Tag: Dave Joerger

Kings Countdown: Friday night the red hot Clippers visit Sacramento

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

Memphis Grizzlies v Los Angeles Clippers
Chris Paul vs Memphis Photo: NBAE via Getty Images

Los Angeles Clippers (10-2)

Clippers looking to rebound from second loss of season

LAC (10-2) lost just their second game of the season on Wednesday night to the Memphis Grizzlies 111-107 on their homecourt in Los Angeles. The Grizzlies Marc Gasol hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in the game to lead Memphis to the win.

J.J. Redick was the Clippers leading scorer putting up 29 points. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 14 rebounds. LAC shot 45.7-percent from the floor (37-for-81) and 9-for-25 (36.0-percent) from 3-point land. DeAndre Jordan went 0-for-2 from the free throw line.

Team Leaders for the Clippers

  • Forward Blake Griffin leads LAC in scoring with 20.6 points per game
  • DeAndre Jordan is the leader in shooting percentage at 57.8-percent with most of his scoring coming in the paint near the basket
  • Jordan is also the rebounding leader at 12.8 per game (3.8 offensive rebounds ppg)
  • Chris Paul dishes out an average of 8.3 assists per game
  • When it comes to 3-pointers, Paul and J.J. Redick average hitting 2.3 long shots per game each
  • As a team, the Clippers average 108.7 per game – fourth best in the NBA
  • The Clippers defense has held their opponents to just 93.8 points per game – number one in the NBA – this team not only can score, they can play defense

Does “hack-a-Jordan” still work?

DeAndre Jordan is shooting 44.0-percent from the free throw line so far this year, so it’s worth a try.

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DeAndre Jordan checks the scoreboard Photo: NBAE via Getty Images

How do you beat the Clippers?

  • The Grizzlies beat LAC by doubling the number of 3-pointers they hit. Memphis hit 15 from downtown to just nine for the Clippers
  • Memphis also outrebounded Los Angeles 43-35

This is the front end of a back-to-back for the Clippers

The Clippers have to go home after the game on Friday night and host the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.

Probable starters for the Clippers

  • Forward Luc Mbah a Moute 5.8 ppg
  • Forward Blake Griffin 20.6 ppg
  • Center DeAndre Jordan 10.3 ppg
  • Guard J.J. Redick 14.6 ppg
  • Guard Chris Paul 18.3 ppg

Sacramento Kings (4-8)

San Antonio Spurs v Sacramento Kings
Cousins battling under the basket Photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE

Game two of five at home

The Kings lost the opening game of the homestand to San Antonio 110-105. Now, they have to play the team with the best record in the NBA – the Los Angeles Clippers are who 10-2 on the season.

The Kings have lost three consecutive games

The Kings (4-8) have already experienced  a four-game losing streak on the long road trip that featured five games in seven nights. The team would like to avoid matching that losing streak but that is going to be a tough task against a team like the Clippers who are playing so well on both ends of the floor.

Kings must play solid defense against the Clippers

The Clippers are just too strong of a scoring team to get into a shootout with in the game. If you do, you are going to lose. The Kings must slow the game down and play solid, hard nosed defense. They must decide who they are going to shutdown. Will they go after Griffin or Chris Paul? Sacramento has to make one of those players ineffective in order to have a chance to win.

Sacramento needs a third scorer to step up

The Kings have been dependent on DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay to carry the load when it comes to scoring. The Clippers are too strong of a team on defense for the Kings to have just two scoring options. The Kings need a third player to produce tonight – preferably a guard who might be able to hit some 3-pointers.

Last year versus the Clippers

The Kings were 1-3 versus the Clippers in 2015-16. Their lone win came in January 2016 at Staples Center when six Kings players scored in double figures.

How deep will the rotation go?

There had been rumors that Dave Joerger was going to shorten the rotation on his bench and then he used 10 players against San Antonio. Only Omri Casspi and Anthony Tolliver did not see the floor versus the Spurs. Will the same be true against the Clippers tonight?

Probable starters

  • Forward Rudy Gay 21.3 ppg
  • Forward DeMarcus Cousins 26.6 ppg
  • Center Kosta Koufos 5.3 ppg
  • Guard Aaron Afflalo 9.6 ppg
  • Guard Ty Lawson 5.4 ppg
San Antonio Spurs v Sacramento Kings
Ty Lawson probable starter Photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE

For Entertainment Purposes Only

FiveThirtyEight.com predicts the Clippers have a 69-percent change of winning the game to just a 31-percent chance for the hometown Kings. FiveThirtyEight says take the Clippers minus five points.

Other sites from that desert town in Nevada project an over/under of 204.5 points. They favor the Clippers minus 8.0 to 8.5 points.

A battle royal in Portland:Kings lose to Trail Blazers 122-120 in OT

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799355fa552ec2f8

Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer, AP Photo

by Charlie O. Mallonee

We spit on your statistics about back-to-back games in the NBA

The statisticians, experts, journalists and oddsmakers all had written off the Sacramento Kings as having any chance to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night in the Rose City:

  • The Kings had suffered a devastating loss to the Lakers 101-91 on Thursday night in Sacramento
  •  The game in Portland was the back end of a back-to-back home/road set with the average chances to win the game at 37.3-percent historically
  • The Trail Blazers are seen as a more talented team than the Kings and are expected to make the playoffs and possibly go on to the second round while Sacramento is expected to be in the Draft Lottery … again
  • The game in Portland would be the Kings 11th contest in 17 days and the team needs a break to rest and recoup
  • Sacramento entered the game a 6.5 to 9-point underdog

What no counted on was the Kings forgot to read the script before the game and they came to play. Somehow they survived a first half that ended with the Blazers leading 62-57 and came out ready to to battle in the second half despite all of the odds being against them.

The Kings rode the play of Cousins, Gay, Koufos, Afflalo and Collison in the second half to outscore the Blazers 49-44 to force the game into overtime.

The teams tied the game up five times in the five-minute overtime session. With the Blazers up by two points with 14.3 seconds to play, Cousins missed a 26-foot jump and Rudy Gay missed a 16-foot desperation turnaround fadeaway shot with one-tenth of a second left on the clock. When the horn sounded, Portland had won the game 122-120 but they knew they had been in a battle royal.

Cousins was a different player on Friday night

Cousins put his inconsistent Thursday night performance behind him to lead the Kings in scoring with 33 points to go with nine rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and one steal. Cousins did all of this after being assessed a technical foul in the first quarter for exchanging shoves with Meyers Leonard. Cousins knew his limitations and worked with them of Friday night.

Rudy Gay is proving to everyone that he is worth the new NBA pay scale

Gay may have given notice that he plans to opt out of the last year of his contract with the Kings but he is not playing like a man who does not care. In fact, it is just the opposite. Rudy Gay is giving it his all on the court every night and not in a selfish way.

Against Portland, he posted a double-double scoring 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Gay also added three assists, two steals and one block. He shot 50-percent from the floor (9-for-18) including going 2-for-4 from 3-point range. Gay went 9-for-10 from the free throw line.

If Vivek Ranadive and Vlade Divac are serious about building a contender, they need to get out the checkbook and get ready to start participating in the bidding war for one Rudy Gay.

Has there been a changing of the guard?

The man on the point who made it happen on Friday night for the Kings was Darren Collison. Collison played almost 40 minutes scoring 20 points while dishing out four assists and hauling in five rebounds.

The Kings starting point guard Ty Lawson played just 15 minutes and had four assists. That is not to imply Lawson has become obsolete but most observers felt that Collison would establish himself as the number one point guard at sometime after his return. It appears Collison decided he would declare himself number one a little sooner than anyone expected.

Ty Lawson will not be going anywhere. He still has a very vital role to play for this Kings team. Look to see more sets with Lawson and Collison on the floor together in a “small ball line up”.

Head Coach Dave Joerger’s thoughts on the game

  • Our team played hard
  • We were playing on fumes – 11 games in 17 days
  • Turnovers were catastrophic – 15 that resulted in 25 Trail Blazer points
  • Portland’s guards were fantastic – starters Lillard and McCollum combined for 67 points
  • Rudy (Gay) and Cuz (Cousins) gave their all on the court at all times in the game
  • It was a fun basketball game
  • Our group is resilient – they can take a punch – they don’t go away
  • He’s (Cousins) engaged – he’s all in

What’s coming up for the Kings

Thankfully for the Kings after the brutal 11 games in 17 days schedule they have four days off. There will be some practice/shoot-arounds, but they will also be lots of rest on the agenda.

The Kings next game will be on Wednesday night at the Golden 1 Center when the San Antonio Spurs come back to town. The Kings will have four more home games before heading back out on the road.

Hello Biggest Little City in the World

Three of the Kings rookie players have been assigned to the Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League. Skal Labissiere, Georgios Papagiannis and Malachi Richardson will be playing with the Bighorns.

The fact is these young players would not be seeing any significant playing time in Sacramento. The second fact is they need significant playing time to prepare for the NBA. The solution is to play significant minutes in the D-League.

Do not expect to see the players move from Reno to Sacramento often unless they are needed to cover a roster spot because of an injury to an active player.

We will keep you up to date on their progress in the D-League on a weekly basis.

 

Youth was served in Sacramento: Lakers surprise Kings 101-91

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

 

lat-lakers-kings-wre0044530517-20161110Photo Credit: Rich Pedrocelli AP Photo

by Charlie O. Mallonee

This should have been a Kings win

All of the prognosticators predicted that the Kings would beat the Lakers in Sacramento on Thursday night. FiveThirtyEight.com said the Kings had a 70-percent chance of winning the game on their home court. The Kings had won two consecutive games playing strong defense in both games. The win on Sunday in Toronto was one of the best wins the Kings had experienced in some time.

Momentum did seem to be on the side of the Kings. Not only were they playing well but their opponent was a young team that in the opinion of most has been playing  above their heads most of the season. Everyone expected new head coach Luke Walton to make a difference with the Lakers. No one expected him to make this much of a difference.

The game the Kings (4-6) should have won they lost 101-91 to upstart Los Angeles Lakers (5-4).

The Kings were in control in the first half

Sacramento came out the gate on fire. The Kings hit on 4-of-7 three -point opportunities. DeMarcus Cousins scored 10 points while Rudy Gay added six. The team outscored the Lakers 30-16 in the first quarter and Sacramento looked to be in full control of the game.

In the second quarter, the Kings extended their lead to 19 and appeared ready to turn the nationally televised contest into a “laugher”. The problem for the Kings was the Lakers forgot to rollover and play dead. Los Angeles stepped up and shot 61.1-percent (11-for-18) from the floor and outscored the Sacramento 29-25 in the period behind the solid play of Julius Randle and Lou Williams scoring punch coming off the bench.

At the half, the Kings held a 10-point lead over the Lakers 55-45.

In the third quarter things just got weird 

The Lakers came out of halftime and played with determination. They kept chipping away at the Kings lead cutting it to as little as five points before the Kings opened it back up to a 10 point lead again, but the Lakers went on a 7-0 run to tighten up the game. When the horn sounded to end the third period, Los Angeles trailed the Kings by just three points, 73-70.

Now here comes the weird part. I glanced over to the stats monitor and looked at the line for DeMarcus Cousins and it showed he had 18 points in the game. I then looked again and checked my notes. Everything was correct. Cousins had spent 10 minutes on the floor, shot 0-for-4 from the field and had scored zero points. A struggling team like the Kings cannot have its number one scorer held scoreless for entire quarter and expect to win a game.

Everything just fell apart in the fourth quarter

The Lakers sensed that victory was theirs if they attacked hard right from the beginning of the fourth quarter and attack they did. Lou Williams led the way scoring 13 points in period. The Lakers outscored the Kings 31-18 in the final quarter even with Cousins returning to form and putting up 10 points.

The Lakers shot 62.5-percent (10-for-16) from the floor in the fourth quarter. The went 9-for-11 from free throw line. LA out-rebounded Sacramento 14-9 in the last period.

The Kings shot just 22.7-percent (5-for-22) from the field in the fourth. The went 2-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Kings were just unable to find a final burst of energy to will themselves back into the game.

Take me to your leader

The Lakers had five players (four starters) finish scoring in double figures. Lou Williams was their leading scorers with 21 points. Julius Randle was their top rebounder with eight. Randle and Clarkson tied for the lead in assist with five each.

DeMarcus Cousins finished with 28 points and nine rebounds to lead the Kings in both categories. Darren Collison led the team with nine assists.

Luke Walton on why the Lakers defense improved in the second half

“We competed. The first half, we give them credit, they were making shots, but we were letting them swing the ball side-to-side. It happens every time we play defense like that. It happened in the Dallas game. We let people get comfortable at this level, they’re going to make shots. In the second half, I felt like we did a much better job of being physical, not letting them move the ball freely, making plays, being aggressive and that’s when we’re at our best.”

Kings head coach Dave Joerger’s views on the game

“Well tonight was a tough night. I thought it was a good first half. We didn’t finish as strong as we needed to. We had a chance to keep the lead at 14-15 and didn’t go into the locker room feeling great at halftime.”

“We did a lot of positive things in the first half. Second half we didn’t make any shots. Our defense was just on the run the whole night and they made shots. I think at the end of the day it came down to who made the shots.”

“I thought we got a ton of looks. Rudy (Gay), DeMarcus (Cousins) – everybody played hard. They had some tougher nights offensively and we’ve got to be able to find some scoring from other places on nights that sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn’t.

What’s up next on the schedule

The Kings will have no time to lick their wounds and reflect on this loss as they must jump back into action on Friday night in Portland against the Trail Blazers (5-4) for the second game of a back-to-back, home and on-the-road schedule.

The Lakers head to New Orleans where they will play the 1-8 Pelicans on Saturday night.

Now you see him – now you don’t: Kings waive Jordan Farmar

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farmar-release

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Kings announced Monday that they have waived guard Jordan Farmar. Farmar was signed last week to help at point guard until Darren Collison is finished with his eight-game suspension. Collison is eligible to join the active roster tomorrow for the game versus the New Orleans Pelicans.

Farmar played two games for Sacramento averaging 6.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. The 10-year NBA veteran played for Kings head coach Dave Joerger in Memphis for the final 10 regular season games and four playoff games last season.

Kings fans may have not seen the last of Farmar this season. Should injury or player movement create roster needs at guard, the Kings may well call on him again if Farmar is available.

Kings triumph in Toronto 96-91

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NBA: Sacramento Kings at Toronto Raptors
Photo credit:Tom Szczerbowski USA Today

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings victorious in final game of road trip 

The Sacramento Kings bounced back from playing one of their worst games of the season on Saturday in Milwaukee to playing one of their best games of the year on Sunday in Toronto to defeat the Raptors 96-91. Toronto (4-2) had won three consecutive games. The Kings (3-5) had lost four games in a row.

The Kings have played what has been rated the toughest schedule so far this season in the NBA. Five games in seven nights on the road in the Eastern Conference traveling from Miami to Toronto is brutal. It is also the reality of playing in the NBA. Every team has stretches in their schedules like this and to be successful a team has to deal with the difficulties.

The Kings found a way to deal with best team they had to face on this road trip by stepping up their defense and shortening the rotation off the bench. Head coach Dave Joerger used just nine players off his bench on Sunday night and his veteran players came through for him with the extended playing time – especially on defense.

The Kings held the hot shooting Raptors to just 35.7-percent (30-for-84) from the floor. The Toronto guard tandem of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry entered the contest averaging 53 points combined per game. The Sacramento defense held them to just 38 combined points on Sunday night.

DeRozan had scored at least 30 points in each of Toronto’s five games this year. The Kings held him to just 23 points.

The Sacramento Kings won on Sunday because of their defense. It has been awhile since you have read those words.

It’s deja vu all over again

The Kings swept the two -game series with the Raptors last season. The Kings won 107-101 in Sacramento behind DeMarcus Cousins 36 points and 10 rebounds. The Kings downed the Raptors in Toronto 104-94 when they had six players score in double figures.

The Kings will have a chance to complete the sweep this season on Sunday November 20 when the Raptors will visit the Golden 1 Center.

Kings dominate the paint

Toronto was without starting center Jonas Valanciunas who sat out because of a left knee contusion. That meant the Raptors 2016 first-round draft pick Jakob Poeltl and Lucas Nogueira who the Raptors have been developing overseas and in the D-League since 2011 had to play the five spot. Poeltl looked like a rookie and eventually fouled out of the game. Nogueria who was seeing his first action of the season after being out because of a sprained ankle looked very good. It is easy to see why Toronto has invested in his development.

The Kings dominated the paint outscoring the Raptors 52-30. Sacramento also out-rebounded Toronto 47-43.

Top performers

Rudy Gay led the Kings scoring attack with 23 points. Gay missed the game in Milwaukee with sore ribs. He played the game in Toronto with his ribs wrapped which did affect his shooting as he went 9-for-19 from the floor.

DeMarcus Cousins posted another double-double game with 22 points and 14 rebounds to go with four assists. Cousins was much more effective from out on the high post than down low under the basket. When he would drive the lane, Cousins was virtually unstoppable.

Ty Lawson was very good on the point dishing out 11 assists and adding five points. Shooting guard Arron Afflalo scored 12 points off just eight shots.

Matt Barnes was a force on defense and scored eight points plus grabbed 10 rebounds. Garrett Temple impacted the game with presence scoring eight points to go with a steal and a blocked shot.

DeRozan led the Raptors in scoring with 23 points but went 7-for-20 shooting. Lowry had 10 assists. Nogueia was the Raptors leading rebounder with five.

Dave Joerger was a happy man after the game

In the postgame press conference Joerger said:

  • He was really proud of his guys and how they responded in a back-to-back game
  • They (the Kings) get after people defensively
  • We had seven guys with two or more rebounds
  • We kept the turnovers down (the Kings had 11 turnovers and gave up just two points off those turnovers)
  • We had seven stops in a row with under 2:30 to play
  • A win like this gives you confidence
  • Rudy (Gay) gave us a big boost

What’s coming up

The Kings have a long flight home and then must get ready to face the New Orleans Pelicans (0-6) on Tuesday night at the Golden 1 Center. Sacramento then has the Lakers (3-3) at home on Thursday night before heading back out on the road.

The Raptors hit the road and will face the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. They then travel to Charlotte to face the Hornets on Friday night.

Kings blown out by Bucks 117-91

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aptopix-kings-bucks-basketball

Photo: Darren Hauck AP Photo

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings still without a win on road trip

The Sacramento Kings were never in the game on Saturday night in Milwaukee as the Bucks turned the game into a “laugher” by leading by as many as 31 points in the contest and never allowing Sacramento to have the lead in the game.

The Bucks were led by the play of “the Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo who scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out eight assists, made four steals and added one blocked shot in just 25 minutes on the floor against Sacramento. Antetokounmpo seized control from the beginning of the game and the Kings seemed powerless to stop him.

The other unstoppable Milwaukee player on Saturday night was 3-point shooting specialist Mirza Teletovic who scored 22 points going 7-for-9 from 3-point range. He did not attempt a two-point shot in the game. The Kings seemed unable to find a way to put a body on Teletovic to shut him down from long range.

Garrett Temple was the Kings leading scorer coming off the bench to put up 19 points in 28 minutes on the floor. He went 7-for-10 from the floor including going 5-for-6 from 3-point range to lead the Kings attack.

Milwaukee shoots 50-percent from the floor

It is almost impossible to win a NBA game when you let your opponent shoot 50-percent from the field. The Kings allowed the Bucks to shoot 50-percent (41-for-82) from the floor on Saturday night. The Bucks were able to connect on 14-of-33 (42.4-percent) 3-point shots. There is no way to sugarcoat the analysis of those results. The Kings played very poor defense on Saturday night.

The Bucks played aggressive defense and the Kings shot poorly. Sacramento shot just 39.3-percent (33-for-84) in the game. A NBA team is not going to win a game shooting under 40-percent in a contest. The one bright spot for the Kings shooting game was their 3-point shooting percentage which was 35.7 (10-for-28). They would take that 3-point percentage as an average every night if they could.

Fast break points killed the Kings

The Milwaukee Bucks scored 26 points off the fast break on Saturday night. The Kings scored one point off the fast break. No that is not a typographical error. Sacramento only scored one point off the fast break in the game. That is a concern because that is a symptom of a team that is giving up.

Young Kings get a chance to play in garbage time

Rookie forward Skal Labissiere out of Kentucky got the opportunity play his first minutes in a NBA regular season game on Saturday night. He played 15 minutes and scored eight points and hauled three rebounds in his NBA debut.

Rookie guard Malachi Richardso also made his NBA debut on Saturday night. He played six minutes and scored three points shooting 1-for-3 from the floor.

Not to be outdone, the Kings had their own Greek professional player make an appearance on Saturday night. Georgios Papgiannis made his NBA debut playing six minutes, scoring two points and picking up three personal fouls.

For all three young men, they are minutes in their lives that will never be forgotten.

What Joerger had to say after the game

Kings head coach Dave Joerger looked tired and frustrated after the game. He talked about:

  • the need to stay positive
  • the team has to stay together
  • the team knows they are better than this
  • it’s a tough time that they just have to work through
  • the players cannot put their heads down
  • using the rookies was nothing more than giving a rest to the vets in a blowout game

It does not get easier on Sunday

The Kings left Milwaukee after the game for Toronto where they will play the Raptors on Sunday at 3:00 PM PST/6:00 PM EST in Toronto. The Raptors are 4-1 on the season and are led by the red hot guard DeMar Rozan who has scored 30 or more points in each of his team’s first five games.

Toronto has won three consecutive games. The Kings have lost four games in a row and are 0-4 on their five-game road trip which ends in Ontario on Sunday.

The Kings were without forward Rudy Gay on Saturday in Milwaukee due to a rib cartilage strain. There is no word on his status for Sunday in Toronto. Forward Antony Tolliver also missed the Bucks game due to a knee problem.

Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com projects the Kings have a 13-percent chance to win the game on Sunday. They say take the Raptors minus 11.5 points.

Game Preview Update: Sacramento Kings vs. Milwaukee Bucks Saturday, Rudy Gay Doubtful to play

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

Injury Update

Jason Jones beat writer for the Sacramento Bee is reporting that Rudy Gay is doubtful to play in the game in Milwaukee tonight due to sore ribs. Gay was instrumental in the Kings series sweep of the Bucks last season. Matt Barnes and Omri Casspi would pick up the slack if Gay is unable to go.

Rudy Gay Trade Rumor Update

The most recent trade rumor mill has the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Kings working on a deal that would send Rudy Gay to the Thunder for Cameron Payne. This report comes Headlines and Global News.

The Thunder are looking for someone to take some of the pressure off Russell Westbrook to be “the offense” with the departure of Kevin Durant.

Payne is coming off the injury list with a broken foot. The Kings are said to be looking for a “long term” solution at point guard. The young Payne who backs up Westbrook could possibly fit that role.

With Gay declaring he is opting out of his last year of his contract with the Kings to test the free agent market, his name is going to come up frequently in the rumor mill.

Kings need to a win on this road trip

The Sacramento Kings (2-4) have lost three consecutive games on this first long road trip of the season. After losing in Atlanta, Miami and Orlando, the Kings will be looking for their first win of the road trip in Milwaukee on Saturday night. The Bucks are another tier-three team that is not expected to make the playoffs. In theory, the Bucks are a team the Kings should be able to beat on the road.

Bucks will be trying to keep a winning streak alive

Milwaukee (3-2) won their second consecutive game on Thursday night when they defeated the Indiana Pacers 125-107. The Bucks are now 3-0 when they score 100-plus points in a game this season. That makes one of the goals for the Kings in the game very easy to prioritize … “keep ’em under 100!” Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker scored 27 points each in the win.

Kings dominated the series last season

The Kings won both games of the series with the Bucks last year. Sacramento won 128-118 in Milwaukee and then took the game in Sacramento 111-104. Ironically, the Kings won both of those games without DeMarcus Cousins in the line up for either game. Rudy Gay was the leading scorer for Sacramento in both of those wins over the Bucks.

Casspi takes a bigger role in Orlando

Omri Casspi came off the bench and played 23 minutes against the Magic. He scored 12 points shooting 5-for-13 including two 3-point baskets. Playing time had been hard to come by for Casspi but his involvement in the Orlando game may mark a change in Dave Joerger’s rotation.

Farmar is with the team

Jordan Farmar who signed with the team on Wednesday was the Kings in Orlando on Thursday but did not play. He will be available to play in Milwaukee on Saturday night.

Key players in the game

The Kings will be dependent on the big two – Cousins and Gay – as they have been so far in all of their games this season. What they will be looking for is another key player to step up. In Orlando, the Magic shutdown Cousins and Gay in the fourth quarter and the Kings needed another player (or players) to take over the scoring in order to earn the victory. That player has yet to be identified.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker are the key players for Bucks. They will look for help from Greg Monroe coming off the bench to lead the attack for the second unit. Milwaukee also added free agent guard Matthew Dellavedova in off-season to upgrade their team.

For entertainment purposes only

The odds-makers are in high agreement so far about this game on Saturday night. They list the Bucks as the favorites minus two points which is the usual home court advantage call. The over-under projection is 204.5 points.

Kings sign guard Jordan Farmar

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

Free Agent Point Guard Returns to Kings

The Sacramento Kings announced today that they have signed free agent guard Jordan Farmar. The announcement was made by Kings vice president of basketball operations and general manager Vlade Divac.

Farmar was with the Kings in the  preseason looking to fill one of the open spots on the roster. He averaged 6.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest in the 4 games he played in for Sacramento. Farmar scored 14 points and had five assists against the Lakers in a preseason game on October 13th.

The Kings waived Farmar along with rookie point guard Isaiah Cousins on October 24th.

Farmar was in Memphis with Joerger Last Season

Farmar joined Dave Joerger’s squad in Memphis late in the regular season in 2016. He started 10 regular season games and then started four playoff games for the Grizzlies.

Farmar is a nine-year veteran of the NBA. He has played for the Lakers, Net, Clippers, Grizzlies and now the Kings. Farmar played his college basketball at UCLA.

No Roster Move Required

Darren Collison – who is serving his eight-game suspension for a domestic incident – has been moved to a suspended list. That leaves an opening on the roster that Kings are filling with Farmar.

Collison Due Back Next Tuesday

Darren Collison will be eligible to play beginning next Tuesday, November 8th when the Kings host the New Orleans Pelicans at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The Kings will have to make a roster move prior to the start of that game in order to meet the 15-man maximum roster limit.

Kings Play Thursday Night

The Kings play game three of their five game road trip Thursday night in Orlando. With Farmar signing today, it is reasonable to expect he will be in uniform tomorrow night to face the Magic.

Kings squeak past Timberwolves 106-103

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NBA: Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings
Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – The Sacramento Kings won their first game in the new Golden 1 Center on Saturday night by squeaking by the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-103.It was literally a last-second victory as the Timberwolves had the chance to tie the game or take the lead with 02.6-seconds left on the clock.

The Kings record improves to 2-1 on the season with the victory. Head coach Dave Joerger said the win has some meaning as the Kings get ready to start a five-game road trip.

“It just means you go on the road trip 2-1. I think there is a nice difference between being 2-1 and 1-2 and how you feel about yourself, knowing you are going to play your next five in all kinds of different states around the union,” said coach Joerger about the upcoming road trip. “I think that’s a better feeling getting on the plane tomorrow.”

The loss leaves the Timberwolves winless on the season. Minnesota lost their season opener in Memphis when they let a 14-point lead slip away late in the game. The Timberwolves let an 18-point lead over the Kings evaporate on Saturday night.

New Minnesota head coach Tom Thibodeau likes his teams talent but feels that something has to happen before they can start winning.

“We have to get a lot tougher. We got to get a lot tougher.”

Minnesota can pass and shoot the ball. The Timberwolves shot 51.4-percent from the floor in the game. They shot over 60-percent in the first quarter. Thibodeau is also correct when he says they are not a very physical team when they need to be.

The Kings started the game slowly shooting under 40-percent for much of the first quarter and allowing Andrew Wiggins to score 13 points. Dave Joerger became so frustrated that he pulled his five starters off the floor with 3:18 to go in the quarter and put in the entire second unit.

The Kings came back to life in the second quarter behind Rudy Gay who scored 12 points and DeMarcus Cousins who put up 11. Matt Barnes came off the bench to make a real difference especially on defense.

The Timberwolves led the Kings 65-54 at halftime.

The third quarter was the difference maker in this game. The Kings came out on fire on both ends of the floor. Sacramento outscored Minnesota 31-12 in the period. The Timberwolves shot only 25-percent from the floor.

Minnesota turned the ball over seven times in the period that resulted in 14 Sacramento points. The Kings had just two turnovers the Timberwolves were unable to turn into any points.

“The 3rd quarter was a problem, big problem. We have to take a look the problems and see where the issues are,” said Tom Thibodeau.

The fourth quarter began with the Kings leading 85-77. Sacramento opened up a 10-point lead then the Timberwolves began to chip away at the that lead. Minnesota went on a 9-0 run and tied the game 100-100 with 3:11 to play.

The Kings went back up by five. After Wiggins hit a free throw and cut the lead to four, the unthinkable happened. DeMarcus Cousins picked up his sixth personal foul with 50.9-seconds left in the game. The Kings had to finish the game with their best player on the bench.

Rookie guard Kris Dunn who was fouled by Cousins missed both of his free throws. Gorgui Dieng grabbed the rebound and Zach LaVine missed a 3-point jump shot. Karl-Anthony Towns got the rebound and converted the lay up to make it a two point game, 105-103.

After winning a jump ball, the Timberwolves were unable to hit a basket. Matt Barnes was fouled going for a rebound with 00.2-seconds left. He hit 1-of-2 free throws to end the game.

The Kings won the game 106-103.

Kings (2-1)

  • Cousins was the Kings leading scorer with 29 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
  • Rudy Gay had a big night 28 points, 11-for-20 shooting
  • Matt Barnes – the impact player of the game off the bench – 12 points including three 3-pointers to go with 9 assists
  • Ben McLemore bounced back from his troubles in the Spurs game scoring 13 points and shooting 50-percent from the field
  • The Kings improved their shooting by 6-percent over Thursday by shooting 45.9-percent (39-for-85) in the game.

Timberwolves (0-2)

  • Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points to lead the Timberwolves scoring attack. He is very difficult to stop when he wants to shoot.
  • Guard Zach LaVine had a big night putting up 21 points while shooting 50-percent from the floor
  • Karl-Anthony Towns added 15 points but the battle between him and fellow Kentucky Wildcat DeMarcus Cousins was a non-event. They just did not match up much in the game
  • PG Ricky Rubio experienced a sprained elbow. Rubio was rumored to be a trade target of the Kings but Minnesota was reluctant to part with him until Kris Dunn is ready

Up Next

The Kings begin a five-game road trip on Monday night in Atlanta. Sacramento will play five games in seven nights all in the Eastern time zone except for the Milwaukee game which is in the Central time zone.

Minnesota heads home to open their home season with the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. The Timberwolves will be looking for redemption after losing to Memphis in their season opener.

The Golden 1 Center opens on Thursday night ; the Spurs beat the Kings 102-94

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

NBA: San Antonio Spurs at Sacramento Kings

Photo credit: Sergio Estrada USA Today

Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – Thursday night had all the pomp and circumstance of a Hollywood premiere as the long awaited official opening of the NBA home season took place for the Sacramento Kings. The NBA commissioner was there along with the former commissioner David Stern who sat with Governor Jerry Brown. Out-going mayor Kevin Johnson received his standing ovation for his efforts to build the arena. In-coming mayor Darrell Steinberg and members of the city council managed to get some face time.

Former Kings player Chris Webber and Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker were seated courtside. If you were anybody in Sacramento or thought you were anybody, you were in the Golden 1 Center for the game on Thursday night.

DeMarcus Cousins officially welcomed the fans to arena on behalf of the team. Majority owner Vivek Ranadive took great pride in welcoming fans to the state of the art arena the ownership group promised them when they bought the team.

The opening was really something to see. If you missed it, you can go to Kings.com and take in the highlights. It will be worth your time.

Then, there was the game between the unbeaten San Antonio Spurs who shocked the Golden Stated Warriors on Tuesday night in Oakland and the 1-0 Sacramento Kings who dominated the Phoenix Suns on the road in their season opener on Wednesday night.

The Kings knew they would be in for a fight because they had to face the team that is picked to win the Southwest Division – even without Tim Duncan- on second half of a back-to-back, away-home schedule. Even though the team was full of adrenaline to do well in front of their faithful fans at the opening of the Golden 1 Center, the task before for them was a difficult one at best.

The Kings played with tenacity and gave the crowd cause to cheer often,but ultimately the talent of Spurs and the fatigue of the back-to-back games caught up to them in their pursuit of a win. The Spurs defeated the Kings 102-94 in first ever regular season NBA game in the Golden 1 Center.

Kings (1-1)

DeMarcus Cousins led the attack for the Kings against the Spurs. He scored 37 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to record a double-double in the game. Cousins shot 10-for-22 from the floor, 3-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc and went 14-for-16 from the free throw line. The Kings big man spent much of the second-half under the basket involved in a very physical battle with LaMarcus Aldridge and the San Antonio front line. At times, Cousins temper seemed to be very close to boiling over, but he managed to keep it in check.

Rudy Gay had to do battle with Kawhi Leonard all night. Gay finished the game with 17 points with 10 of those points coming at the free throw line. He hauled 7 rebounds, had two steals and two assists as well.

Ben McLemore finished with 10 points in the contest. His best efforts came in the first-half. McLemore shot 3-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Unfortunately for him, it will probably be back-to-back turnovers that resulted in back-to-back personal fouls in the fourth quarter that many of the fans will remember.

Ty Lawson did his job at point guard for the Kings. Head coach Dave Joerger had said that Lawson would see heavy minutes of playing time and he worked 35 minutes on the floor versus the Spurs. Lawson dished out nine assists and turned the ball over just one time. Lawson added seven points, four rebounds and one steal.

Kosta Koufos scored eight, Arron Afflalo seven, Matt Barnes and Willie Cauley-Stein three points each and Anthony Tolliver had two points.

As a team, the Kings shot 40.0-percent (28-for-70) from the floor after shooting 51.4-percent in the first-half. They went 6-for-20 (30.0-percent) from beyond the 3-point line while going 32-for-38 (84.2-percent) from the free throw line. They matched the Spurs by grabbing 40 rebounds. The Kings tallied 22 assists against 15 turnovers.

Spurs (2-0)

To no one’s surprise, Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs scoring against the Kings. Leonard scored 30 points shooting an impressive 11-for-21 from the floor. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Leonard also distributed five assists and recorded five steals. He played the last half of the fourth quarter with five personal fouls but it did not seem to slow him down.

LaMarcus Aldridge – the supposed discontented member of the Spurs who wants to be traded – added 16 points and five rebounds while giving DeMarcus Cousins fits under the basket for the entire game. Aldridge played hard and did not give off any signals that he was a player who wanted to be in another uniform.

Dewayne Dedmon and David Lee both had an impact in the game off the bench with 12 points each. Dedmon also had seven rebounds while Lee dished out two assists and had two steals.

San Antonio shot 45.6-percent (36-for-79) from the floor and 33.3-percent (6-for-18) from 3-point land. The Spurs went 24-for-27 from the charity stripe. They recorded 40 rebounds, 23 assists and 10 assists. The Spurs turned the ball over nine times.

What they had to say after the game

“Good game, good effort,” said Kings head coach Dave Joerger. “As competitors, you never want to say you played hard but you lost. But I liked a lot of the things I saw tonight. I thought we ran out of gas a bit. I think out turnovers were deadly and I think they made some tough, tough shots down the stretch. I thought our half-court defense was very solid. When our defense was on the run after turnovers, it’s very difficult to get back and defend.”

“Yeah, it was a big night for everybody. Us, playing in front of the fans and for the fans. This is a lot – this is a new era of basketball in Sacramento and it was good to be a part of it,” said Kings forward Rudy Gay. “Obviously the fans drive us to a new level. This was a playoff atmosphere and it’s good to have that.”

“Coach Joerger is a hell of a coach,” said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. “He’s got them playing defense already after one game because of the way they played defense in Memphis. That’s because he knows what he’s doing, obviously. But, that’s a tribute to those guys to pick that up and jump in. If they sustain that, that’s going to be a good basketball team. You can see his stamp all over it defensively.”

Notes

The first home game at Golden 1 Center was a sellout with 17,608 in attendance.

The Kings next opponent is the Minnesota Timberwoles on Saturday  night at 7:30 PM at the Golden 1 Center.

The Spurs will have their home opener on Saturday night when they host New Orleans.