#1 You’ve got all kinds of choices in the NBA Playoffs, but focusing on the Western Conference, who does Tony like amongst Houston, Golden State, Utah, Portland, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and New Orleans?
#2 Houston has had such a good year led by James Harden, whose been a workhorse and put out an all effort to help lead the Rockets this season.
#3 Golden State kind of got the injury epidemic all at once when the “Big Four” of Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson all went down. With Green, Durant, Thompson they ended their season losing by 40 to Utah on Tuesday night, 119-79, is this a prelude to the playoffs or expect for them to break out once the playoffs start?
#4 Turning to baseball, the Oakland A’s suffered some tough loses Tuesday night was no exception with a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0. The A’s simply couldn’t do anything with Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, who helped shutout Oakland, going six innings and giving up only one hit.
#5 The San Francisco Giants just put Johnny Cueto on the DL. Cueto spent a great deal of time on the DL last season. Cueto is being shelved and is at a 70% performance level because of coming off he mound to field on a bunt and had to cover first base. Cueto turned the other ankle on the ensuing play and manager Bruce Bochy said Cueto could return on Tuesday.
Sacramento – The Sacramento Kings season came to an end on Wednesday night as they defeated the number one seeded playoff team in the NBA Western Conference – the Houston Rockets – 96-83. Now, it is important to know that the Rockets did not allow James Harden and Chris Paul to step on the court for fear that they might sustain an injury that would cause them to miss the playoffs.
Even without the two Houston superstars on the floor, there was some very entertaining basketball played by both teams. The Rockets reserves wanted to impress their coaches that they could contribute if given playing time during the playoffs. The Kings players desperately wanted to send their fans home with a victory to remember until new season tips off next October.
The Kings started fast and finished strong
The Kings won every quarter except the fourth period which they did not need to win because they had the game well in hand by that time. Four of the five Kings starters scored in double figures and seven of the nine players used by Sacramento scored in double digits.
Willie Cauley-Stein finished with a team-high 22 points and he made it a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds. Buddy Hield scored 14 points, pulled down five rebounds, handed out five assists and made two steals in 27-plus minutes of playing time.
Sacramento shot 47.5-percent (38-for-80) for the game and hit 7-of-26 (26.9-percent) attempts from downtown. The Kings went to the free throw line 20 times but converted only 13 of those opportunities (65.0-percent).
Houston relied on two key players for the entire game
Forward Gerald Green led the way on offense for the Rockets on Wednesday night scoring a game-high 31 points. Green shot 11-for-22 from the field and hit 7-of-17 attempts from 3-point land. RJ Hunter posted 19 points shooting 7-for-16 overall and sinking just 3-of-11 attempts from behind the 3-point line.
Tarik Black played just over 38-minutes against the Kings and recorded a double-double. Black scored 12 points and hauled in 11 rebounds.
The Rockets also played Aaron Jackson who they signed on Wednesday after he had been playing in the Chinese Basketball Association for the Beijing Ducks. Jackson will be eligible to play for Houston in the playoffs. Jackson scored eight points in 34-plus minutes of playing versus the Kings on Wednesday night.
Kings win fewer games in 2017-18
The Kings finish the season with a record of 27-55 for the year. Sacramento finished with a record of 32-50 in 2016-17.
Head Coach Dave Joerger reflects on the game and the season
— Sports Radio Service (@SportsRadioSrvc) April 12, 2018
Charlie O’s and “Chapes” Kings Player of the Year
Hield flies high versus Rockets Photo: @SacramentoKings
We did not have to take a moment to contemplate who our choice of would be our choice for this season because our selection for Player of the Year is a no-brainer in our humble opinion. Second-year guard Buddy Hield has been outstanding in his development and execution in 2017-18.
The big knock on Hield as a player was that he was purely a one-dimensional guard. Hield was a shooter who could come into a game and shoot the ball … period. Experts said he could not handle the ball, set up assists, rebound and he most definitely could not play defense.
Then, the Kings finally signed Bogdan Bogdanovic and the Sacramento backcourt became a very crowded place. Early on in the season, it became apparent that Bogdanovic was going to be a starter along with De’Aaron Fox. That meant Hield would be coming off the bench.
Hield adjusted to being the Kings “sixth man” very quickly and never complained about his role. He frequently provided the spark the team needed to get into a game where they started off slowly.Hield also began to play more minutes per game.
As Hield played more, the turnovers went down as his rebound, assist, and steal numbers went up. Then observers began to notice something else about his game, Buddy Hield was making a real effort to play defense.
As Hield entered game 82 on Wednesday night, he was averaging 13.5 points per game which is the second-best average for the Kings. Hield is the overall points leader for Sacramento with 1065 points.
Hield has averaged 3.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.05 assists in 25.3 minutes per game this season. His season-highs show 35 minutes played, 27 points scored, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals, and two blocked shots.
Hield shooting numbers have also been impressive. Overall, Hield has shot 44.6-percent from the field while converting a team-high 43.1-percent of his 3-Point attempts. He has also been deadly from the free throw shooting 88.8-percent from the stripe.
2017-18 has been a year of real growth and dynamic production for Buddy Hield.
Last night, a streak was broken and swept up against the Dallas Mavericks, and the Sacramento Kings traveled to South Texas to take on the Houston Rockets in a Valentine’s Day game at the Toyota Center on Wednesday night.
The Kings were doing just fine in the first quarter. They got some insurance points from Buddy Hield too.
The Kings led the Rockets 25-20 at the end of the first.
However, the Rockets bounced back with 35 points in the second quarter. The Kings scored just 20 points in the second.
The Kings trailed the Rockets 55-45 at the half.
Since the Kings were down by 10 at halftime, they decided to have some fun on Twitter. Rapper Gucci Mane tweeted, “It’s never too late. You can still do it!” The Kings quoted the tweet with “That’s right, Gucci! Trailing at the half but plenty of basketball to go.”
It was a low scoring third quarter, but the Kings outshot the Rockets 18-17 to end the third. Hield continued to make it rain with various types of shots, including buckets, on the court.
Despite the Kings ending the third on a high note, they continued to trail the Rockets 72-63 at the end of the third.
After that, the Kings’ Twitter announced the game’s Cold Hard Fact sponsored by Coors Light. That fact said: “Seven Kings players have at least four rebounds so far tonight.”
Both teams scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, but the Kings’ hard-fought battle came up short as they lost to the Rockets 100-91. Kings’ De’Aaron Fox received stitches above his right eye and chin after making contact with the floor during the early moments of tonight’s game in Houston.
The Golden State Warriors were looking to sweep their five-game road trip in Saturday’s primetime game against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.
The NBA on ABC/ESPN pregame hosts counted down JaVale McGee’s top 10 plays, Klay Thompson signed some autographs for the fans, and then the Warriors walked onto their court, sporting their “The Town” jerseys.
Both teams entered the building as two of the best Western Conference squads, but the Rockets started off on a high note, making five of their first six shots. The Warriors were down 14-7 early in the first quarter. Golden State continued to make shots to pick themselves up off the ground.
However, the Rockets had a high-scoring first quarter, and they led the Warriors 40-28.
Houston shot 15-for-22 from the field and 7-for-11 from the 3-point line.
Warriors’ Nick Young had some solid production off the bench, hitting each of his first three shots early in the second quarter. Also, David West did his thing, shooting 4-for-4 from the field for a total of eight points.
James Harden and Chris Paul put in some work. With less than two minutes left in the quarter, Steph Curry hit a three, but the Warriors continued to trail the Rockets 65-58 at the half. Harden and Paul combined for 30 first-half points.
Here are the Warriors’ halftime stats:
Halftime 📊
Kevin – 14p/2r Draymond – 10p/5a/2r/2s Steph – 9p/3a David – 8p/3r Nick – 8p Klay – 5p Kevon – 3r/2p Pat – 2p Shaun – 2r Zaza – 2r
Warriors’ Kevin Durant made a high-impact play, a 4-point play, to open up the second half. Durant also dished a pass to Draymond Green to set up a 1-on-1 opportunity. In addition, Curry hit a 3-pointer to help out the Warriors.
The Warriors made it a game as they pulled within one, 92-91, at the end of the third quarter. Rockets’ P.J. Tucker came up big in the quarter.
Green tied the score with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter. The Warriors were down by 17, but went up to 4 (104-100) with 6:45 left in the quarter.
Prior to the timeout, the Rockets led the Warriors 111-108 with 2:17 left in regulation. Houston continued to flip the switch as Harden hit a 3-pointer for a 114-108 lead over Golden State. Then, Paul made a pair of free throws with 28.2 seconds left.
Both Curry and Young missed their final 3-point shots, and the Warriors lost to the Rockets 116-108. With the loss, Golden State’s 14-game road win streak and 4-game overall win streak.
Notes
Warriors’ injury update: Andre Iguodala (left calf contusion) is out.
Former Warriors player Jason Richardson turned 37 today. He played for the Warriors for six seasons from 2001 to 2007.
When asked about closing out the road trip in Houston, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told the local media: “It’s a good way to close the trip…it should be a fun atmosphere.”
Warriors’ Steph Curry made his 600th career regular season start tonight in his 606th career regular season game.
Warriors’ Draymond Green has his fourth 20-point game of the season with 21 points; his third 20-point performance in his last six games.
Up Next
The Warriors return home for a three-game homestand. They’ll first host the Knicks this coming Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT.
The Golden State Warriors traveled from North Texas to South Texas to take on the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center Thursday night. The Warriors, who are No. 1 in the Western Conference, competed against the Rockets, who are No. 2. As you should already know, the Rockets fired away last year with a 14-game win streak that was eventually snapped by Kyle Kuzma and the Los Angeles Lakers.
A familiar face made the first free throw of the game and for a good reason. The Rockets’ new “First Shot” ceremony gives a featured celebrity or a local public figure a chance to earn $5,000 for the charity of his or her choice. Tonight’s lucky guest was Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa.
Both teams had their game faces on for an action-packed Western Conference matchup. The Warriors took an early 7-2 lead on Klay Thompson’s three at the 10:06 mark of the first quarter.
But let’s not forget that Rockets shooting guard Eric Gordon was on fire, leading all scorers with 13 points in the first. The Rockets’ Twitter proceeded to remind fans to vote for Gordon for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game.
Nick Young hit a three with four seconds left on the clock, but the Warriors trailed the Rockets by four (37-33) at the end of the first. A four-point deficit is a deficient number, but there was still lots of basketball left.
Both teams continued to battle it out in the second quarter. Before the media timeout, the Warriors led the Rockets by one (59-58) with 4:27 left in the second. After the timeout, the Warriors went on a nice 10-2 run in a span of 1:10, but continued to trail the Rockets by one (63-62) at the half.
Here are the Warriors’ stats at the half:
Halftime 📊
Klay – 15p Steph – 14p/5r/3a Draymond – 8r/7p/6a D.West – 8p Andre – 6p/3a/2s Nick – 6p Zaza – 4p Pat – 2p/2a Shaun – 4r Kevon – 3r
Steph Curry got things going in the second half as he finished a layup at the rim to pull the Warriors within one (65-64) at the 11:04 mark of the third quarter. Zaza Pachulia provided the assist on Curry’s layup.
The score was tied at 68 with 7:33 left in the third. Draymond Green made a pair of free throws to put the Warriors up 70-68, but the Golden State lead was short-lived, as Gerard Green hit a three to put the Rockets back on top 71-70.
The score was tied up again at 74 with 5:40 left in the third. Many people were expecting Curry to put on a shooting show–which he did–but the Rockets’ Gerard Green hit just as many threes in an attempt to redeem himself.
Curry then hit a three. Green missed his three at the buzzer. The Warriors were up by three (93-90) at the end of the third.
Draymond Green was doing his thing on the court. Most notably, David West made a sweet pass to set up Green’s dunk at the 10:30 mark of the fourth quarter. West also made some dunks of his own.
Fox was fearless in driving the lane against the Rockets on Wednesday night
Kings showed great effort versus the Rockets on Wednesday night
This was a classic battle between a Tier 1 team and a Tier 3 team
Willie Cauley-Stein silenced many of his detractors
The Kentucky connection came up big for the Kings in the opener – Cauley-Stein, Labissiere and Fox made a major impact in the game
Buddy Hield was a major player for SAC in the game
George Hill showed why the front office wanted him on the roster to provide a veteran presence on the floor
The Kings play their first game on the road Friday night in Dallas – this will be a Tier 3 vs Tier 3 game. Both teams will be in the 2018 Draft Lottery
It will be a chance to see Dennis Smith who many media reporters feel has the inside track on becoming Rookie of the Year
Join us for out next Kings Press Row Podcast next Tuesday only on SportsRadioService.com.
Cauley-Stein puts in a dunk to cut the Rockets lead to three points with seven seconds to go in the game
by Charlie O. Mallonee
Kings open the 2017-18 regular season with loss to the powerful Houston Rockets
The Sacramento Kings kicked off their new season before a sellout crowd of 17,583 at the Golden 1 Center on Wednesday night. Their opponent was the very powerful and talented Houston Rockets who started their season on Tuesday night with a last second win over the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors in Oakland.
The Kings hoped to take advantage of catching the Rockets on the second game of a back-to-back set on the road. They also received some good news when they learned that Chris Paul would not play due to ongoing problems with a knee contusion.
Sacramento (0-1) kept the game close through all four quarters. They even won the third quarter 24-23. The lead changed eight times in the game and the contest was tied four times. Houston’s largest lead was 11 points while the Kings biggest lead was six.
James Harden struggled through the first three quarters of the game appearing to be tired from effort that expended versus the Warriors on Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the Kings, Harden caught a second wind in the final period and scored 12 of his game-high 27 points over those last 12 minutes. That performance really made the difference for the Rockets (2-0).
Despite being down by 11 points with 5:13 remaining in the game the Kings did not give up and cut the Houston lead to just three points with 26-seconds to go in the contest. It was at that point this game took a left turn that the Kings would never recover from.
The Kings George Hill sank two free throws to make it a 98-95 game with Houston in the lead with 26-seconds remaining. On the inbounds play, Hill appeared to disrupt the possession by Eric Gordon who lost control allowing the ball to go out-of-bounds. The big crowd went wild but settled as a video replay was ordered.
What the crowd, the Kings bench and the majority of the media did not understand was the replay was not to determine if Gordon was the last player to touch the ball before it went out-of-bounds. The replay was to confirm a foul call that made on Hill by the referee on the far-side of the court. The replay center in Secaucus upheld the foul call and Gordon was sent to the charity stripe to shoot two shots.
Gordon hit both shots to give Houston a five-point lead with 26-seconds to play essentially sealing the win for the Rockets. The Kings gave it their best effort but came up short.
Kings head coach Dave Joerger addresses the call in a very subdued manner in part two of his video comments.
Dave Joerger was very proud of the effort his team gave against the talented Rockets
Ben DuBose of Sports Talk 790 Houston and Locked on Rockets Podcast previews the Houston Rockets for Kings fans.
CP3 moves past Curry Photo: USA Today
How are James Harden and Chris Paul working out as a backcourt team so far in the preseason?
With Harden and CP3 on the floor together does that change the pace of play for the Rockets?
How does local favorite Ryan Anderson look so far in the preseason?
Now that the roster is set – are there any surprises?
Is there any worry about a let down on Wednesday in Sacramento after the hype and energy that will be expended in the Bay Area versus the Golden State Warriors?
Get the insiders view of the Kings first opponent of the 2017-18 season in just 20 minutes of fast paced questions and answers. Be ready for opening night by knowing more about the Rockets and what to watch for as they play the Kings.
Sports fans the story should be the game in Oakland and the loss by the Kings to the Warriors, but this reporter has to ask why was the game shown in the Bay Area and not in Sacramento and the Valley? Frankly this this reporter is still scratching his head trying to figure out why the rabid Kings fans were not able to watch their team take on the best team in the NBA even if it was a preseason game.
The majority of Kings fans will not be able to see the Warriors play their beloved Kings in person this season. They would love to see their team in action against the NBA’s best anytime they have the opportunity to see it happen. So why did Bay Area fans have the opportunity to watch the game while Sacramento fans had to depend on the radio broadcast and internet feeds? There really is not a logical answer. One would think advertisers would have been thrilled to support a broadcast that featured the Kings versus the NBA’s best.
The Kings held their own in this game
Sacramento trailed just 54-51 at halftime. They were still hanging in there trailing by just three – 84-81 at the end of three quarters. Ultimately, the Warriors were just too strong coming down the stretch as they outscored the Kings 33-25 in the final frame to take the game 117-106.
This game featured 12 lead changes and was tied seven times. The longest point run was a 7-0 run.
Top scorers
David Stockton – who was just added to the Kings roster – was their leading scorer with 23 points. Stephen Curry led the Warriors in scoring with 18 points in just a little over 18 minutes of playing time.
Top rebounders
The Warriors Jordan Bell was the leading rebounder in the game with 11. Skal Labissiere was the Kings top man off the glass grabbing eight rebounds.
Assists leaders
David Stockton of Sacramento was the games top assists leader with eight. Klay Thompson was the man for Golden State dishing out six dimes.
Team stats
The Warriors outrebounded the Kings 47-40. Golden State grabbed 21 offensive rebounds to Sacramento’s 13. The Kings controlled the defensive boards 27-26.
GSW dished 34 dimes to the Kings 27.
The Kings made six steals to the Warriors four thefts.
Golden State blocked four shots while Sacramento blocked just two shots.
The Kings turned the ball over 16 times while the Warriors turned it over just 12 times.
3-point shooting: Sacramento 10-for-22 45.5-percent; Golden State 15-for-33 45.5-percent.
Remember this was a preseason game
No matter how exciting this game was fans cannot forget this was a preseason game. It was in no way representative of what a regular season game between these two teams will be like. That is not to say the regular season games will not be competitive and exciting, but they will be different than the game on Friday night.
The countdown to the regular season is on
The regular season will begin on Wednesday when the Houston Rockets visit the Golden 1 Center to take on the Kings in game one of the 2017-18 season for Sacramento.
The Warriors are on a roll. They beat the Houston Rockets in Houston by a score of 125-108. The Warriors continue to play great defense as the held the Rockets All-Star James Harden to just 17 points. The Warriors led by five at the half 62-57. However, as they have done so often this season, they put it into gear and outscored the Rockets 37-22 to lead by twenty at the end of three periods of play.
They continue to shine on defense. They blocked seven shots and had eight steals. They continue to lead the NBA in both those categories. The big block of the night came in the fourth quarter when Kevin Durant blocked Eric Gordon’s 3-point shot. Gordon was 2-for-14 from the floor and ended the night with just six points.
With the win, the Warriors are now 37-6 for the season. The Rockets drop to 33-13 and are 2 games back of the San Antonio Spurs in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. All five Warrior starter were in double figures. KD had a big night with 32 points,7 assists, 4 boards, and 2 blocked shots. Steph Curry made 5 three-point shots and ended the night with 24 points and he, too, had 7 assists. Klay Thompson knocked down 16. The Dubs’ defensive whiz, Draymond Green continued his excellent season with 15 points, 7 assists,8 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.
Zaza Pachulia, who seems to be getting better as he gets used to the Warriors’ offense, recorded 10 points, 2 assists, and 9 rebounds. Andre Iguodala had 5 points, 2 assists, and 9 big rebounds helping the Dubs to the win. Patrick McCaw and James Michael McAdoo, who is filling in for the injured David West, each had 8 points. James Harden had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists. Harden also committed 7 turnovers.Clint Capela scored 22, Sam Dekker 17, Patrick Beverly,13, and Trevor Aziza 12.
The Warriors have recorded 30 or more assists for the fourth game in a row and the 30th time this season. No other team in the NBA has had more than 8 games with 30 or more assists.
The Warriors have now beaten three of the five teams that have defeated them so far this year. They evened the series with a convincing win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last Monday. They beat the Lakers in November after an embarrassing early season loss in LA. They now defeated the Rockets to get a measure of revenge as the Rockets beat the Dubs in double-overtime at Oracle Arena in December. The Dubs now have to beat the Memphis Grizzlies, and San Antonio Spurs to get even. They play Memphis twice in February, once in Memphis and once at Oracle. They play the Sputs two more time, and both games will be in San Antonio.
The Warriors fly to the Sunshine State to play the Orlando Magic. Game time is at, gulp, 9 am Sunday morning. They play the Miami Heat on Monday.
Sports Radio Service 