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Kings battle hard again but come up short against the Thunder 122-118

Published on January 16, 2017 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

okc-west — Westbrook en route to 20th triple-double Photo: Kelley L Cox USA Today Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento — Stop me if you have heard this before. “Tough night. Tough game to watch. The guys (Kings) are playing as hard as they can,” Sacramento head coach Dave Joerger after watching his team lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-118. The Kings actually cut the Thunder lead to just two points with 11-seconds to go in the game, but there was not enough time left to finish the potential comeback.

The Kings were down by 12 points with 2-minutes remaining in the game and it felt like things were over at that point. Three 3-point baskets by Tolliver, Collison and Gay along with three Oklahoma City turnovers allowed Sacramento to work their way back into the game. Literally, the Kings waited 60-seconds to long to start their comeback and have enough time to finish it with a positive outcome.

The Kings are playing hard. They are not giving up. They just do not have enough “____________” (fill in the blank with your own opinion because there are so many and no one idea seems to be the right one at this moment). There can be no doubt that something is missing. Be assured the Kings want to fix it. At this point, it must not be that easy to fix or the organization would do it immediately.

No team wants to be in playoff contention – and the Kings are still in ninth place one-game back of Portland even after this loss – with a record of 1-5 on a seven-game homestand. The Kings management, coaching staff and players want to fix whatever is wrong. At this point, they just have not been able to do so successfully.

What will the Kings do next? They have a multitude of options so predicting the next move is very difficult despite whatever anyone is saying. The one thing that is known at this point is the Kings want that eighth spot in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Sacramento Kings — Dave Joerger draws up a play for the Kings versus the Thunder Photo: NBAE

It was a long game on Sunday night

Early in his postgame comments, Kings head coach Dave Joerger talked about what a long game it was on Sunday night. In fact, Joerger said it felt like game went on for hours.

There were 57 personal fouls committed by both teams
A total of 81 free throws were attempted
Four technical fouls were assessed

Add in timeouts, arguments by coaches and players plus video reviews and it was a long night for everyone

Stars of the game

Russell Westbrook – it did not look like the triple-double machine would pull off another impressive stat night early in the game. The OKC star guard had just 11 points, four rebounds and six assists at the half. By the time game ended, Westbrook had posted his 20th triple-double of the season by scoring 36 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists. The man is truly a phenomena.
DeMarcus Cousins – the Kings center had a big night as he scored 31 points for his team and made it a double-double game by hauling in 11 rebounds (6 offensive). He also had seven assists. It was not a great shooting night as he went 8-for-20 from the floor but Cousins made up for it from the free throw line by hitting 14-of-17 from the stripe.

Co-stars

Darren Collison – the point guard had just two points in the first half of the game and finished the game with 21 points. He shot 7-for-9 from the floor including going 2-for-3 from 3-point range. Collison also took advantage of the charity stripe going 5-for-6 from the free throw line. He also posted two assists and two steals.
Enes Kanter – he is an easy selection for the Thunder. When Steven Adams went down due to injury, Kanter picked up the slack. Kanter scored a season-high 29 against the Kings hitting 10-of-18 shots. He also recorded a double-double by pulling down 12 rebounds.

Other featured players

Kings – Rudy Gay 21 points and 10 rebounds, Anthony Tolliver 10 points, Garrett Temple 8, Matt Barnes 7 points and 8 rebounds, Arron Afflalo 7 points
Thunder – Victor Oladipo 23 points shooting 7-for-14, Alex Abrines 13 points and Steven Adams 6 points and 4 rebounds in just 19-minutes before being injured

Spotlight on stats

Points in the Paint: Thunder 56 Kings 46
2nd chance points: Kings 17 Thunder 14
Fast break points: Thunder 25 Kings 9
Turnovers: Kings 22 (23 pts for OKC) Thunder 19 (28 pts for SAC)
Rebounds: Kings 44 (14 offensive) Thunder 44 (17 offensive)

Injury update

Steven Adams, OKC Thunder – Adams went down after battling for a rebound at the 10:48 mark of the third quarter. He left the court and did not return to the game. Adams hit his head on the floor and was experiencing concussion-like symptoms. He will be evaluated on Monday to determine if he must enter the NBA concussion protocol program.

Up next on the schedule

Kings – Sacramento closes out the seven-game homestand versus the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night at the Golden 1 Center. Sacramento is just 1-5 on the current homestand and would like to close it out on a positive note before heading out on a brutal road trip. The Kings will play eight games over 13 days on the road and will not be back in Sacramento until February.

Thunder – Oklahoma City has the second game of a back-to-back set on Monday night in Los Angeles against the Clippers. The Thunder will then head back to the Bay Area on Wednesday night to take on Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors in a nationally televised game.

Kings play the Cavs tough but come up short 120-108

Published on January 14, 2017 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Cleveland Cavaliers v Sacramento Kings — Kings Ty Lawson scored 17 points against the Cavaliers Photo: NBAE

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento — The Kings had the unenviable task of taking on LeBron James and the defending NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night on their homecourt. The Cavs came into the game losers of two consecutive games and they were not looking to make it a three game losing streak. Cleveland did win the game 120-108 but after making look like they would just runaway with it in the first half, the Cavs found out the Kings have some fight in them this season as they made a battle of it in the second half.

The Kings (16-23) ran into trouble early as DeMarcus Cousins picked up two personal fouls in the first quarter and had to go to the bench with 4:18 remaining the period . The Cavaliers took advantage of the Kings big man being off the floor and ripped off 10 quick points to take a 32-15 lead into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Kings head coach Dave Joerger took a big chance when he returned Cousins to the floor with 9:52 remaining because the Cavaliers were threatening to run away with the game. The move had the desired affect as Cleveland outscored the Kings just 29-28 in the period behind Cousins’ 11 points. Even more importantly, the Kings center did not pick up another foul in the quarter. At the half, Cleveland led Sacramento 61-43 but there appeared to be a pivot in the game. Frankly, the Cavs seemed to lose focus and possibly interest in the game late in the second quarter.

After halftime, the Kings picked up where they left off in the first half. In the third quarter, it was Rudy Gay who picked up the offense scoring 11 points (4-for-6 shooting, 1 3-pointer, 2-of-3 free throws). Cousins had only three points in the quarter but had four assists as the team ran the ball through him on the high-post. Sacramento outscored the Cavaliers 31-23 in the third. The Kings shot 70.6-percent (12-for-17) from the field and hit 4-of-5 (80-percent) 3-pointers in the period. After three quarters, the Cavaliers led the Kings 84-74.

What the Kings needed in the fourth quarter was a run of 10 to 12 unanswered points. It looked like that was going to happen early in the quarter when Sacramento went on a 6-0 run and cut the Cleveland (29-10) lead to just six points. But, that was as close as the Kings would come to regaining the lead. Ty Lawson scored 13 in period for the Kings while Kyle Korver led the Cavs with eight points. When the final buzzer sounded, the Cavaliers had won the game 120-108.

The Kings Dave Joerger was a proud coach

“Good game – proud of our guys. We got off to a slow start. We didn’t make a lot of shots in the first half and we turned the basketball over 14 times, so they were able to get out and run. I had them for 24 fast break points in the first half. They ended up with 24. We cut it down in the second half a little bit. I’m happy about how we battled. We got three stops in a row 11 times which we haven’t done for a long time. And, we fought like crazy. They’re a good team. They present a plethora of problems to solve and that was a good experience for our guys and I was happy that we kept battling.

Stars of the game

Kings – While there were others with bigger numbers, no player had any more important stats than guard Ty Lawson. Lawson scored 17 points in the game and shot an impressive 7-for-10 from the floor. But what was really impressive about his scoring was that 13 of those 17 points were scored in the fourth quarter. Lawson shot 5-for-6 in final period. He played like a man possessed. A man who wanted to win the game.
Cavaliers – Again there were other players with larger numbers but Kyle Korver and his 18 points really stood out in the game. Korver was playing in just his third game for Cleveland since being traded from Atlanta. He had not even been able to have a full practice with the team before beginning to play for them. Kover did have the opportunity to participate in a shootaround on Friday morning and it looked like it paid off. Korver shot 7-for-10 from the field while hitting 4-of-6 from “downtown”. He also recorded five rebounds (1 offensive), two assists and two steals in the game.

cavs-korver — Kyle Korver had his best game for his new team in Sacramento on Friday night Photo: NBAE

Co-stars

Kings – DeMarcus Cousins posted maybe his most impressive double-double of the season. The big man scored 26 points and dished out 11 assists. The Kings made a nice adjustment against the Cleveland defense and started running the ball through Cousins on the high-post. When his teammates were moving to open space, Cousins was finding them and setting them up to score. Former Kings head coach George Karl who we know was not a big Cousins fan on many levels, called the center the best passer on the Kings multiple times last season. It seems Karl got at least one thing right.
Cavaliers – Iman Shumpert finished the game with 16 points for Cleveland, but he did his real damage in the first quarter. The talented guard went a perfect 3-for-3 (all 3-pointers) from the floor in the opening period. Those nine points helped to propel the Cavs out to a 32-15 lead that ultimately the Kings would never be able to overcome in the game.

cavs-shumpert — Iman Shumpert’s first quarter scoring influenced the entire game for Cleveland Photo: NBAE

Other key players

Kings – Rudy Gay 23 points and 10 rebounds (5 offensive); Darren Collison 13 points and four assists; Matt Barnes eight points and five rebounds in 17-minutes on the floor (his coach said in retrospect he should have probably played Barnes more).
Cavaliers – Kyrie Irving 26 points (10-for-22 shooting); LeBron James 16 points and 15 assists ( how’s that for a double-double?); Kevin Love 15 points and 18 rebounds.

The numbers game

Both teams shot over 50-percent from the floor: Cleveland 50.6-percent (44-for-87) Sacramento 52.5-percent (42-for-80)
There were 24 3-point baskets made in the game. The Kings shot a very nice 9-for-25 (36-percent) from beyond the arc. The Cavs made it rain as they hit 15-of-37 (40.5-percent) from downtown as teams continue to burn the Kings from beyond the 3-point line
The Kings out-rebounded the Cavaliers 42-39. They also were slightly better on the offensive glass grabbing 11 to the Cavs 10
Turnovers were a big problem for Sacramento in the first half as they committed 14 of their 21 miscues in the first 24 minutes. The Kings turned the ball over 21 times which resulted in 26 points for the Cavaliers. Cleveland took better care of the ball turning itover just 12 times but the TOVs did turn into 20 points for Sacramento.

Up next on the schedule

The Kings will be back on the floor on Sunday when they host Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Golden 1 Center. The Kings beat the Thunder in Sacramento back in November 116-101 behind a 36 point effort from DeMarcus Cousins. Westbrook scored 31 for the Thunder in that contest. The game on Sunday night tips off at 6 p.m.

The Cavaliers are off until Monday when they will play their archrivals the Golden State Warriors in Oakland in a nationally televised game.

Kings battle the Clippers but come up short losing 106-98

Published on January 7, 2017 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

LA Clippers v Sacramento Kings — Tipoff of Clippers vs Kings Photo: NBAE

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento — The Sacramento Kings had the unenviable job of trying to get back into the win column against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. The Clippers (25-14) came into the game winners of two consecutive games despite being short-handed due to injuries.

The Kings (15-21) literally went to battle with their rivals from Southern California but were unable to cross the finish line victorious losing 106-98.

Kings head coach Dave Joerger analyzed the game this way: “Good competitive basketball game. They’re a very talented team. They made more shots than we did. The lack of seeing the ball go in affected some of the other parts of out game. We had a tough stretch in the second quarter … they got some transition three’s. All in all good basketball game. The guys competed.”

When asked how his team is going to be able to beat teams like the Clippers in the future, Joerger responded, “They have just got to keep working and playing as hard as they can. Play at as high of a level as they can. There’s nothing to hang your head about. They (the Clippers) are one of the five best teams in the league.”

The Kings cut the Clippers lead to just two points, 100-98, with 56.2-seconds remaining in the game. After Sacramento turned the ball over on a bad pass by Cousins under the basket, the Kings had no choice but to foul the opposition. The Clippers went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in final seconds while Kings were unable to score.

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said, “The resolve, I thought that we showed in the fourth quarter was just fantastic. I love it.”

Key players returned for both teams

The Kings had been without Rudy Gay for nine games due to a right hip flexor strain. Gay was able to return to the lineup on Friday night and made an immediate impact scoring nine points in the first quarter.

Gay went on to play 33-minutes scoring 18 points and adding seven rebounds for his team. He shot 7-for-17 for the game and was just 1-for-3 from beyond the 3-point line, but there was bound to be some rust to shake off after the extended layoff.

Chris Paul made his return to the floor for the Clippers in the game. The all-star point guard had been sidelined for four consecutive games due to a sore left hamstring. Paul played 31-minutes and recorded a double-double by scoring 14 points and dishing out 12 assists.

Paul’s head coach, Doc Rivers, thought his defense down the stretch was what made the difference in the game for the Clippers.

The teams traded controlling the flow of the game

The Kings and Clippers each controlled the flow of the game in very distinct ways on Friday night. Sacramento was very much in charge in the first quarter as they outscored LAC 29-19 and shot 50-percent from the field. They seemed determined, ready and not totally dependent on DeMarcus Cousins.

Sacramento ran into a real rough patch in the second period as the Clippers erased their 10-point lead in less than six minutes. Los Angeles outscored the Kings 34-12 in the quarter behind the 3-point shooting of Austin Rivers and JJ Redick. Sacramento shot just 15-percent (3-for-20) in the period. At the half, the Clippers led the Kings 53-41.

Based on their play in the second quarter, the Kings could have been completely out of the game early if they did not come out strong after halftime. They responded to that challenge and shot the lights out in the third quarter. Sacramento behind Cousins’ 11 points outpaced the Clippers 32-22 in the period. The Kings shot 63.2-percent (12-for-19) from the field and hit 4-of-8 3-point opportunities as they closed the LA lead to just two points, 75-73, after 36 minutes of play.

The talent and experience of the Clippers came into play in the fourth quarter as they scored 31 points to the Kings 25. LAC shot 50-percent (9-for-18) from the floor and 50-percent (5-of-10) from 3-point land plus they converted 8-of-9 free throws in the final period. Chris Paul led the Clippers scoring attack with seven points all from the free throw line.

The Kings struggled as they shot 9-for-24 (37.5-percent) from the field and 33.3-percent (3-for-9) from long range in the quarter. They hit 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.

The flow of most games is not usually as defined as it was in this game and is much more difficult to uncover. In this game, it was almost like there was a giant flashing arrow pointing out a change in the direction of the flow of the game.

Key Performers

Kings

DeMarcus Cousins scored a game-high 25 points and made it a double-double game by grabbing 11 rebounds. Cousins spent much of the night on the high post in order to avoid foul trouble by battling with DeAndre Jordan and Luc Mbah a Moute.
Darren Collison was very productive playing the two-guard most of the game. He scored 20 points shooting 7-for-13 from the floor and hitting 3-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Ty Lawson put up 17 points while shooting 50-percent (6-for-12) from the floor. Lawson also distributed six assists from the point for the Kings.
Kosta Koufos played a diminished role with the change in rotation due to Gay’s return and the use of Collison and Lawson on the floor together. Dave Joerger praised Koufos for his professional attitude toward the changes. He scored seven points in 12-minutes of playing time. That was key playing time because it allowed DeMarcus Cousins to get very valuable rest.

Clippers

Austin Rivers had another big game for LAC scoring 24 points in almost 36 minutes on the floor. Rivers hit 4-of-7 3-point shots.
DeAndre Jordan put up 20 points from the five spot on the floor. He was an incredible 9-for-10 on high percentage shots for the Clippers. Many of those shots were “slammed home with authority!”
JJ Redick did his job to perfection killing the Kings momentum with well timed field goals that totaled 19 points. Five of his six baskets were 3-point conversions.

Up next on the schedule

The Kings will return to action at home on Sunday night when they host the Golden State Warriors. Playing the Warriors is tough enough but now Golden State is going to come to Sacramento angry. The Warriors lost an overtime game at home to Memphis on Friday night. There were reports of anger between players spilling over in the locker room. Golden State will be determined not to lose two in a row.

The Clippers return to Los Angeles and will host the Miami Heat on Sunday at the Staples Center. The Heat lost to the Lakers 127-100 at Staples on Friday night. The Clippers have the opportunity to make it four consecutive wins in one week. That would be a nice way to kick off the new year.

Kings suffer 4th quarter collapse and lose to the Jazz 104-84

Published on December 11, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento Kings v Utah Jazz — Casspi to the hoop in Utah photo:NBAE

The Sacramento Kings forgot to play by the old adage of “it’s not how you start the game but how you finish the game that counts”. Sacramento started the game in Utah on Saturday night with an 11-0 run. The Kings finished the game scoring just eight points in the fourth quarter versus the Jazz and lost their second consecutive contest 104-84.

Yes, it was the second game of a back-to-back set on the road for Sacramento. Every NBA fan knows that means the deck is stacked against your team in second game of a back-to-back set on the road, but the deck is also stacked against a home team that is without three of its regular starters due to injuries. That is exactly what the Jazz had to deal with on Saturday night. Three of their regular starters are missing due to injury, and they could easily use that as an excuse anytime to explain away a loss. Instead, they played hard and won their 15th game of the season.

The Kings played hard for 36 minutes

Sacramento trailed the Jazz by just two points after three quarters of play were in the book on Saturday night. It appeared that it was anybody’s game as the teams headed into the final 12 minutes of play.

The Kings did not show up on either end of the floor. On offense, Sacramento shot just 13.6-percent (3-for-22) from floor with one 3-point basket in seven attempts. They went just 1-for-4 from the free throw line. The Kings used 12 players in the fourth period and only four scored points for the team.

On defense, the Kings allowed the Jazz to score 26 points in the final quarter while shooting 50-percent (10-for-20) from the floor. Utah hit 4-of-9 from beyond the 3-point line. Trey Lyles led the Jazz with eight points in the fourth quarter and Gordon Hayward added seven points as well.

The Jazz dominated the fourth quarter of the game as they sent the Kings home with their 15th loss of the year.

Utah dominated the numbers in this game

The Jazz topped the Kings in all of the important numbers as a team on Saturday night. Utah shot 48.1-percent (37-for-77) from the floor while Sacramento shot just 37.8-percent for the game. This was the second straight game that Kings shot under 40-percent for the game. You cannot win in the NBA shooting under 40-percent.

Utah hit 13-of-29 shots from beyond the 3-point arc (44.8-percent). A NBA team cannot allow their opponents to shoot above 40-percent from 3-point land and expect to win. The defense has to put a body on those shooters and put pressure on that offense to stop taking those long range shots if they are going to win the game.

The Jazz shot 94.4-percent (17-for-18) from the free throw line. Teams are not going to shoot that well from the stripe on most nights in “the Association”. The biggest problem for Sacramento was the fact they only went to the free throw line 13 times in the entire game. This is a team that usually dominates the paint. To have only 13 opportunities from the charity stripe in a game is totally unacceptable for the Kings.

For the second game in a row, the Kings were dominated on the boards. The Jazz outrebounded the Kings 54-34. Utah pulled down 44 defensive rebounds to Sacramento’s 22 defensive boards. The Knicks also outrebounded the Kings in their win on Friday night.

utah-utah — Jazz dominates Kings in Utah photo: NBAE

Gobert had a monster game for the Jazz

Rudy Gobert has been tasked with being the leader of his team on the floor with the other three starters missing in action. Saturday night, Gobert recorded a double-double in the game. He posted 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He also had six – yes you are reading correctly – six blocked shots in the game. Gobert is becoming a force to be dealt with in the NBA.

Four Jazz players scored in double figures

Gordon Hayward was the high-scorer in the game with 26 points for Utah. Hayward hit three 3-point baskets and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

Trey Lyles added 14 points off the bench for the Jazz. Joe Ingles put up 11 points in his 38-minutes of playing time, and Gobert posted his 17 points.

Kings scoring numbers

Rudy Gay led the scoring attack for the Kings on Saturday night. He put up 20 points shooting 7-for-15 from the floor and going 3-for-4 from 3-point range. That is one of his best shooting performances in some time for the Kings.

Point guard Darren Collison added 17 points shooting 50-percent from the field and hitting 3-of-5 from 3-point land.

DeMarcus Cousins posted a double-double putting up 16 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. He also had a tough night shooting going just 7-for-22 from the floor. He was just 1-for-6 from 3-point range.

Omri Casspi continues to make the most of every minute of playing time he given. In this game, Casspi played 27-minutes and scored 12 points. He hit 5-of-9 shots from the floor and was 2-for-3 from long distance. Casspi also had two assists and two steals.

Up next on the schedule

The Kings have Sunday off and then return to action on Monday hosting the Los Angeles Lakers at the Golden 1 Center. The Kings lost to the Lakers in November 101-91 in Sacramento. The last thing Sacramento wants to do is to be swept by the Lakers on their home court.

The Jazz are off until Wednesday night when they will host the Oklahoma City Thunder in Salt Lake City.

Knicks sneak past the Kings 103-100

Published on December 10, 2016December 10, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

New York Knicks v Sacramento Kings — Cousins shoots against the Knicks photo: NBA.com

Sacramento – The Kings trailed the New York Knicks 103-100 with 2.6-seconds remaining in the game. New York had to inbound the ball in the frontcourt after calling a timeout. The inbound pass came to Carmelo Anthony who was immediately fouled by Rudy Gay before any time could come off the clock. The only problem with the plan was the fact that Anthony was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line in game up to that point.

Incredibly, Anthony stepped up to the line and promptly missed the first first free throw and the sellout crowd began to buzz. Anthony shot the second free throw and unbelievably missed again.

DeMarcus Cousins grabbed the rebound and ran as close to midcourt as he dared. The giant of a man then heaved a what was estimated to be a 52-foot desperation shot at his basket that hit the rim and then rolled out. For a few micro-seconds the thousands of Kings fans in attendance thought they were going to witness a miracle, then reality hit and the big crowd began to exit the Golden 1 Center knowing their team had lost the game.

Each team was missing a key player in the game

The Kings played the game without Matt Barnes who was held out of the game for what was called “rest”. Barnes of course has been at the center of a controversial story about a fight that allegedly took place in a New York City night club early last Monday morning. Rumors have been swirling that Barnes would be arrested by NYPD for his involvement in the incident. Barnes has also been named in a lawsuit that has been filed by two of the alleged victims of the brawl.

In his postgame press conference, Kings head coach Dave Joerger indicated that he believed Barnes would be available to play against the Jazz in Utah on Saturday night. Barnes was on the bench in street clothes for the game Friday night.

The Knicks were without Derrick Rose who is suffering from lower back pain. Rose had to miss the game on Wednesday night in New York City versus the Cavaliers due to the same problem.

NYK head coach Jeff Hornacek said before the game he was hopeful Rose would be available for the game on Sunday when his team faces the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Sacramento struggles shooting again against the Knicks

The Kings (8-13) shot much better in the first half against the Knicks on Friday night than did last Sunday in the Garden when they shot under 30-percent. However, the Kings shot under 40-percent in both the third and fourth quarters of this game which helped lead to their demise.

Sacramento shot 40.2-percent (35-for-87) from the floor and were a dismal 7-of-28 (25-percent) from 3-point range. The Kings went 23-for-27 (85.2-percent) from the free throw line.

Cousins led the way for the Kings

Cousins scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to post the double-double. He also struggled shooting going 9-for-25 from the field and 0-for-6 for 3-point opportunities. Cousins did dish out six assists in the contest
Darren Collison had a strong game against the Knicks. He scored 14 points shooting 5-for-11 in the game. He also had three assists and two steals
Rudy Gay recorded 15 points, five rebounds and a steal. He also had a tough night shooting going 4-for-15 from the floor and 0-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line
Omri Casspi keeps taking advantage of every playing opportunity he is given by Dave Joerger. Casspi put 12 points up on the board hitting 4-of-5 shots from the floor including one 3-pointer. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe and he had two steals in the game
Ben McLemore started his second consecutive game and scored 10 points. He hit 2-of-2 from long range
Other Kings scorers: Anthony Tolliver 10, Garrett Temple 5, Kosta Koufos 4, Ty Lawson 4

Kings Dave Joerger on problems at the end of quarters in the game

“That was definitely a good basketball game. A couple of things came back and bit us. We gave up eight points at the end of the first, second and third quarter on last possession plays. In a close game, those things add up. We struggled to struggled to score the basketball tonight. We turned them over 17 times and scored 25 points off of that but outside of that we just didn’t make a lot of shots. Especially from the perimeter, we did not gain a lot of shots from the perimeter so it may jam up the paint on us. Good basketball game.”

joerger-nyk — Dave Joerger faces the press photo: SRS.com

Surprising stat of the night

The Kings are not a team that is outrebounded by their opponents on a regular basis. If the other team does record more rebounds, the difference is usually not dramatic.

On Friday night, the Knicks outrebounded the Kings 54-39. Kings head Dave Joerger felt their length and the fact the Kings played “small” much of the game is what allowed New York to establish such a margin.

NYK did not have a great shooting night but lived in “Melo’s” world

The Knicks shot just 42.9-percent (36-for-84) on Friday against the Kings. They shot slightly better from long range hitting on 10-of-29 (34.5-percent) of their 3-point shots.

New York (13-10) rode the hot hand of Carmelo Anthony in the first half and then relied on efforts of Kristaps Porzingis and their bench in the second half.

Melo put 33 points in the book on Friday night. He shot 9-for-22 from field, 3-for-10 from long distance and was an impressive 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Anthony scored 23 points in the first half
Porzingis scored 17 after shooting a pitiful 1-for-9 in the first half. He did wind up with a double-double by hauling in 10 rebounds
Brandon Jennings did a nice job filling in for Rose on the point scoring 13 points and distributing seven assists
Kyle O’Quinn had a nice game off the bench for the Knicks scoring eight points, pulling down 11 rebounds, dishing five assists and blocking two shots in 20-minutes of playing time

carmelo-kings — Melo fires away versus the Kings photo: NBA.com

Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek had nothing but praise but praise for Carmelo

“He had a great game. When he’s scoring, he’s getting the ball in a good position from our guys where he can drive it. We put him in some trouble later on in the game, giving him the with like four seconds to go, not a good thing to do. We talked about having to get to the offense a little bit quicker. Late in the game, we kind of walked to our spots. Carmelo, when we go to him, he can pump fake, he can drive, he’s making passes. He’s playing an all-around game, like a star does.”

Up next for the teams

The Kings go right back into action on Saturday night as they play the back end of a back-to-back set on the road in Utah against the Jazz.

The Knicks are off until Sunday when they will play game two of their five-game road trip in Los Angeles versus the Lakers.

Knicks vs Kings: Round Two tonight in Sacramento

Published on December 9, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings (8-13) have the opportunity to take revenge on the New York Knicks (12-10) for the 106-98 beating they took in the Garden last Sunday night. The Kings shot just 32-percent (31-for-97) in the game and still managed come within two points of the lead with 4:34 to go in the contest before falling back and losing by eight points.

DeMarcus Cousins was the Kings leading scorer with 36 points and he made it a double-double by adding in 13 rebounds. The Knicks scoring was led by Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose who each scored 20 points against Sacramento. The New York bench outscored the Kings bench 44-22.

Knicks are not a great road team

New York is just 3-6 on the road this season. The game tonight with the Kings begins a five-game road trip for the Knicks that will take them to Sac, Los Angeles (Lakers), Phoenix, Golden State and Denver. They have no back-to-back games on the road trip.

Knicks are coming off a big loss at home

New York was run out of the Garden on Wednesday night by the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-94. Kyrie Irving led the Cleveland scoring attack with 28 points while LeBron James added 25 points to go with seven assists. Kevin Love scored 21 for the Cavs.

Brandon Jennings started for the Knicks in place of the injured Derrick Rose (sore lower back) and was the leading scorer for NYK with 16 points and three assists. Courtney Lee added 15 points and Kristaps Porzingis recorded 12 points in the loss.

Interesting side note from the Cavs – NYK game, with that many points scored you expect there to have been at least one double-double posted but there were none achieved in that game.

Kings are coming off a road win

Sacramento beat the Mavericks in Dallas 120-89 on Wednesday night in Dallas. The Mavs were without Dirk Nowitzki, Jose Juan Barea, Andrew Bogut and Seth Curry due to injuries. So with that depleted Mavericks lineup, the Kings should have run away with the game.

Cousins was once again the man with 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Rudy Gay and Darren Collison scored 19 points each. Garrett Temple put up 17 points on the board going a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range.

Sacramento shot 56-percent (47-for-84) from the field and 45.5-percent (10-for-22) from 3-point land. The Kings were right on target with a perfect 2-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio of 28 to 14.

The Dallas win allowed the Kings to finish the road trip with a 2-3 record.

beaumont-enterprise — Photo: Beaumont Enterprise

NYK injury status

Derrick Rose is nursing a sore back. He is listed as questionable for tonight’s game which means there is a 50-percent chance of him playing.

The Kings are reporting no injuries at this time.

Keys to a Kings victory

The main ingredient for a Sacramento victory is a decent shooting percentage. The Kings shot under 40-percent in New York City and still kept the game close. Tonight they must come out and shoot well right from the opening tip-off in order to avoid an embarrassment on their home court.

For entertainment purposes only

FiveThirtyEight.com gives the Kings a 64-percent chance to win tonight’s game with the Knicks. They say take the Kings minus 3.5 points.

FiveThirtyEight’s CARMELO system projects the Knicks will finish with a record of 39-43 and in the much weaker Eastern Conference that gives NYC a 55-percent chance of making the playoffs.

The “desert-dwellers” are making the Kings the favorites minus 2.5 – 4.5 points and all are setting the over/under at 210.

The Kings shoot poorly and lose to the Knicks 106-98

Published on December 4, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento Kings v New York Knicks — Cousins drives on Noah at the Garden photo: NBAE

“48” – that is the most import number the Sacramento Kings have to drill into their minds right now. They need to learn that a NBA basketball last for 48 minutes and that means as a team the Kings need to play hard for 48 minutes.

The Kings did not play hard for all 48 minutes in the game at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday night and Sacramento lost to the Knicks 106-98. This was an unusual game in the sense it was lost in the first half and almost redeemed in the second half, but that is exactly how so many games in the NBA are lost.

Shots would not fall for the Kings in the first half

The Kings shot just 28.6-percent (14-49) in the first half. The term is often used that “the basket had a lid on it”. Well in the first of the game on Sunday for Sacramento, the basket had a lid on it. The Kings were not taking bad shots . The Knicks were not playing great defense. Literally, the ball would not fall through the hoop. The Kings went 9-for-26 in the paint.

The Knicks did not shoot the lights out of the Garden. They shot 42.3-percent (22-for-52) in the first half of the game. New York shot just 36.7-percent in the first quarter.

As the teams headed to the locker rooms at the half, the Kings were lucky to trailing by just 14 points, 55-41.

The Kings came alive in the third quarter

The third quarter began like the second quarter ended. The Knicks kept pouring it on behind the scoring of Porzingis and Anthony and opened up a 20-point lead with 7:59 left to play in the period. At that point, the Kings began to turn the game around.

Starting with a Rudy Gay 25-foot 3-point basket at the 7:02 mark, the Kings began to cut into the Knicks lead. Led by Cousins’ 11 points and Gay’s 10 points the Kings cut the New York lead to one point with 48-seconds remaining in the quarter. At the end of three quarters, New York led the game 81-77.

The Kings came close in the fourth quarter but could not close the deal

The Knicks behind the play of Prozingis opened the lead back up to eight points. Cousins kept the Kings close and Sacramento cut the New York lead down to two points with help of strong play from Gay, Collison and Cauley-Stein.

Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Jennings took over from there adding to the Knicks lead and the Kings were unable to respond. Sacramento had spent so much energy working their way back into the game – they did not have enough left in the tank to fight back overcome the Knicks lead.

The Knicks won the game 106-98.

Cousins was the star of the game again for Sacramento (7-13)

The big center recorded his 10th double-double with 36 points and 12 rebounds. He also had four assists and three blocked shots. Cousins was 9-for-30 shooting from the field
Rudy Gay scored 22 points shooting 7-for-18 and grabbing nine rebounds
Darren Collison put up 13 points and dished out six assists
Kosta Koufos scored only two points but he pulled down 11 rebounds that included five offensive rebounds
Willie Cauley-Stein played 23 minutes scoring nine points and hauling in four rebounds. Coach Dave Joerger said Cauley-Stein’s length on defense matched up well against Prozingis
The Kings shot just 32.3-percent (31-96) as team for the game

The usual suspects came through for the Knicks (11-9)

The Knicks had four players score in double figures while shooting 44.3-percent (39-for-88) from the floor. NYK also shot 37.9-percent (11-for-29) from 3-point range
Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose each scored 20 points in the game. Rose continues to look more like the Rose of old all the time
Brandon Jennings put up 19 points with 4-of-5 his scores being 3-point baskets. He was also a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line
Kristaps Porzingis started the game slowly but finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds

Up next on the schedule

The Kings wrap up their five game road trip on Wednesday night in Dallas with what has become a must win game over the terrible Mavericks. A win would let the Kings finish the road trip 2-3.

The Knicks also hit the road and visit South Beach to take on the Heat on Tuesday night.

Kings lose a battle in Boston 97-92

Published on December 2, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento Kings v Boston Celtics — Cousins and Horford battle under the basket Photo NBAE

The Kings and Celtics went to war on the basketball court on Friday night in Boston. The game featured 23 lead changes and 12 ties. As those stats would imply, both teams had the opportunity to win the game. In the end, Boston led by Al Horford was able to put the “W” in the books because of their tough play late in the fourth quarter.

The Celtics won their 11th game of the season as they downed the Kings 97-92. Sacramento now drops to 7-12 on the season and 1-2 on what is now a five-game road trip.

The Kings started slow and finished sluggish

Sacramento went with the “the big” starting lineup in this game – Koufos, Cousins, Gay, Afflalo and Collison. Boston began running away from this starting five immediately. By the 4:26 mark in the first quarter, the Celtics held a 13-point lead 24-11. Dave Joerger pulled all of his starters except Cousins and the second unit erased the deficit tying the game at 29-29 at the end of the first period.

That set up a real battle between the teams that played out in second, third and part of the fourth quarters.

With 7:54 to go in the game, Al Horford hit a hook shot that tied the game and the Celtics eventually went on a 10-0 run that created a major uphill battle for the Kings. Sacramento led by Cousins tried to fight their way back into the game and did cut the Celtics lead to three points with 39 seconds remaining in the game. The Kings were unable to score again in those final seconds and lost the game.

The Kings lost Cousins for medical treatment late in the 3rd and early in the 4th quarters

Late in the third quarter, Ty Lawson and DeMarcus Cousins were both going for a defensive rebound when Lawson’s left elbow hit Cousins above the left eye. The blow opened up a cut above Cousins’ left eye. He was taken to the locker room where they glued the cut shut and he returned to the game with under eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

Was that the turning point in the game? No, it was not. Read the next section and you will understand why it was not the key to the loss.

Missed shots in the paint – poor shot selection – turnovers all haunt the Kings

“We just shot ourselves in the foot. We turned the damned thing (the ball) over like I’ve never seen.We take bad shots sometimes and it just ticks me off. At bad times … stuff we know we have to get better at. We’re not a bunch of rookies. We can get better. We’ll keep plugging away and keep getting better, but we shot 47 shots in the paint and missed how many layups? Turnovers killed us. Shots come and go – we didn’t make shots,” said Kings head coach Dave Joerger after the game.

Sacramento outscored Boston 42-34 in the paint but went 21-for-47 in the high percentage shooting area. The Kings shot just 37.9-percent (33-for-87) for the game. It is almost impossible to win a game in the NBA and shoot under 40-percent. Sacramento turned the ball over 15 times and those TOVs created 21 points for Boston.

Cousins was the Kings scoring leader but it was not his best night – Barnes was big

DeMarcus Cousins was the game’s leading scorer with 28 points but he had to take 26 shots to tally those points. He was 2-for-7 from long range. Cousins had nine rebounds so he did not record a double-double
Matt Barnes did have a double-double for the Kings on Friday night. He scored 12 points, grabbed 16 rebounds (game-high) and added five assists. Barnes also provided some much needed energy on defense several times in the game
Rudy Gay and Darren Collison each scored 12 points for Sacramento. Gay had eight rebounds but went 1-for-7 from 3-point range. Collison had three assists
Omri Casspi played almost 27 minutes off the bench and scored seven points. Casspi brought some much needed energy late in the first quarter
Willie Cauley-Stein had some strong minutes of playing time in the first half and scored six points in the game

Al Horford was the star for Boston in the game

Horford had a complete game for the Celtics on Friday night against the Kings. The Boston center played 35-minutes scoring 26 points, recorded eight rebounds, dished out three assists, had two steals and six -yes you are reading correctly – six blocked shots. He shot 10-for-18 from the floor and 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was even more impressed with Horford’s defense. Stevens talked about how his center is always at the ready on defense. Horford did make a key defensive play on Cousins in the final seconds of the game to deny the Kings big man a 3-point shot opportunity.

Other Celtic contributors

Former Kings player Isaiah Thomas put up 20 points and handed out seven assists on a night when he did not shoot his best. Thomas shot 6-for-21 from the floor and 0-for-5 from 3-point land
Jae Crowder added 16 points and Avery Bradley scored 15 for Boston
One of the big weaknesses for the Celtics is the lack of bench scoring. The Celtics reserves scored just 12 points in the contest. The Kings bench scored 33 points in the game

Up next on the schedule

The Kings have the day off in New York City on Saturday and then will face the New York Knicks in “the Garden” on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. PST in game four of the five-game road trip.

The Celtics kick off a road trip on Saturday night in Philadelphia with the Sixers assuming the floor is dry enough for play. The NBA will make sure the floor is game-ready for the Celtics and Sixers … take that to the bank.

Kings win game one on the road beating Brooklyn 122-105

Published on November 27, 2016November 27, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

By Charlie O. Mallonee

NBA: Sacramento Kings at Brooklyn Nets — Photo USA Today Sports

The road is a harsh place in the NBA

The chances of a road team winning a game in the NBA stand at approximately 40-percent. That means the odds are against you before you ever start the game.

The Sacramento Kings kicked off a six-game road trip in Brooklyn on Sunday night against the Nets. The Nets came into the game having lost six consecutive games and were desperate for a win. Sacramento knew this was a team they could beat and needed to defeat to make it a successful start to the road trip.

The Kings (7-10) met their goal by soundly defeating the Nets 122-105 to start the long road trip on a positive note.

The Nets opened the game with fast and furious play

Brooklyn plays fast as team normally, but they opened this game with a sense of urgency wanting to end their losing streak and feeling like the Kings were a team they could beat on their home court.

The Nets decided to use the Rockets philosophy and started shooting as many 3-pointers as possible against the Kings. The concept worked momentarily as Brooklyn opened up a nine point lead shooting 5-for-10 from long range, but the Kings got organized on offense scoring with high percentage shots in the paint. At the end of the first quarter, the Kings had cut the Nets lead to four points – 35 to 31.

The Sacramento second unit slowed the Nets down in the second quarter

The Kings second unit led by Matt Barnes and Garrett Temple slowed the Nets down by increasing the defensive pressure and continued to cut into the Brooklyn lead using high percentage shots in the paint. Sacramento tied the game up with 8:52 to in the first half, and then they took the lead.

The Nets took the lead back before the end of the half, but they were not able to reestablish the fiery pace of the first quarter. Also, the Kings continued to score. DeMarcus Cousins hit a 25-foot bank shot for 3-points near the end of period. At the end of the 12-minutes, Sacramento had won the quarter 27-24. Brooklyn went to halftime with a 59-58 lead over the Kings.

Sacramento Kings v Brooklyn Nets — Photo NBAE

In the third quarter the Sacramento Express rolled into Brooklyn

The Kings have been a strong second-half team in general this season. On Sunday night in Brooklyn, they found a whole new running gear thanks to their star center. Cousins took charge of the game scoring 18 points in the quarter, shooting 6-for-9 from the floor including hitting 2-of-2 from 3-point range. He went 4-for-4 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals in the period. Cousins did in 12-minutes what a majority of players would love to do in an entire game.

Rudy Gay added five points and two assists. Darren Collison scored five points and had one assist. Matt Barnes put up three points and dished out three assists in just 5:30 on the floor.

By the end of the quarter, the Kings had outscored the Nets 34-18 in the period and had a 92-77 lead in the game.

The one negative of the quarter was that DeMarcus Cousins picked up a technical foul for hitting Luis Scola in the face under basket while trying to make a layup. Cousins then went to the line to shoot two free throws because Scola fouled him in the act of shooting. It is Cousins fourth technical of the season.

The fourth quarter should have been an easy one for Sacramento but is wasn’t

Everything started off the Kings in fourth quarter just the way they wanted things to go. It looked like it would be a forgettable 12-minutes and Sacramento could move on to Washington, D.C. for the game on Monday night.

Then at the 9:35 mark of the fourth quarter, Sean Kilpatrick of the Nets drove to the basket for a layup. Matt Barnes of the Kings ran in from the angle to cut him off and there was heavy contact. Replay revealed that Barnes’ left arm made contact with Kilpatrick’s face. The officials went to review the video and everyone knew Barnes was going to be issued a flagrant one foul. Instead, the referees called it a flagrant two foul and Barnes was ejected from the game. (Let me just say that Barnes previous reputation as a tough guy may have come into play in the call – imho).

The ejection changed the momentum of the game and the Nets promptly went on a 16-2 run and cut the Kings lead down to 99-93.

Rudy Gay hit a 19-foot jumper with 6:29 to go in the game which kicked off a 14-0 run by the Kings. That run killed any hope the Nets had of coming back in the game.

Sacramento won the game by the final score of 122-105.

Sacramento leaders

DeMarcus Cousins was the leading scorer in the game with 37 points and made it a double-double with 11 rebounds
Rudy Gay had a big game with 22 points, eight assists and eight rebounds
Darren Collison scored 18 points
Ty Lawson scored 13 points coming off the bench for the Kings
Omri Casspi played again for the Kings putting up eight point and grabbing five rebounds. He was 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
Everyone on the Sacramento bench except Anthony Tolliver – that includes Ben McLemore and Willie Cauley-Stein- played in the game

Brooklyn’s top producers

Guard Sean Kilpatrick was the Nets leading scorer with 22 points. He went 8-for-13 shooting including three 3-point baskets
Brook Lopez put up 17 points and hauled in seven rebounds while battling with DeMarcus Cousins all night
Bojan Bogdanovic added 13 points for Brooklyn
Justin Hamilton was the Nets rebounding leader with 10

Key stat of the game

Points in the paint: Kings 50 Nets 36 – this is where the game was won

Up next on the schedule

The Nets game was the first game of a back-to-back set on the road for the Kings. Sacramento will play on Monday night in Washington, D.C. The Wizards are 5-10 on the season and are coming off a loss to San Antonio. The Kings did play the Wizards in the preseason at Rupp Arena on the campus of the University of Kentucky.

The Nets will try to end their seven-game losing streak on Tuesday night when they host the 14-4 Los Angeles Clippers.

Kings host the Rockets in the final game of the homestand

Published on November 25, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Kings wrap up their five-game homestand on Friday night when they host the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are 9-6 on the season and are in fifth place in the Western Conference.

The Rockets continue being road warriors tonight

Tonight’s game kicks off a five-game road trip for Houston
By the end of this trip the Rockets will have played 14 of their 20 games on the road
Houston is 5-4 on the road to date; they were 18-23 on the road last season
Toronto stopped the Rockets three-game winning streak on Wednesday night with a 115-102 win in Houston
WARNING: the Rockets are 5-0 in the first game following a loss this season

It’s still James Harden’s world

Los Angeles Clippers v Houston Rockets - Game Seven — James Harden NBA.com

Harden is averaging 28.7 points, 12.5 assists, and 7.7 rebounds per game
He has scored or assisted on 53.7-percent of the Rockets field goals this year
Harden has 12 double-doubles (points/assists) so far this season
He has recorded 15+ assists five times this season

New additions since last year

2e775b29-9a9a-42aa-8ff1-aacc6c4b88e1-nba_1_1280x720 — Ryan Anderson NBA.com

First, there is the a new head coach in Mike D’Antoni. This is his fifth head coaching job in the NBA. He has been the head man at Denver, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles Lakers and now Houston
Local product Ryan Anderson formerly of New Orleans – the 3-point bomber who loves to take on the Kings – is now a member of the Rockets. He is averaging 12.3 points per game and shooting 38.4-percent from 3-point range
Houston also signed Eric Gordon as a sixth man away from New Orleans. He is averaging 15.4 points per game off the bench for the Rockets

Kings – the final game of the homestand

Sacramento is 2-2 on this homestand. A win tonight would give them a winning record on this home tilt
This is the first of four meetings between the Kings and Rockets this season
The Rockets won 3-of-4 games last season
The Kings are looking to build on their wins over Toronto and Oklahoma City
This will be another test for the new “small ball” line up that has been put in place by head coach Dave Joerger

For Sacramento it’s still about Boogie

As Cousins goes so goes the Kings. The big man scored 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against OKC. They will need big numbers from him again tonight
Rudy Gay is always important to the Kings success on the court. He put up 17 points versus the Thunder just below his season average of 20.2 ppg. With a scoring machine like Ryan Anderson at forward for the opposition, Gay’s production will be key
Point guard Darren Collison exploded on offense in his first start of the season. He scored 21 points and dished out six assists in the Wednesday game
Sacramento also received good support from the bench on Wednesday night. Ty Lawson, Kosta Koufos, Ben McLemore and Garrett Temple all played productive minutes in the game
Coach Joerger went with a short bench against OKC. He used just nine players in that contest. Will that be the case again tonight?

The trade rumors just will not go away

More trade rumors were flying around on the internet today claiming that DeMarcus Cousins is about to be traded soon. The rumors have indicated that a trade would happen in early December to as late as February 2017.

The good news for Kings fans is their star player seems to be immune to the trade talk at this point is career. He has been the subject of trade rumors so often Cousins might only be concerned if he was left out of the rumor mill.

The concern is affect the trade talk might have on his teammates. It does not take much to distract a team and take them off their focus of trying play winning basketball. They need to follow the lead of their star player and focus on the game and not the talk off the court.

Back on the road again

barclay — Barclay Center home of the Nets NBA.com

The Kings will head back out on the road for six games in 12 days with all but one game to be played in the Eastern time zone. It is a long trip but the good news is there is only one back-to-back set of games on the trip.

The trip opens on Sunday night in Brooklyn with the Nets. The Kings will then get the back-to-back out of the way early as they play the Wizards in D.C. on Monday night. They will also visit Philadelphia, Boston, Manhattan, and Dallas before returning home on December 9th to host the Knicks.

For entertainment purposes only

The good folks at FiveThirtyEight.com have the Rockets as the favorites in the game minus 0.5 points. They give the Rockets a 52-percent chance to win the game.

The FiveThirtyEight CARMELO system projects the Rockets to have an 85-percent chance of making the playoffs but just a one-percent chance of winning the NBA Championship.

The fine folks in Nevada say the Rockets are the favorites minus 3.0 to 3.5 points. They believe the over/under will be 215 to 216 points.