for the Dodgers Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-0).