Sportstalk podcast from Il Fornaio Ristorante in downtown Sacramento on Monday, September 23, 2019

Photo credit: ilfornaio.com

Cast: Charlie O Mallonee (host and Oakland A’s beat writer), Jeremiah Salmonson (Sacramento Kings reporter), Morris Phillips (Cal Bears reporter), Tony the Tiger Hayes (SF Giants columnist), London Marq (San Jose Earthquakes & Sac Kings reporter), Jeremy Harness (PGA Golf reporter), and Lee Leonard (Producer).

Podcasting from the wonderful and tasteful Il Fornaio Restorante at the Wells Fargo Center on 400 Capital Mall in downtown Sacramento. Our thanks to our host, General Manager Don McNerney, and the wonderful staff at Il Fornaio. You can cater your next event here at Il Fornaio in downtown Sacramento offering pickup and delivery catering services. Call (916) 446-4100 catering reservations within the next 24 hours. For banquets, Il Fornaio offers elegant and semi-private dining spaces with a wide range of specialized memos and services to match our authentic award winning Italian cuisine. For catering, call (916) 446-4139.

On the Sportstalk discussion, the Sacramento Kings’ Luke Walton is looking for Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield, who are both vying for minutes on the floor. Walton says both players compliment each other well. Hield had led the Kings with 20.7 points, five rebounds, 2.5 assists, and shot 42.7 from three-point land. Bogdanovic had offseason surgery last season missed the first 11 games of the Sacramento’s 12. Hield had 14.1 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds and shot 36 percent.

Vlad Divac, who was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, was noted for his flopping during his playing days and was a big man that helped the Kings during his playing days and later became the team’s general manager. Divac is hoping to bring the Kings to the postseason this year. Marvin Bagley averaged 7.6 points in 25.3 minutes and has pulled down 10.8 rebounds in 36 minutes. Bagley finished last assist percentage at 5.9.

Mumbai India will be the site of the Sacramento Kings’ preseason oasis. The Kings will open with the Indiana Pacers on Friday, October 4th and Saturday, October 5th, then on Thursday, October 10th vs. the Phoenix Suns, Monday, October 14th vs. the Utah Jazz, and in Melbourne, on Wednesday, October 16th, which closes their Mumbai road trip.

 

Warriors, behind a strong defense, blow out the Pacers 112-89

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors blew out the visiting Indiana Pacers 112-89 at Oracle Arena Thursday night in Oakland. The Warriors, who played great defense on the 3-1 road trip, continued that trend Thursday. The Pacers came into the game with the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference. They needed a win to maintain the home-court advantage over the fifth place Boston Celtics. The two teams will meet in the first round of the playoffs.

The Pacers played great defense. They held opposing teams to 104 points a game. They can shoot, too. They are in the top five in scoring and making three-point shots. The Warriors would need their “A” game on defense if they hoped to win.

The teams struggled to put points on the board in the first quarter. Both sides concentrated on stopping the other’s offense. The first period was a low-scoring affair, and it ended tied at 19-19.

The Warriors moved the ball well on offense. They outscored the Pacers 34-24 in the period and finished leading 53-43. DeMarcus Cousins, back in action after missing two games with a sore ankle, led the Warriors with 13 points. Kevin Durant had 11, and Klay Thompson had 8. Steph Curry made just one three and finished the half with 3 points. Thaddeus Young led the Pacers with 11, and Bojan Bogdanovich was second with 8.

The Warriors put the offense into gear in the third quarter. They outscored the Pacers 35-19, and the defense put the clamps on the Pacer offense. Steph made four threes in the period to lead the way. The Warriors kept Curry on the bench the entire fourth quarter, but that didn’t slow them down one bit. They increased the lead to 30 103-73, and the reserves coasted to the win 112-89.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improve to 49-22 and remain 1/2 game ahead of the Denver Broncos in the race for the Western Division crown. The Pacers fall to 44-29.

All five Warrior starters were in double figures. DeMarcus Cousins led the way with a double-double. He put 19 points on the board and pulled down 11 boards. Steph Curry made 5 threes and finished with 15. Kevin Durant had 15, and Klay Thompson had 18. Draymond Green’s line was 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Three of the Pacers’ bench players were in double figures: Tyreke Evans 20, Aaron Holiday 13, and Doug McDermott 11. The only Pacers starter in double digits was Thaddeus Young with 18.

The Warriors recorded 32 assists on 44 baskets. They moved the ball well and found the open man to take the three-point shot. The Warriors had to work hard to get their shots off as the Pacers’ defense tried to blanket Curry and Thompson to force the other players to do the scoring. Their theory worked for a while, but the Warriors broke down their defense and won the game.

Up Next: The Warriors meet the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night at Oracle Arena. Game time is at 5:30 pm. The Detroit Pistons face the Warriors on Sunday at Oracle. Game time is also at 5:30 pm.

NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Pacers handle Clips 119-92; Magic’s Ross get 32 points in win; Raptors’ Siakam gets career-high point total

Photo credit: @NBA

On the NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Indiana Pacers (36-19) got a 119-92 win past the LA Clippers (30-26). Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pacers with 29 points.

#2 The Orlando Magic (23-32) got a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves (25-29) 122-112. The Magic’s Terrence Ross got 32 points.

#3 The Toronto Raptors (40-16) over the Atlanta Hawks (18-36). The Raptors Pascal Siakam got 33 points to lead all scorers.

#4 The LA Lakers (28-27) got a 129-128 win over the Boston Celtics (35-20). It was just like an old rivalry between these two NBA teams. The Lakers’ LeBron James led with 28 points and the Celtics’ Kyrie Irving had 24.

Jerry does the NBA podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Pistons’ Griffin and Drummond lead the way in win; Magic get seven-point win over Pacers; plus more

Photo credit: @ESPNStatsInfo

On the NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Detroit Pistons beat Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night 93-89. The Pistons’ Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond both scored 24 points in the win.

#2 The Orlando Magic got a seven-point win past the Indiana Pacers 107-100 in Orlando on Thursday night. The Magic’s Terrence Ross led the way with 30 points.

#3 The Milwaukee Bucks got by a tough Toronto Raptors team. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks in scoring with 19 points in the 105-92 win in Toronto on Thursday night.

#4 The Philadelphia 76ers got past the Golden State Warriors 113-104 in Oakland on Thursday night. The Sixers Joel Emiid led with 26 points. The win for the Sixers snapped Golden State’s 11 game win streak.

#5 The Lakers and Clippers went down to the wire in LA and into overtime on Thursday night. The Lakers outlasted the Clippers 123-120 in OT. LeBron James had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in his return to action.

Jerry Feitelberg does the NBA podcast each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors don’t supply the mercy rule, beat Pacers by 32, 132-100

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On the Golden State Warriors podcast with David:

#1 The Warriors’ Steph Curry led with 23 points in the first half of their game against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night in a game that was no contest 132-100.

#2 In games where the offense dominates like this, does Warriors head coach Steve Kerr end up deciding to rest some of his key starters?

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

Curry leads the Warriors to a 132-100 rout over the Pacers

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

Steph Curry scored 23 points in the first half to lead the Warriors to a 132-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers Monday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Steph was 9-for-10 from the field and connected on all 5 3-point shots attempted. He connected on a 3 as the buzzer sounded to give the Warriors a commanding 69-48 halftime advantage.

The Warriors led from start to finish. With the score tied at 16, the Warriors went on a 24-6 run to finish the first quarter with a 40-22 lead. The Pacers’ leading scorer, Victor Oladipo, was not available as he injured his knee and underwent a season-ending surgery to correct the problem. His replacement, Tyreke Evans, also was not able to play. The Pacers started Edmond Sumner, who made his first start in the NBA.

The Warriors, behind Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevon Looney, continued to expand the lead. They finished the first half 69-48. The Warriors shot 59.6% from the floor. They made 6 3s in 12 attempts and recorded 20 assists in the half as they moved the ball well.

The Pacers played well in the third period. they scored 31 points against the Warriors defense. The Warriors, however, scored 32 and led by 22 heading into the final period of play. In the fourth quarter, DeMarcus Cousins played very well. He made several buckets and the score was 115-90 and 7:46 left to play, Steve Kerr had Curry, and Kevin Durant watching from the bench. Thompson exited with 6:50 left and Cousins departed with 4:50 to play. Kevon Looney, Quinn Cook, Damian Lee, Marcus Derrickson, Jordan Bell, and Shaun Livingston finished the game for the Warriors.

Game Notes and Stats: Draymond Green did not play Monday night as coach Steve Kerr gave him a night off. Jordan Bell started in Green’s forward position and played well. Bell, who has not been as consistent as he was a year ago, recorded 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson each finished with 16. DeMarcus Cousins had a season-high 22 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists in 34 minutes of action. Kevon Looney had a career-high with 15 points to go along with 5 rebounds and two assists. Curry led the Warriors with 26, and he made 6 3s.

The Warriors finished the 12-day, 5-game road trip undefeated. It was the fourth time in Warrior history that the team went undefeated on a road trip of 5 or more games. The Warriors won their 11th game in a row and the 10th road game in a row. The Warriors are now 36-14 for the year while the Pacers drop to 32-17.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night at Oracle Arena. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.

Indiana sets the pace and downs the Kings 107-97 on Saturday night

Kings at Pacers scoreboard
Graphic: @Pacers

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings knew going into Indianapolis they faced an uphill battle with the Indiana Pacers. The upstart Kings handed the Pacers a 111-110 loss in Sacramento last Saturday night and the Indiana team was ready to revenge that loss.

The Pacers are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA and they win by controlling the pace of the game. Indiana had no intention of allowing the Kings to run and gun like they did in Cleveland on Friday night.

Indiana did slow the Kings down and the Pacers won the game 107-97.

Back-to-backs
This was the second game of a back-to-back set on the road for the Kings. Some statisticians place the chances of the visiting team winning the second game of a back-to-back schedule on the road at under 33 percent. That means the Kings were at a great disadvantage before the opening tipoff of the game in Indiana on Saturday night.

Battle of the Tiers

Pacers flag

This was a battle of two teams that are in different NBA tiers. The Pacers are a solid Tier Two team (a consistent playoff team) that may be ready to jump into to the lower end of Tier One in the Eastern Conference. The Kings are a Tier Three team (Draft Lottery participants) who are trying to become a lower Tier Two team that battles for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

The fact that the Kings split the season series (1-1) with an accomplished team like the Pacers shows the kind of improvement they are experiencing this season.

The Pacers “D” suppressed the Kings’ offense

sac sac

After posting big team numbers versus the Cavaliers, the Kings team stats dropped dramatically against the defensive-minded Pacers:

  • Field Goal Shooting: 38-for-90 (42.2%)
  • 3P Field Goal Shooting: 28.1% (9-for-32)
  • Points in the Paint: IND 56 SAC 46
  • Second Chance Points: SAC 24 IND 19
  • Fast Break Points: SAC 22 IND 18
  • The Pacers outrebounded the Kings 52-43

A Check of the Book

Kings at Pacers starters
Photo: @SacramentoKings

The Kings played the game without Iman Shumpert who was inactive due to an injury that was categorized as “load management”. Joel Embiid has been kept out games for the same reason a number of times.

  • Buddy Hield was the Kings top scorer with 20 points shooting 8-for-20 from the field
  • De’Aaron Fox started slow but stepped up in the second half to put 18 points in the scorebook along with six assists
  • Willie-Cauley Stein put up 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic and Justin Jackson each scored 11 points in the game
  • Nemanja Bjelica scored six points and hauled in 12 rebounds for SAC

The Pacers were still without their star guard Victor Oladipo (sore right knee). Indiana still has no definite date for his return to active status.

Kings at Pacers Collison
Photo: @Pacers
  • Thaddeus Young led the Pacers scoring attack with 20 points
  • Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 points converting 7-of-7 from the free throw line
  • Former King Darren Collison scored 14 points and dished out six assists
  • Miles Turner put nine points in the book and grabbed 13 rebounds

With the loss, the Kings record drops to 13-12 for the season and they fall to ninth in the Western Conference. The Pacers improve to 16-10 on the year and are now in sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Up Next
The Kings will wrap up this four-game road trip on Tuesday night in Chicago versus the Bulls. A win would give Sacramento a record of 3-1 on the trip which they would be very happy to finish with for a December road tour of the East.

The Pacers will host the Wizards on Monday.

Kings run and gun Friday night to beat the Cavs 129-110 at the “Q”

Cavs Kings NBCS
Photo:@NBCSKings

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings won their third game in a row and the second game of this four-game road trip on Friday night as they took down the hapless Cleveland Cavaliers 129-110 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. It was the Cavs’ second loss in three days to a Northern California team as they were beaten by the Warriors at the “Q” on Wednesday night.

Sacramento was coming off a convincing win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night and knew they had a chance to add to their win total on this road trip if they just focused on playing their type of basketball.

On Friday night, the Kings taught the Cavs what Sactown basketball is all about.

SAC ran CLE into the ground

  • The Kings outscored the Cavaliers 72-42 in the paint
  • SAC had a 57.1 FG% (56/98) and was 13-for-29 (44.9%) from 3-point land
  • The Kings recorded 19 second chance points to the Cavs’ 8
  • Sacramento had 35 rebounds — 10 were offensive rebounds
  • Cleveland also booked 35 rebounds, but only 7 were on offense
  • The Kings outscored the Cavs on the Fast Break 12-5
  • SAC had 30 assists and just nine turnovers (12 CLE points)
  • CLE dished out 20 assists, but turned the ball over 18 times (31 SAC points)

Outstanding individual efforts by Kings players

cavs kings nbcs 2
Photo: @NBCSKings
  • De’Aaron Fox was the game’s high scorer with 30 points and he made it a double-double by dishing out 12 assists (some of which were Top 10 worthy)
  • Buddy Hield recorded 25 points, sinking 9-of-17 shots (5-of-8 3-pointers)
  • Marvin Bagley III returned to action after missing two games and put up 17 points in just over 25 minutes on the floor
  • Bogdanovic 15; Bjelica 13; Cauley-Stein 10; Jackson 7; Koufos 6; Shumpert 6

Cleveland leaders

  • Jordan Clarkson was the leading scorer for the Cavs with 26 points
  • Guard Colin Sexton put up 23
  • The just added Alec Burks put 22 points and 7 rebounds in the book

It has to be said

The Kings record now stands at 13-11 for the season which gives them sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Yes, that means if the season ended today the Kings would be in the playoffs. That cannot be ignored.

Dwelling in the cellar

The Cavs record is now 5-20 after the loss to the Kings. They are now tied for 14th or last-place in the NBA Eastern Conference with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Cavaliers made big news before the game

Cavs Delly
Photo:@Cavaliers

Cleveland took part on Friday in a three-team, five-player trade that involved the Cavs, Bucks, and Wizards. Some well-traveled veterans went to new teams while others went home to places where they have played before.

The Cavaliers sent veteran guard (and former King) George Hill to the Milwaukee Bucks along with forward Jason Smith.

The Cavs received Matthew Dellavedova — who was a very popular player in Cleveland before leaving in free agency — and center John Henson from Milwaukee.

The Wizards get Sam Dekker from Cleveland via Milwaukee along with draft picks.

The Cavs end up with the 2021 first and second-round draft picks from the Bucks. They also get a 2022 second-round pick from the Wizards.

Milwaukee winds up with a 2021 second-round selection from Washington.

Finally, the Wizards get a 2021 draft pick from the Cavs.

All of these draft picks have conditions tied to them. If you want the complete details, go to NBA.com transactions.

Up Next

The Kings will be back in action on Saturday night in Indianapolis when they will take on the Indiana Pacers. The Kings beat the Pacers 111-110 last Saturday night in Sacramento and Indiana will have revenge on their minds.

The Cavs will host the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.

Kings pull one out of the fire, beat the Pacers 111-110 on Saturday night in SAC

By Charlie O. Mallonee

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings broke a three-game losing skid on Saturday night when they defeated the Indiana Pacers 111-110 on their home court. The Kings took the lead with 16.1-seconds to go in the game and then had to battle through one of the ugliest jump ball endings any NBA has ever seen.

Even after the final buzzer, the game’s ending remained in doubt as the officials called for a replay to determine who committed a violation on the jump ball play. The violation was charged to the Pacers’ Darren Collison (yes, the former King) and 1.3 seconds was put back on the clock with the ball being awarded to Sacramento.

The Kings inbounded the ball and held it until the clock expired to seal the victory.

This was not a “typical” Kings win
The Kings were not able to run the Pacers into the ground as they have so many other teams this season. Indiana entered the game holding their opponents to the second lowest average points per game at 102.3. The Pacers were seventh in shooting defense holding their opponents to a 46.6 Field Goal Percentage.

Sacramento did win the battle of the Fast Break Points 18-10, but that is a far cry from a team that has twice this season scored 38 points on the break.

One of the keys to the Kings win was their offensive rebounding. They pulled down 14 rebounds off their own shots while the Pacers grabbed only six offensive rebounds. Those offensive rebounds would lead to 15 Kings second chance points while Indiana could muster only six of their own.

The Kings also helped themselves with some well-timed 3-point shooting in the game. The Pacers came in holding their opponents to a 37.7 3-point shooting percentage. The Kings shot 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from downtown on Saturday night. Indiana shot above their normal 3-point shooting percentage of 37.8, hitting 10-of-24 attempts (41.7-percent), but their effort fell short of the Kings’ pace.

Both teams were missing key players
The Pacers were without Victor Oladipo for a seventh game due to sore right knee. The bad news for Indiana is that there is no timetable for Oladipo’s return. It is not easy to replace 21.4 points per game in your lineup.

The Kings had to play without Marvin Bagley III, who was suffering from back spasms that flared up late in the game versus the Clippers. Sacramento is hoping that he will be available on the upcoming four-game road trip.

Battle of the Bogdanovics
Each team’s leading scorer had the name Bogdanovic on his jersey. Bojan Bogdanovic was the Pacers leading scorer and the high scorer in the game with 27 points in just over 37 minutes on the floor. He hit 10-of-19 shots from the field, including two 3-point baskets. Indiana’s Bogdanovic converted 5-of-6 opportunities from the free throw line.

The Kings’ Bogdan Bogdanovic led his team in scoring with 20 points coming off the bench as the sixth man. Bogdanovic also added six assists and two steals for Sacramento. He put 7-of-12 shots through the hoop with three of those buckets being 3-pointers. Bogdanovic was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.

Dave Joerger had a lot to say after the game

Joerger point of emphasis
Coach Dave Joerger met the press corps at the entrance to the locker room to tell us he overlooked something in postgame remarks to the media. He wanted to be sure to let us know that in his opinion that Justin Jackson had his best game of the season on Saturday night.

Jackson scored eight points, hauled in three rebounds and dished out two assists in just under 25 minutes of playing time. Jackson also played some tenacious defense for the Kings that will not show up in hard numbers but helped lead them to a win.

Don’t overlook Troy Williams
Troy Williams scored 12 points in 16 on the floor Saturday night. He connected on 4-of-6 shots and was a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point arc. Williams brought a high charge of energy to court every time he entered the game.

De’Aaron Fox is always ready to talk after a win

Final Takeaways

  • The Kings are now back to .500 for the season with a record of 11-11
  • The Pacers’ record now stands at 13-10
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic has scored 20 or more points in his last three games
  • Willie Cauley-Stein recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds
  • Bojan Bogdanovic put up 27 points which is a new season-high for the Pacers star
  • The Kings win broke a four-game overall losing streak to Indiana
  • This game featured 25 lead changes, 11 ties and neither team ever held a lead of more than seven points
  • The Kings are now 8-2 when they outrebound their opponents

Up Next
The Kings will head out on the road for a four-game trip that will take them to Phoenix, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Chicago. Sacramento will kick off the trip on Tuesday night in Phoenix.

The Pacers will return to Indianapolis and will host the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday evening.

Pacers complete season sweep with 126-106 win over Warriors

Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors were hoping to extend their win streak to four games with a road win over the Indiana Pacers at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse Thursday night. Did it happen? Nope.

The Warriors’ starting lineup featured Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, JaVale McGee, Klay Thompson and Quinn Cook.

Golden State was ready to play basketball in the Pacers’ arena, which was supposedly built for basketball. McGee helped the Warriors get off to a good start with a nifty shift early in the first quarter. Durant also played a major role in the Warriors’ early start as he knocked down quite a few shots.

The Pacers, however, got on top with a 15-9 lead midway through the first. Around that time, Indiana benefited from Golden State’s four turnovers.

Glenn Robinson III went up for the pass from Lance Stephenson. The Pacers continued to dominate and merely led the Warriors 27-26 at the end of the first.

The Warriors tied the game at 28 apiece to start the second quarter. Golden State had a strong finish and Damian Jones converted on a three-point play. Thompson also made quite a few three-pointers and showed Warrior fans that he was in Splash Brother mode.
With two of those first-half threes, Thompson (1,543 career three-pointers) has passed Tim Hardaway (1,542) for 25th place on the NBA’s all-time threes list.

Despite the fact that Thompson had 13 points in the second and 16 to end the first half, the Warriors trailed the Pacers by 11 (62-51) at halftime.

Durant continued to make it rain with threes in the third quarter. Then, Green pulled up for a three of his own to surprise the Warrior fans and make them say “wow!” When Green hit his 435th career three, he passed Baron Davis (434) for seventh place on the Warrior’s all-time threes list.

Despite the Warriors’ flawless plays, they trailed the Pacers by 20 (97-77) at the end of the third.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr kept telling his team to keep going and playing fast. Apparently, Golden State listened to Kerr since they went on a 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter. And, just like that, the Warriors were back in the game as Durant headed to the three-point line to hit a trey midway through the fourth.

The Warriors were down by 14 with a little over eight minutes left in the fourth, but Victor Oladipo and the Pacers continued to bring their A-game to the court even though they weren’t the defending NBA champions.

Pacers’ Bojan Bogdanovic hit a three of his own to make it a 21-point game for the home team. At the moment, Bogdanovic was 11-for-13 from the floor. The Warriors weren’t happy with this deep deficit at all.

The Warriors tried their best to claw their way back into the game, but they fell short by 20 points to the Pacers (126-106), who swept the season series this year.

Here are the Warriors’ final stats:

Notes
Warriors’ PR provided an update on Patrick McCaw just moments before the game.

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Warriors’ injury update: Kevon Looney (flu-like symptoms) is available to play. Nick Young (flu-like symptoms) is available to play. Andre Iguodala (left knee soreness) is out.

Up Next
The Warriors return home to host the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday, April 7 at 5:30 pm PT.