Kings Press Row Podcast: Troubles on the road trip and the trade deadline is coming

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Graphic @SacramentoKings

Your hosts: Jordan “Chape” Chapin & Charlie O

  • What has happened to the Kings on the road trip so far?
  • Which games the Kings lost should they have won?
  • Why did the Kings sit three players in Toronto with Kawhi, not in the lineup?
  • Who were the key players for the Raptors in their win over the Kings?
  • Is the game in Memphis a must win for the Kings?
  • The trade deadline is coming — who will be in a Kings uni on February 7th?
  • Is Jeremy Lin a good fit for the Kings?
  • Would Otto Porter, Jr. cost the Kings too much money in a trade deal?
  • Could Enes Kanter be the piece that puts the Kings in the playoffs?

Sit back and relax as “Chape” and Charlie talk all things Kings on the Press Row Podcast.

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Kings falter in second half, lose to Nets 123-94

Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Jessica Kwong

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Sacramento Kings were in rhythm in the first half to beat the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and win their third straight game, but fell apart in the second half to lose 123-94. 

“It was a tough game for us,” Kings head coach Dave Joerger said postgame. “I thought we had a nice rhythm in the first half. We made a lot of mistakes in the first half but we were making some shots.”

Buddy Hield scored a triple for the Kings to start but the team played poor defense, allowing the Nets to get off with a 14-7 lead with 12 of those points coming in the paint. Brooklyn’s young star D’Angelo Russell made a triple to put the Nets up 26-20 with a minute to go. Bogdan Bogdanovic made a driving shot but Russell hit another three-pointer to put the Nets up 29-23 to end the quarter. 

Sacramento had a solid second quarter offensively, scoring 37 points. 

Russell hit another three-point jump shot, but Justin Jackson answered with a triple of his own and Bogdanovic made a pulp shot to tie the game at 32 a few minutes into the quarter. Then Yogi Ferrell made a triple to give the Kings a 35-32 lead. 

Brooklyn took a one-point lead halfway through the quarter when Alan Williams made a slam dunk. Bogdanovic followed up with a jump shot and the teams went back and forth with the lead until the final minutes. Buddy Hield made a triple to give the Kings a 60-55 lead to end the half. 

“The last three, four minutes of the second quarter we were much better defensively and we just didn’t come out with that same intensity in the second half,” Joerger said.

He said the game started to get away from the Kings “about three minutes into the third quarter.”

Russell, who was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week, made a pullup shot, then stole the ball, missed and running layup but rebounded and made a triple to put the Nets up 66-64. Sacramento called a timeout with just over 9 minutes left in the quarter.

It didn’t help much. At the halfway mark, the Nets were up 77-70 and seemed to have more hustle. By the two-minute mark, Brooklyn extended their lead to 88-78. Harry Giles III made a cutting layup but Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made a cutting dunk to give the Nets a 93-85 lead at the end of the third. 

Sacramento failed to regroup in the fourth. A minute in, DeMarre Carroll made three-point jump shot to boost the Nets to 98-85, a 13-point and biggest lead of the game. The Kings took a timeout. Spencer Dinwiddie made a running layup, putting Brooklyn up 100-87 with 10 minutes left to play.

The Kings were unable to cut the deficit to single digits for the remainder of the game, instead trailing up to 29 points when the game ended.   

“It was a blow-by, a backdoor, a couple turnovers and Brooklyn’s in a really nice rhythm right now,” Joerger said. “They’ve got guys making shots, but they put it on the deck and they get to the rim. They’re playing really well and they’re difficult to defend, so hats off to them.”

Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said he was most proud of his team’s “excellent” defense in the second half.

“I thought TG’s (Treveon Graham) job on Buddy Hield was fantastic,” Atkinson said. “I don’t think he scored in the second half. He was a real concern for us but great job on him and great defensive performance.”

Bogdanovic scored a team-leading 22 points, Justin Jackson had 14 points, Willie Cauley-Stein had 12 points and Hield had 11 points. Jackson said he appreciated time to play with the starters. 

“For him to feel confident enough to put me out there on the floor, for one, helps a lot,” Jackson said of Joerger. “For him to put me in different types of situations is definitely big because then I know I can just go out there and play because then I know he has the confidence in me.”

Sacramento is now 24-23 and 10th in the Western Conference. They continue their road trip on Tuesday and face the Toronto Raptors (35-13). Tipoff is at 4 p.m. PST.

NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Mavs score big on Hornets; Richardson leads the way in Heat’s win; Beal gets 24 in Wizards’ win; plus more

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On the NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Dallas Mavericks (18-19) topped the Charlotte Hornets (18-19) 122-84. For Dallas, Luke Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr each had 28 points to lead the Mavs.

#2 The Miami Heat (18-18) downed the Cleveland Cavaliers (8-30) 117-92. The Heat’s Josh Richardson led with 24 points.

#3 The Washington Wizards (15-23) get a 114-98 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks (11-26) Alex Len led the Hawks with 24 points and Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 24 points.

#4 The Brooklyn Nets (18-21) got a five-point win past the New Orleans Pelicans (17-22) 126-121. For the Nets, D’Angelo Russell led the Pelicans with 22 points.

#5 The Boston Celtics (22-15) got a big win past the Minnesota Timberwolves (17-21) at the Garden. The Celtics’ Gordon Hayward led all scorers with 35 points.

Join Jerry for the NBA podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Durant leads the Warriors over the Nets 116-100

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors, missing three key players, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Shaun Livingston, bounced back from a humiliating loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night to defeat the visiting Brooklyn Nets 116-100. The Nets, under coach Kenny Atkinson, arrived in town with a 6-6 record and they beat the Denver Nuggets in the Mile-High City last night. The Nets, with players that are not well known to Warriors fans, had a starting lineup with four players averaging 12 to 20 points a game. Guard Chris LeVert leads the Nets with a 20.3 points-per-game average. D’Angelo Russell, the former LA Laker, averages 16. Joe Harris is at 13.2 point-per-game, and Jarrett Allen enters the game slightly under 12 points a game.

Warriors’ backup point guard, Quinn Cook, started his first game of the year in place of the injured Steph. Curry. Also, head coach Steve Kerr needed either Klay Thompson or Kevin Durant to pick up for the injured Draymond Green. Green, a force on defense as well as one on offense, missed his second game in a row due to a toe injury. Durant responded to the challenge as he finished the night with a double-double. Durant knocked down 28 points and recorded 11 assists and had five rebounds. Klay Thompson poured in 24 and Cook kicked in with 25 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Brooklyn took the lead early in the first quarter. The Warriors led 5-4, but Brooklyn grabbed the lead and was ahead 18-13. At this point, the Warrior offense started to rev up. The Warriors closed the gap to 20-19. They regained the lead 22-20 but the Nets came back, and the game was tied twice once at 22 and the second time at 24. Jordan Bell made two key buckets to give the advantage to Golden State 30-24, and The Warriors finished the quarter 36-30.

The Warriors were able to increase the lead to 12 at the end of the first half. The Warriors could not shake the Nets as they tied the game at 44. The Warriors then went on a 21-9 run to finish the first half ahead 65-53. Durant and Cook led the Warriors with 19 each. Klay Thompson had 10, and Jonas Jerebko added 6. Joe Harris led the Nets with 19. D’Angelo Russell added 12 and Spencer Dinwiddie, coming off the bench, had 8. The Warriors defense held the Nets to 43.2% from the floor while the Warriors were 65.8%.

The Warriors, as they have done so many times, dominated the third quarter. The offense put 29 points on the board, and the defense held the Nets to 21. The Warriors finished the third quarter with a twenty-point advantage 94-74. The Warriors were in command 111-90 when Kerr removed his regulars and let the bench warmers, and three players called up from the G-League to finish the game.  The Warriors win 116-100.

Game notes and stats- The Warriors big three of Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Quinn Cook scored eighty of the Warriors 116 points. KD had 28, Cook 25, and Klay had 24. Damian Jones and Jonas Jerebko each had 8. Jordan Bell and Andre Iguodala kicked in with five apiece and Alfonzo McKinnie, who played well on defense, scored four.

The Nets’ Joe Harris led his team with 24. D’Angelo Russell was held scoreless in the second, and he finished with 12. Dinwiddie had 14 and Shabazz Napier, also coming off the bench, had 14. The Warriors defense stifled Jarrett Allen and Chris LeVert. Allen ended the night with six and LeVert was held to just 4.

The Warriors improved to 11-2, and the Nets Dropped to 6-7. The Warriors travel to Los Angeles to face the Clippers Monday night at the Staples Center. The Warriors return home to face the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.

 

Warriors hold off late rally to beat the Nets 120-114

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors were able to hold off a late rally by the Brooklyn Nets in the fourth quarter to win 120-114 and improve to 6-1 Sunday evening at Barclays Center. As with previous games, the Warriors owed their win to the talents and high-scoring of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.

Golden State led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and third quarter, but allowed Brooklyn to come within two points with 1:55 remaining in the game when D’Angelo Russell made a driving layup. But the defending champions stepped it up too Stephen Curry, who scored a team-leading 35 points along with seven rebounds and three assists, said the Warriors played well overall.

“We knew we had to come out and get to a great start. The way that they shoot three’s and try to space the floor and play fast, you can’t give them confidence early,” Curry said in postgame interviews. “We knew it was going to be a full 48-minute game.” The Warriors lacked rhythm at the start of the game but gained it faster than they did in their Friday night victory against the New York Knicks. Kerr called a timeout after Caris LeVert made a triple that put the Nets up 14-0. Then Curry and Kevin Durant were fouled at the three-point line and went 3-of-3 and 2-of-3 respectively, to tie the Nets at 26.

Durant said the Warriors had some good spurts.

“Obviously we wanted to play a great game, but we know that we are still learning and getting better,” Durant told reporters.

Golden State had a 63-49 lead at the half and a 93-77 lead at the end of the third. Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said his team made it a point to fight harder after falling behind in the first half.

“I thought that the guys really made a second push,” Atkinson said. “I thought it was a good effort in the second half.”

Curry hit a new NBA record in the first half—at least five triples for the seventh straight game. He broke George McCloud’s record of at least five three-pointers in six consecutive games from the 1995-96 season, according to Warriors PR.

Russell said players can’t guard Curry by the rules.

“Whatever the game plan is or whatever you’re deciding to do at the point of a screen or anything, all bets are off,” Russell said. “He’s one of those players in the league that is unguardable at times.”

Durant had 34 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Klay Thompson had 18 points, and Warrior reserve Alfonzo McKinnie had 9 points. The Warriors face the Chicago Bulls (2-4) at 5 p.m. Monday to end their three-game road trip.

Curry drops 34 points to lead Warriors to a 114-101 win over Nets

Photo credit: @NBA

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors won their sixth game in a row Tuesday night as they defeated the Nets 114-101 at the Oracle Arena. The Warriors needed a win to keep pace with the Houston Rockets as the Rockets downed the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this evening. The Warriors remain half a game behind the Rockets in the race for the best record in the NBA.

The Warriors, who have been trying to get off to good starts in the first quarter, seemed to have forgotten how to do it. They fell behind early with a 12-6 deficit before they went on a sensational 29-2 run to take a 35-16 lead just before the end of the first quarter. In fact, at one point in the run, they went 25-0 for the first time in team history.

The Nets hit a three just before the buzzer to make it 35-19.

The second quarter was a nightmare for Steve Kerr and the Warriors. They did everything wrong. They scored just four points in the first 5:44 of the quarter. They failed to play defense, and turned the ball over eight times in the quarter.

The Nets took advantage of the Warriors’ miscues as they went on a 13-2 run to grab a five-point lead of 36-31. The Warriors regained the lead 42-39 when Curry nailed a 3-pointer. Brooklyn kept coming back and led 53-48 at the end of the first half.

The Warriors scored just 13 points in the second 12 minutes of action. It was the fewest points in any quarter this season. They committed 12 turnovers in the half, and they are 12-9 when they commit 16 or more turnovers in a game.

JaVale McGee gave the team some energy when he tallied eight points early in the third quarter. Brooklyn matched the Warriors shot-for-shot until late in the quarter. Curry came back about halfway through the period, and he took charge of the offense. He made two consecutive 3-pointers, and the Warriors outscored the Nets 38-27 to finish the third quarter with a six-point lead of 86-80.

The Warriors increased the lead to 95-81 to complete a 22-5 run. Klay Thompson found his shot and Andre Iguodala made two key buckets to put the Warriors up 101-85. The Nets were finished as the Warriors were relentless on defense and they were able to pound the visiting team 114-101.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors won their 50th game of the season. The Warriors have won 50 or more for five straight seasons. In the first 67 years of existence of the franchise, the team had won 50 or more game just four times.

The Warriors are now 50-14 for the year, and the Nets are 20-45. The Nets have lost four in a row and 12 of the last 13.

Scoring leaders for Brooklyn were D’Angelo Russell with 22, DeMarre Carroll 19, Spencer Dinwiddie 13, and Caris LeVert 10.

The Nets’ bench outscored the Warriors 34-15.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 34. Klay Thompson had 18, Kevin Durant, 19, JaVale McGee 12, Draymond Green 16. The Warriors committed 17 turnovers and improved to 13-9 in games in which they have made 16 or more turnovers.

Jordan Bell had to leave the game when he re-injured his right ankle. X-Rays were taken and turned out to be negative.

The Warriors are 10-0 when JaVale McGee starts the game at center.

“Nothing is set in stone at that position,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “JaVale has done a good job. We kind of played center by committee here for a while now and there is no telling how the rotations will work. It’s based on matchups and based on how things are going, but I will definitely lean on all those guys at some point.”

They are 23-3 vs. the Eastern Conference and 10-2 at home.

David West, Zaza Pachulia, and Omri Casspi did not play.

Up Next: The Warriors host the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night at 7:30 pm PT.

 

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors come in with five-game win streak, host Brooklyn tonight

Photo credit: @warriors

On the Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor:

In their last game, the Warriors defeated the Atlanta Hawks 114-109, but the Warriors had to work for it. Stephen Curry hurt his ankle in the second quarter, scored 15, but left in the third quarter. Curry stopped off on his way back to Oakland at Augusta at the Masters for a couple of days of golf and knowing he’s on the links and is scheduled to be in the lineup tonight against the Brooklyn Nets at Oracle Arena.

The Warriors had three days off and they might rest some of their starters against Brooklyn and it’s not only against a team like the Nets, but any other NBA team if they can rest their players, they will take advantage of it if they have a big lead in hand. The Nets are not a good team and nowhere near the challenge that the Portland Trailblazers, who the Warriors faced on Friday night.

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

Kings fail to put two good games in a row as they fall to Jazz 98-91

Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Kings came into Saturday night’s game against the Utah Jazz coming off a 116-111 overtime victory against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night. The victory improved the Kings’ record to 19-43.

The Jazz also came into the Golden 1 Center coming off a 116-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to improve to 32-30 on the season.

The Jazz won the tip-off and score six points early in the first quarter. The Kings, though, would battle themselves back to a tie game at six points apiece with 8:20 to go in the 1st.

The Jazz also went on a little run with the Kings not hitting any of their shots. The score was 20-13 with 2:40 to play. Vince Carter would be fouled with 1:34 to play in the first. He made both free throws. The Jazz would add a few more points and finish the first with a 25-17 lead.

The Jazz opened up the second quarter in a forceful manner. With six minutes left, the Jazz had already scored 15 as opposed to the Kings’ eight. The Kings failed to capitalize on opportunities in the second quarter that led to good looks for the Jazz. The Kings also threw the ball around that cost them possessions. The Kings would manage to put some pressure on the Jazz. De’Aaron Fox, Zack Randolf, and Bogdan Bogdonovic would all put up points to get the Kings within nine points for a 52-43 deficit going into halftime.

The second half commenced with the Kings’ sloppiness with the ball. The Kings had 10 turnovers midway through the third quarter. Those 10 turnovers led to 12 points.

Buddy Hield was able to hit a three and Skal Labissiere was able to throw down a dunk to pull the Kings within single-digits as the Jazz continued to lead 69-56. Labissiere would be fouled with 1:51 to go in the third. He made both attempts to help the Kings get closer, but the Jazz enlarged its lead to 75-61. The Kings then managed to put up four more points before the end of the quarter to get them within nine with 12 minutes to play in the game.

The Jazz opened the fourth quarter with a three to make it 78-66 with 10:37 to play. Frank Mason hit a long-range jumper to bring the Kings within 11 at the seven-minute mark. No team really made any ground on the other to this point in the fourth. The Kings would take a timeout with 2:36 to go, trailing 94-83. The Kings really had to go to work at this point if they wanted to make this a close game. Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a three to make it 94-86 Jazz with 1:25 to play in the game. The Kings were unable to muster a much-needed comeback and eventually fell to the Jazz 98-91.

Notes:  De’Aaron Fox led all Kings with 17 points. Bogdan Bodanovic had 15 points.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 27 points. Skal Labissiere had 12 assists. Ricky Rubio added six rebounds.

Next: The Kings stay home in Sacramento to host the New York Knicks Sunday at 6:00 pm PST. The Jazz go home to host the Orlando Magic at 7:00 pm MST on Monday.

Kings down Nets 116-111 in overtime

Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets both came into Thursday’s contest coming off losses. The Kings fell to the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Nets fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The matchup was all-set with two teams having sub-par seasons with nothing really to play for except pride. De’Aaron Fox would lead to Kings onto the court with a 7:11 tip-off.

In the first quarter, the Kings would come out of the gate sluggish, but managed to pick it up halfway through the quarter. The Kings would have a 12-14 lead with six minutes to play in the quarter.

Allen Crabbe and the Nets would storm back to snatch a 31-22 lead. Willie Cauley-Stein would lead the way, scoring 12 points for the Kings. The Kings were a little sloppy with the ball in the first, leading to multiple dunks in transition.

The Kings needed to make up some ground in the second quarter. They did not help their cause much by continuing their sloppy ball handling. The Kings would fall to a 27-36 deficit with 9:26 to go in the first half. The game did not stay in the Nets favor for long though. The Kings stormed back to take a 43-49 with two minutes left in the quarter. Skal Labissiere would be charged with two shooting fouls and all four free throws were made. DeMarrre Carrol would cap the first half with a buzzer-beating two-point shot. They headed into the second with a score of 53-51 in favor of the Kings.

The second half started in the Kings favor with Skal Labissiere and Justin Jackson’s dunks, respectively. Yet, the Nets would come right back with points of their own to make it 62-61 Kings with 7:30 left to play in the third period. With the Kings looking to build on the one-point lead, just the opposite happened. The Kings once again were sloppy with the ball, and that led to 71-66 lead with four minutes left to play. The quarter would end with the Kings trailing 79-73.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Kings had some ground to make up. The Kings were able to tie it up at 79 apiece with a Garrett Temple dunk off a turnover. The game would go back-and-forth with the Kings up 94-89 with 3:40 to play. D’Angelo Russell would hit a long range jumper to make it 95-94 Nets with 2:20 left to go in the game. Nothing was falling for the Kings during the Nets’ run. Buddy Hield would put the Kings up 98-95 before DeMarree Carroll hit a shot from downtown to tie it up. Buddy Hield would be charged with a foul with 6.1 seconds left on the clock. The Nets made both free throws and the game was 100-98. Fox would tie it at the buzzer with a floater and the game headed to overtime.

In overtime with the help of Buddy’s buckets and Bogdan Bodanovic, the Kings would have a 110-109 lead with 1:42 left to go in overtime. Buddy Hield was fouled in transition with 13.4 seconds left to go and made both his shots to put the Kings back on top 114-111.

The final would be 116-111 with Bogdan Bogdanovic making two free throws.

Game Notes: The Kings improve to 19-43 while the Nets fall to 20-43.

Up Next: The Kings host the Utah Jazz this Saturday at 7:00 pm PT. 

Randolph’s 10,000th rebound is icing on the cake for Kings as they top Nets 104-99

Brooklyn Nets’ Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (24) defends Sacramento Kings’ Zach Randolph (50) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, in New York. The Kings won 104-99. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

By Jessica Kwong

BROOKLYN–The Sacramento Kings won back-to-back games for the first time this season on Wednesday night, surviving a late rally by the Brooklyn Nets to win 104-99 at Barclays Center.

As icing on the cake, Kings forward Zach Randolph surpassed 10,000 career rebounds.

“It’s a good win for us,” Kings head coach Dave Joerger said.

“It’s been a tough place for our organization to get some wins. I think in seven years we’ve only done it once,” Joerger said. “We got some good performances tonight from some guys who had tough nights last night.”

Sacramento led throughout most of the match at Barclays Center until about halfway into the final quarter. The Kings lead by as many as 15 points, but the Nets chipped away until Joe Harris made a driving layup to cut Sacramento’s lead to 97-95 with 5 minutes remaining in the game.

Kings forward Bogdan Bogdanovic was fouled with 10.7 seconds to go with his team up 101-99 and made one of two free throws. Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie missed a triple but the ball went out of bounds off the Kings with 4.8 seconds remaining. Brooklyn blew it when Harris made a bad pass.

Dinwiddie fouled Kings guard George Hill, who made both free throws, allowing his team to win the game 104-99.

“That was a team win,” Joerger said. “Teams are going to make runs, teams are going to make shots, so it’s how do we handle that, where do we get the ball to.”

Sacramento’s leading scorers were Hill with 22 points, Randolph with 21 points and Bogdanovic with 14 points.