Tag: Los Angeles Lakers

Warriors come to life; defeat Lakers 127-123 in overtime

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors began the six-game road trip with a win in overtime over the LA Lakers 127-123. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry returned to action Wednesday night. Steph, who missed a game with a hand bruise, returned to the lineup with his right ring finger heavily taped. Steph had a rough time as he did not make shots taken with his right hand. He did make one three-point shot in regulation, but most of his points came when he scored with his left. However, in the five-minute overtime period, Steph made an adjustment and scored thirteen of his twenty-eight points in overtime to lead the Warriors to victory.

The Warriors led 30-20 after the first period, and it looked like they were going to cruise to a win. The young Lakers had other thoughts, and they won the second quarter by fourteen points. The Warriors went to sleep halfway through the period, and the Lakers were able to go on an 18-4 at the end of the quarter to take a four-point advantage 54-50 at the end of the first half. Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 14 and bench players Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson had 12 and 8. Former Warrior center Andrew Bogut scored two but was not a factor. Kevin Durant led the Dubs with 13, Steph and Zaza Pachulia each had six. Klay Thompson, Nick Young, and Shaun Livingston each had 5. The Lakers shot 53.8% from the floor. The Lakers, who are not a good shooting team, played like the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night. The Kings beat the Dubs as they shot over 50% from the floor and the Lakers, coached by former Warrior assistant coach Luke Walton, tried to emulate what the Kings did on Monday night.

The third quarter was nip and tuck for the entire twelve minutes of the period. The Warriors were able to end the quarter tied at 84, but it wasn’t easy. Lakers highly touted rookie, Lonzo Ball made three three-point shots. The Warriors committed four turnovers in a row, but somehow they managed to outscore the Lakers 34-30 in the quarter. Jordan Bell mad two key buckets and Nick Young made a two-point shot to give the Dubs the lead 84-82 just before the end of the period. The Lakers came back with a bucket of their own to tie the game.

The Warriors tried to put the game away in the fourth period. They took the lead, but the Lakers kept coming back. It was tied three times at 91, 93, and 95. TheDubs took a 5-point lead when Steph hit a deuce and Klay followed with a three to lead 100-95 with 5:20 to play. The Lakers tied the game again at 104 and 106. The Lakers took a 3-point lead 109-106 with just 55 seconds left. KD tied it with a three, and the game went to overtime tied at 109.

In 5-minute overtime stanza, Steph made an adjustment and mad two three-point shots. They led by seven before the Lakers woke up and fought back. The Warriors led by six after Steph made a two-pointer to put the Dubs up 122-116. The  Lakers clawed their way back to make it a one-point game 124-123, but Steph made free throws near the end of the game to win it for Golden State 127-123.

Game Notes and Stats- After the game, Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr said this about the performance of his team:” it took us most of the game before we competed and played with passion,” He also said this about the 22 turnovers the team committed: we “gotta take better care of the ball.”

Talking about Steph Curry, Kerr remarked:’he had a horrible game, but it takes a special player to bounce back.” Curry scored 27 points with 13 of them coming in overtime. He also said this about Kevin Durant’s performance:” he carried us.”

Here are the numbers. KD scored 29, 5 assists, and 7 rebounds. Klay had 20 points. Draymond Green finished the night with a double-double. He tallied 15 points, 9 assists, and eleven boards. Zaza Pachulia pitched in with 11. The Warriors shot 50% from the floor, made 12 3-point shots and had 30 assists. They outrebounded the Lakers 49-34. On defense, they had 10 steals and four blocks, but they committed 22 turnovers. The Lakers were held to 49.5% from the floor and they made 9 3-pointers. Brandon Ingram had a career-high 32 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 21. Lonzo Ball had 15, and Jordan Clarkson had 21, and Julius Randle finished with 20.

David West did not play as he had the night off.

The Warriors improve to 16-6 while the Lakers fall to 8-12. The Warriors play the Orlando Magic Friday night in Orlando. Gam time is at 4 pm.

 

Kings defeat rival Lakers, 113-102, Cauley-Stein records season-high 26 points

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By London Marq

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — All eyes were on the rookies for tonight’s matchup in Sacramento, California at the Golden 1 Center. This year’s fifth pick in the draft De’Aaron Fox and the No. 2 pick Lonzo Ball, squared to face-off for the first of four times this season in a highly anticipated matchup.  Though Ball was selected three spots earlier, he has played better through the early stage of the season and it has become a hot topic to debate. Only exacerbated by the fact that Fox outplayed and beat Ball in the last NCAA tournament this past March. The Kings enter play trying to find any trace of consistency in their play. Going against their arch-rival Lakers that are also trying to maximize young assets. The Kings had a lot of motivation to win tonight.

When the Kings have played at their best this season, they played lockdown defense. That was how the night started for Sacramento. They opened the first quarter in impressive defensive fashion keeping Los Angeles to just 19 points in the quarter. Zach Randolph led an efficient offense early, pouring in 11 points, helping the Kings gain a 31-19 advantage after one quarter.

In the second quarter, the Kings kept the ball rolling on both ends of the court, outscoring the Lakers 23-22. This would maximize Sacramento’s lead and they would take a 13-point advantage going into halftime.  The Lakers ended up having a decent night offensively. Six players scored double digits and Ball had a double-double with 11 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. Fox’s stat line was not as flashy with 13 points, three assists, and four rebounds, but he played a crucial role in getting a much-needed Kings win. Especially considering a win over the Lakers always counts for more in Sacramento.

The Lakers gained a bit of momentum in the third quarter, but they would end up allowing 37 points in the fourth quarter. Willie Cauley-Stein had a great game off the bench scoring a season-high 26 points. The game’s final score was Sacramento defeating Los Angeles 113-102.

“I’m thankful for beating the Lakers,” Cauley-Stein said after the game. This was definitely a sentiment that was sure to be felt throughout the locker room tonight.

Kings Press Row Podcast: Week 6 in the NBA

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press row podcast

hosts Lee Leonard and Charlie O. Mallonee

  • What’s happening in Week 6 in the NBA?

  • The Kings were blown out in Atlanta – how did they respond when they came home to face the Trail Blazers?

  • Sacramento lost to Denver – is that a cause for concern?

  • What’s coming up for the Kings? (hint: the battle of the rookie point guards!)

LonzoLV FOX

No chicken dinner for Kings in Vegas as they lose to Lakers 75-69

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carter vs lakers
Vince Carter directs traffic in the Kings — Lakers game in Las Vegas Photo USA Today Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The third preseason game of the year for the Kings was a premiere matchup between Pacific Division rivals. The Kings and the Lakers are both very young teams that are trying reestablish themselves as legitimate playoff contenders in the NBA Western Conference.

Frankly, neither of these teams will be playing a game after the end of the regular season in April. That being said — both the Lakers and Kings are going to be much more entertaining to watch in 2017-18 than they were last season with the players they acquired in the draft and in free agency.

The game on Sunday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was not a “beautiful game”, but it was an entertaining game. The Lakers established a big lead in the first quarter and then the Kings fought their way back into the game in the second period.

The Kings actually took the lead in game in third quarter behind 22-9 run but they would not be able to hold on to that lead in final quarter of the game. When the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers had held on to record their first win of the preseason 75-69 over the Kings before a decidedly pro-Laker crowd in “Sin City”.

There were really no losers on Sunday night in Las Vegas

Magic talks to crowd Lakers
Magic Johnson spoke to the fans in Las Vegas before the game on Sunday Photo USA Today Sports

Both the Kings and Lakers donated their proceeds from the game on Sunday night to victims and first-responders of the mass shooting that happened last Sunday in Las Vegas. The donations will go to the MGM Grand Foundation who will administer the distribution of the proceeds.

This was a very nice gesture on the part of both teams.

The Ball vs Fox matchup did not happen again

The summer league rematch between Lonzo Ball and De’Aaron Fox did happen due to an injury reported by Ball. That brought out many comments about Ball not wanting to be embarrassed by Fox the way he was in the UCLA — Kentucky matchup.

On Sunday, it was announced that Ball would not be available due to an ankle problem. Fox would not have been able to play in the second-half due to a lower back bruise suffered in the first-half of the game.

Do not worry. The big face off is going to happen during the regular season and it will be worth the wait.

Neither team had impressive stats in the game

Kings

Sacramento shot 25-for-80 (31.2-percent) from the floor. They connected on just 7-of-25 (28.0-percent) for 3-point attempts. Those are not the kind of shooting numbers that will win games in the regular season. Sacramento went 12-for-16 (75.0-percent) from the free throw line. The percentage was fine but the number of attempts was too low.

Sacramento grabbed 37 rebounds (5 offensive). They recorded 15 assists and 12 turnovers which is not an acceptable ratio. The Lakers scored 10 points off the Kings 12 turnovers.

Lakers

Los Angeles shot 41.4-percent (29-for-70) from the field. The Lakers hit just 6-of-24 (25.0-percent) from beyond the 3-point line. They were 11-for-15 (73.3-percent) from the charity stripe.

The Lakers hauled in 49 rebounds (2 offensive). They recorded 21 assists and 20 turnovers which is not acceptable to any coach. The Kings scored 18 points off the Lakers 20 turnovers.

Team Leaders

Sacramento

Z-bo vs Lakers
Zach Randolph was a team leader for the Kings on Sunday night Photo USA Today Sports

Zach Randolph led the Kings scoring attack with 16 points. Z-Bo was 7-for-15 shooting. Garrett Temple put up 12 points while Vince Carter added nine. Bogdan Bogdanovic, George Hill and Buddy Hield each added seven points in the game.

George Hill was the Kings top rebounder with eight. Kosta Koufos grabbed seven.

The Kings used just 11 players in the rotation on Sunday night.

LAK

Kuzma Lakers
Rookie Kuzma was a star for the Lakers on Sunday Photo USA Today Sports

Julius Randle posted a double-double by putting up 17 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Rookie Kyle Kuzma dropped in 15 points. Many observers feel that Kuzma could be a bigger story than Ball this season but remember this is just the preseason. Brook Lopez scored 12 while Jordan Clarkson added 10 points.

Kuzma also pulled down eight rebounds.

Alex Caruso led the Lakers in assists with four and Kuzma had three.

Interesting stat of the game

When you look at the stats, you know this was not a great field goal shooting game. It really became an “old style” NBA battle in the paint contest. Sacramento scored 24 points in the paint (12-for-28) while the Lakers scored 40 points in the key (20-for-34).

Up next

The Kings (1-2) will be back in action on Monday night in Sacramento when they will host the Portland Trail Blazers (2-1). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Surely you can’t be serious but I am – hire Kupchak to help Divac and the Kings

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

When I posted this tweet, I expected to get some reaction but the reaction I received surprised me. Everyone thought I was joking and it was very funny. The only problem with that reaction is that I am not joking. I am very serious.

The Sacramento Kings are at a very critical juncture right now. They have traded away their one legitimate All-Star and flushed their chances to make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. They have for all practical purposes hit the reset button and are starting over in the basketball operations division.

The Kings in all probability will have two first-round draft picks and two second-round draft selections in the upcoming 2017 NBA Draft which has been labeled “star-studded”. One of those first-round opportunities is going to be a lottery pick. The second first-round pick is expected to come in the “low teens”. Both selections bring the opportunity to add exceptional talent to the Kings roster.

Sacramento cannot afford to make a mistake with either pick. With the Cousins era over, the Kings must rebuild quickly to hold the interest of a long suffering fan base that will not have a great deal of patience for excuses about why a first-round draft pick did not work out. Kings fans are looking for results not excuses.

The Kings front office needs help and it needs it now. Enter Mitch Kupchak. I know his recent results have not been that impressive but if the reports are true, there are some explanations for those poor results. Kupchak may well have been handcuffed by an owner who thought he knew more about basketball personnel than he really does. The team’s governor Jeanie Buss spent several of those years concentrating on a bicoastal relationship with Phil Jackson.

Kupchak worked under the great Jerry West before taking over as general manager in Los Angeles in 2000. He is credited with leading the efforts that brought Shaq and Kobe to the Lakers. The team won four championships while he was in charge. The man knows how to run the front office of an NBA franchise.

There have been reports that other general managers have complained that they cannot get Divac on the phone. There is a style and art to being the head of basketball operations for an NBA team. Other general managers must be comfortable working with each other to make deals happen and most of those deals start with phone calls.

Kupchak could act as a mentor, confidant and friend to help Divac during what is going to be a high pressure period between now and the 2017 Draft. Kupchak could also go out on the road to college games, conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament to scout the top talent that will be available come June. Scouting has also been listed as a weakness for the Kings organization.

Basketball executives with 17 years of experience as an NBA general manager do not become available everyday. The Kings are in need of expert help right now and Kupchak is an expert. It is time for Vivek Ranadive to fire up the jet, fly to LA, open up the checkbook and hire a consultant to help take his franchise to the next level.

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

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

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

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

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

The Kings played hard for 36 minutes

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

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

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

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

Sacramento Kings v Utah Jazz
Cauley-Stein slams it home photo: NBAE

Utah dominated the numbers in this game

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

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

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

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

utah-utah
Jazz dominates Kings in Utah photo: NBAE

Gobert had a monster game for the Jazz

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

Four Jazz players scored in double figures

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

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

Kings scoring numbers

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

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

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

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

Sacramento Kings v Utah Jazz
Collison pushes the ball in Utah photo: NBAE

Up next on the schedule

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

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

The Warriors beat the Lakers again, win their tenth in a row 109-85

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Los Angeles-The Golden State Warriors extended their winning streak to ten as they downed the Los Angeles Lakers 109-85 at the Staples Center in LA. The Dubs, playing the Lakers for the second time in three nights and the third time this season, won handily. The Dubs fell behind early in the first quarter to trail 12-8. Golden State went on a 12-0 run to take the lead 20-12. The Dubs never relinquished the lead for the rest of the game. They led by ten 30-20 after the first twelve minutes of play.

The Lakers tried to come back in the second quarter went they went on a 14-3 to close the gap to three 44-41. The Warriors played better defense after the Laker run and increased the lead back to ten at the half. The Dubs went on a 9-2 run to finish the half. Kevin Durant led the Dubs with sixteen. Steph Curry added seven and Klay Thompson had nine. The score at the half was 53-43 for the Warriors.

The Warriors continued to play great defense in the third quarter. Steph Curry scored two buckets after he made two steals. Draymond Green continued to torment the Lakers on defense. The Warriors increased the lead to 80-64 at the end of the quarter.  However, with just 3:04 left in the quarter, The Lakers’ Larry Nance.Jr pushed guard Ian Clark to the floor. Draymond, who was in the air at the time, came down and somehow hit Clark in the throat. Green tumbled to the hardwood, and both men were down. Green went to the dressing room, and he was diagnosed with a contusion to his left ankle. Clark also went to the dressing room. Both men were done for the night. It is not known if they will play Saturday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In the fourth quarter, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson kept scoring, and the Warriors’ defense kept the Lakers from gaining ground. The Dubs win by twenty-four 107-85.

Game Notes- The Dubs Big Four, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green all scored double figures. Durant had twenty-nine points, nine assists, and six rebounds. Steph added twenty-four points to along with five assists and five rebounds. Klay had 18 points and seven rebounds. Green, playing a little over 2 and 1/3 quarters of play scored twelve points, had four assists and eight rebounds. The Warriors shot 51.8% from the floor, and they held the Lakers shooting percentage to just 35.6% The Dubs had 44 rebounds, 31 assists, ten steals and ten blocked shots. They were a little sloppy handled the ball as they committed 17 turnovers. They won their tenth game in a row and improved their season record to 14-2. The Lakers drop to 8-9. Jordan Clarkson led the Lakers in scoring with twenty points.Lou Williams had thirteen and Larry Nance; Jr finished with eleven. The Warriors had 31 assists for the tenth straight game in which they had thirty or more assists.

The Warriors return home to face the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday night at the Oracle Arena. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.

 

 

The Warriors win their ninth in a row, crush the Lakers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State  Warriors returned home from a successful four-game road trip to face the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night at Oracle Arena. The Lakers, who beat the Dubs by twenty points earlier in the season in LA, were no match for the Warriors as the Dubs sent them down to defeat by a score of 149-106. The Warriors had the highest point total of any team in the NBA so far this season. They also set a franchise record with 47 assists. The Warriors ball movement was superb as they scored just six unassisted buckets. The Dubs big three, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry, all played well. The Warrior bench added fifty-three points. They Dubs defense did not allow the young Lakers to drive to the basket the way they did in the game in LA. Draymond Green was everywhere. The Dubs were rebounding, making steals and blocks and they made it difficult for the Lakers to get into a rhythm. Before the game coach Steve Kerr said “we got killed by the Lakers last time. Hope we’re better prepared.” One could say that was an understatement as the Dubs won by forty-three points.

The game was fairly close in the first quarter for about eight minutes. The Dubs led by six 25-19. They picked up the pace as they closed out the quarter with a fifteen-point lead. JaVale McGee made two fantastic dunks on passes from Draymond Green. Steph Curry’s four 3-point shots were helpful giving the Warriors the advantage 41-26 after twelve minutes of play. The Warriors scored thirty-nine points in the second quarter to blow the game open, and they ended the first half with an 80-49 advantage. Steph led the Dubs with twenty-four, Durant had nineteen and Klay Thompson pitched in with fourteen. Steph had six assists. Draymond Green scored four points but he had eight assists and seven boards.

The Lakers outscored the Dubs 29-26 in the third period. The Warriors play was a little ragged but they still led by twenty-eight at the end of three. Klay, Steph, and KD continued to torment the Lakers. Steve Kerr removed his regulars from the game for the entire fourth quarter. The Dubs’ bench, led by Ian Clark’s twenty-one point effort, scored forty-three points and held the Lakers to twenty-eight to put the game away.

Game Notes- The Warriors won their ninth in a row and improve to 13-2 for the season. The Lakers drop to 8-8. The two teams meet again Friday night in Los Angeles. Game time is 7:30 PM. The Warriors had more than 30 assists in a game for the ninth game in a row. They set a new franchise record with forty-seven Wednesday night. Steph led the Dubs in scoring with thirty-one. KD added 28 and Klay recorded 26. Steph made seven 3-point shots. The Dubs outrebounded LA 48-37. They also had 7 steals and 5 blocked shots. The Dubs turned the ball over just ten times in the game. Klay Thompson, when asked about how the team was coming together, remarked:”yeah, we’re getting the hang of things.”

After the game, Steve Kerr had this to say about the game:”I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a team that had 47 assists in a game.” “the ball is moving and the guys, apparently, are getting comfortable playing together.”He also said:”this was a great night” for the team and their fantastic offensive performance. “it was fun to watch.” Was it ever.

 

Game Preview: Kings go back at it in Portland on Friday night

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sac3

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings have no time to rest as it’s time to finish a back-to-back

The NBA schedule can be a very cruel mistress when comes to needing to respond to a devastating loss like the Kings had at the hands of the upstart LA Lakers on Thursday night in Sacramento. In this case, they have to head out on the road to Portland to finish a back-to-back schedule with Trail Blazers (5-4).

Percentages on back-to-backs aren’t good

  • About 32-percent of the back-to-back games in the NBA are home/road sets like the Kings have with the Lakers last night in Sacramento and the Trail Blazers in Portland tonight.
  • The average winning percentages for the visiting team in the second game on the road is 37.3-percent. The visiting team is usually given about a 40-percent chance of winning on the road in the NBA, so the chances of winning are lower. Of course, there are many variables that play into those figures.
  • FiveThirtyEight.com (I use them because they have no gambling establishment interest to please) projects the Kings have only an 18-percent chance of pulling off a win tonight over the Blazers. The fact that it is the back end of a back-to-back set on the road versus a team that has a 74-percent chance of making the playoffs  has a lot do with the prediction

Blazers are coming off a loss

Portland lost to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Wednesday night 111-80. LAC led by 20 after the first quarter and led by as many as 48 points in the second half. Damian Lillard was held to eight points shooting just 1-for-10 and hitting no 3-pointers in the game. If Lillard has a bad game, the Blazers are going to have a bad game.

This is a Tier 3 team visiting a Tier 2 team

Sacramento is a Tier 3 team – they will not make the playoffs and will be in the 2017 Draft Lottery. The Trail Blazers are a Tier 2 team – there is a high probability they will make the playoffs and may possibly go to the second round.

Who to watch in tonight’s game

For the Kings, you have to focus on DeMarcus Cousins. The big man scored no points in the third quarter of last night’s game with the Lakers and that is when the contest got away from the Kings. Sacramento needs Cousins to come out energized and ready to be productive in all four quarters if they are to have any chance against the Blazers.

It is really a one-man watch for Portland. Damian Lillard needs to comeback and take charge in this game versus the Kings. He averages 30 points per game. The Blazers must have that scoring production from their star guard or it could be a long night.

For entertainment purposes only

The prognosticators have made the Trail Blazers the favorites in this game minus 6.5 to 9 points (FiveThirtyEight.com calls the -9 & remember they are not tied to a book). The over/under ranges from 208 to 208.5. The Kings need that number to be at 196 to 200 to really be competitive in this game.

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.