Tag: Phoenix Suns

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Kings, win or lose, look to hang with the best of them

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

On Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 The Sacramento Kings in a close game with Golden State only to lose, but turned around and beat Orlando on Monday night and played in a close game with the Phoenix Suns.

#2 De’Aaron Fox has been a leading scorer for the Kings to lead the offense.

#3 Buddy Hield and Willie Cauley-Stein have also getting double figures to keep the Kings in their games.

#4 Despite the loss to Golden State, you can still see the transformation of this team.

#5 It’s Detroit and Sacramento Thursday night at Golden One Center. London talks about this matchup.

London Marq does the Sacramento Kings podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings stunned by Suns 115-111 in Phoenix

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Photo credit: @Suns

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

Tuesday night was the second night of a back-to-back and the Kings looked poised to start a winning streak. The night before, the Kings beat the Orlando Magic 111-95 breaking a four-game losing streak. After the game, the Kings traveled to Phoenix to take on the Suns at 6:00 PM PST.

In the first quarter, the Kings came out sluggish. Four minutes into the game, the Kings were trailing 12-8 to the Suns. The Kings didn’t play a bad first quarter, but the Suns had a great quarter. In the first, the Suns managed 35 points compared to the Kings’ 32. It was something that you don’t normally see from the Suns, who came into this game 9-32 on the season.

In the second quarter, the Kings would come out in a big way. Doing what most people thought they would in the first, the Kings scored 40 points to take a commanding 21-point lead. On the other hand, the Suns scored 18 points to dig themselves a deep hole going into the third quarter. At the end of the first half, the Suns trailed 72-53. Leading scorers for the Kings were Buddy Hield and Ben McLemore both with 11 points.

In the third quarter, the script flipped. Just like the Kings scored 40 points in the second, the Suns scored 33 to tie the game. One of the main problems for the Kings was the number of turnovers allowed. The Kings allowed a crippling 25 turnovers Tuesday. That number is uncharacteristically high for the Kings, who are known for not allowing a high amount of turnovers. After three quarters, the game was tied at 86 points apiece.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Kings were by no means out of the game. What they had to do was get the momentum back and seal the win. Unfortunately for Kings fans, they weren’t able to do that. With the minutes winding down on the clock, the Suns and Kings traded shot for shot.

In the end, the Suns scored a few points too many for the Kings to handle. As the final buzzer sounded, the Kings were left to reflect on how they blew a 21-point advantage to lose to the worst team in the NBA. The obvious answer is the turnovers. The Suns received 25 free possessions from the Kings, which is not a good formula for winning. The final score was 115-111.

The loss put the Kings’ record down to 20-21. The win improved the Suns’ season to 10-32.

The Kings return home to host the Detroit Pistons Thursday at 7:00 PM PST.

Warriors end the year on a winning note as they rout the Suns 132-109

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors finished 2018 as they routed the young and improving Phoenix Suns 132-109. The Warriors won their 17th in a row over the Suns and eighth straight in Phoenix. The Warriors won all four quarters of the game, but it was midway through the second quarter with the second unit on the floor as they caught fire and put the game away. The Warriors finished the first quarter with a four-point lead 31-27. They ended the first half leading by 17, 69-52.

The Warriors refused to let the Suns back in the game. They won the third quarter 39-32 and also the fourth quarter 24-22.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 34 points, 4 rebounds and, nine assists. Kevin Durant helped out with 25. Klay Thompson added 15. Draymond Green had 7 points and 7 assists and was plus-20 when he was on the floor. The Warriors’ bench contributed 46 points Monday night and that effort put a big smile on Steve Kerr’s face.

The big rookie, 7-foot 1-inch Deandre Ayton, from the University of Arizona knocked down 25 points. T.J. Warren added 24, Devon Booker 20, and Kelly Oubre, Jr. 15.

The Warriors, as a team, shot 54.8% from the floor and were 14-for-28 from 3-point range. The Warriors’ defense outrebounded the Suns and the defense had 7 steals and 8 blocked shots during the contest.

The Warriors improved to 25-13 while the Suns drop to 9-29. The Warriors return home to play the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena The Rockets, after a slow start, are now 21-15 and are in first place in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Kings’ Hield helps lead with 20 points in win; Can Sharks bounce back after losing road trip?; Is the Giants’ Bum untouchable?; plus more

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Photo credit: @NBA

On Headline Sports with Tony Renteria filling in for London Marq:

#1 For the Sacramento Kings’ Buddy Hield 20 points, five rebounds and one assist to lead the Kings to their second straight win in a row beating the Phoenix Suns 122-105.

#2 Tony has seen the Kings over the course of this season and points out what the Kings have done to win games.

#3 The San Jose Sharks are coming off a long road trip of losing four of their last five games. They got a win in their final game on the road in Montreal but losing still hurts.

#4 The San Francisco Giants have been getting plenty of inquiries regarding pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Tony talks about Bumgarner if he’s untouchable or is he on the table too?

#5 Looking at the Oakland Raiders last loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at the Oakland Coliseum, was this more of a game that was half full? The Raiders played some close ball with the Chiefs, but in the end lost 40-33.

Tony Renteria filled in for London Marq who does the Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Suns missing two key scorers; Kings’ Bagley was a maybe, but he can help with offense

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sactownroyalty photo: The Phoenix Suns DeAndre Ayton (22) and the Sacramento Kings Marvin Bagley III (35) faced each other Tuesday night in Phoenix

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Despite having a 4-20 record the Phoenix Suns have home floor and the Kings come in with a shaky defense after the game with Indiana a 111-110 win for the Kings Saturday. Then got the win over the Suns 122-105 Tuesday night.

#2 The Suns are absent a lot of help so much so that they have holes in their line up that could leave them in the Arizona desert of winning for awhile, out Devin Booker, T.J. Warren is day to day.

#3 The Kings last played Saturday giving them two days off and with the rest they should win this game with the Suns two best scorers out of the line up.

#4 How did you like that match up between centers of the Kings Marvin Bagley and the Suns DeAndre Ayton. Bagley was listed a game time decision Bagley has been suffering from back spasms. Bagley and Ayton went to school together.

#5 The Kings head to Cleveland for a December 7th at 4:30PM. No more LeBron how does Charlie see the Kings going up against the Cavs at Quicken Loans Arena.

Today’s podcast is sponsored by Hana Zen at San Francisco’s Pier 39 for fine Japanese Cuisine don’t miss the great sushi and fine Japanese food at Hana Zen.

Charlie O does the Kings podcasts each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings use fast start to knock off the Suns 122-105 in Phoenix

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: Ana Kieu

The Sacramento Kings were looking to make it two wins in a row on Tuesday evening against the Phoenix Suns at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. And win they did.

The Kings’ starters featured De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Iman Shumpert, Nemanja Bjelica and Willie Cauley-Stein. Prior to the game, Shumpert talked about his routine on and off the court. Shumpert told the local media: “I like being able to show that you can do more than one thing and do it at a high level.”

The Kings surprised the crowd and most, if not all, of basketball Twitter as they seriously took an early lead and never looked back. The Kings led the Suns 36-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Then, the Kings put the game out of reach with a whopping 40-9 lead over the Suns with 9:48 left in the second quarter. There were a few plays that were impeccable like Bogdan Bogdanovic’s flashy pass and Kosta Koufos’ signature floater. The Kings brought a 68-40 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Suns’ Twitter account sent a tweet to the Kings early in the second half. The Suns tweeted: “You’re literally playing your OWN game right now. Focus on that.” Of course, the Kings retweeted it and wrote a comment that said “We are.”

“Can’t stop, won’t stop” was the perfect phrase to describe the Kings in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. Fox showed numerous highlight reel moments like he was some sort of God. There were a lot for us to choose from, but check out this noteworthy moment in the embedded tweet below.

The Kings held a comfortable 99-67 lead over the Suns at the end of three quarters.

Aside from Fox’s dominance, it’s worth noting that Harry Giles III made a 4-point hook shot with less than nine minutes in the fourth. The crowd was amazed and so were we.

The Kings defeated the Suns 122-105. It wasn’t even close. Buddy Hield led the Kings with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist. Fox finished with 16 points and 7 assists. Bogdanovic had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

And, if you’re a Kings fan, you were extremely happy. Oh and don’t forget that if someone asks you a question along the lines of “You’re still a Kings fan after all these years?” just shrug and give him or her a funny look like you don’t want to be bothered right now.

The Kings head to Cleveland to take on the Cavs on Friday, Dec. 7 at 4:30 pm PST.

Splash-back: Warriors take on familiar, dominating look in 123-103 rout of the Suns

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By Morris Phillips

You know, the Warriors are a pretty good 3-point shooting team.

Seems obvious, but after three regular season games, the Warriors had missed 50 of 74 attempts from distance and ranked 24th in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage. Even worse–and much to the consternation of coach Steve Kerr–all the fouling and turnovers (the Warriors ranked 28th out of 30 in both categories) were very un-Warrior like as well.

Then the not-up and still-coming Phoenix Suns walked into Oracle Arena on Monday, and the back-to-back champs got back to business.

In a 123-103 rout of the Suns, Golden State shot 51 percent from the field, 38 percent from three, and led by as many as 28 points, numbers that also caught Kerr’s discerning eye.

“That looked like our team, just the purpose of each possession, driving and kicking and trying to get guys better shots,” Kerr said.

The Warriors won by double-digits for the first time this season while Curry took flight, scoring 15 of his 29 points in the third quarter. Five other Warriors finished in doyble digits scoring led by Kevin Durant with 22. In all, 13 Golden State players saw action, including the NBA debut of first round pick Jacob Evans.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons out there, so they’ve got to play defense,” Jonas Jerebko said. “And it’s tough to play defense when the ball is moving.”

After playing more than 400 ballgames in the four, previous seasons and on the back-end of the new season’s first back-to-back, the Warriors struck fast and quickly fell into self-preservation mode.

The win was Golden State’s 14th consecutive over the Suns in Oakland, and their 16th overall. Both streaks are the longest in franchise history over one opponent.

Klay Thompson suffered an ankle injury and did not return. After the game, Thompson said he considers the injury to be of little concern, and said he could have returned to finish the game if necessary.

Shaun Livingston was scratched due to a knee sprain.

The Suns were led by Devin Booker with 28 points. TJ Warren contributed 27 in a reserve role, and first overall pick in the 2018 draft, Deandre Ayton had 20.

The Warriors continue their homestand against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at 7:30 pm PT.

Warriors fall 117-109 to the Suns in preseason game at Oracle Arena

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Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

Monday was game day for the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns at Oracle Arena. There was no reported cases of the Mondays in Oakland.

Prior to the game, Steph Curry spoke to the media on the support of Warriors fans, saying, “It’s a special place. The Bay has supported us. Oakland has supported us, and to know that these types of events, where you can bring some of these fans that might not get access to the games throughout the course of the season for whatever reason. You just want to enjoy that environment. You could see all the kids that came out, just going crazy for us just doing practice drills and what not and having some fun, bringing some kids on the court.”

The Warriors’ starters featured Kevin Durant, Kevon Looney, Damian Jones, Danuel House Jr. and Stephen Curry. The Warriors had their game faces on, but the final score–a 117-109 loss to the Suns–didn’t display that.

The Warriors made a statement in the first quarter with Curry’s three-pointers along with an astonishing moment where Curry refused to settle for three points and racked up a four-point play instead.

Despite Curry’s efforts, Golden State trailed Phoenix 40-32 at the end of the first.

Curry continued showing off his awesome skills in the second quarter, but Durant also shined as he moved without the ball with 5:18 left in the quarter. The Warriors merely outshot the Suns 25-21 in the quarter.

That being said, Golden State caught up, but they weren’t quite there yet, as they trailed Phoenix 61-57 at halftime.

Warriors’ second-year power forward and center Jordan Bell put in work in the third quarter. Bell attracted some attention to himself by putting some points and collecting some rebounds for the scoreboard. The Suns, however, poured in 38 points in the quarter, which seemed to perplex the Warriors, who were the home team tonight.

After three quarters, Golden State trailed Phoenix 99-87.

The Warriors outshot the Suns 22-18 in the fourth quarter, but Golden State’s attempts for a comeback fell short as Phoenix took the game 117-109. Curry led six Warriors in double-figures with 23 points and four assists. Durant had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists. Damian Jones and Kevon Looney each had 11 points in their starting assignments. Thompson, Green and Andre Iguodala all had the game off to rest.

The Warriors lost to the Suns, but there was a bright spot, as Golden State got a great glimpse at the 2018 No. 1 draft pick Deandre Ayton. Ayton put on an impressive show with a team-high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting, seven rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes.

Notes: Tonight’s giveaway was a Curry bobblehead that featured the former Davidson Wildcat in his outfit from the 2018 NBA Championship parade alongside the three Larry O’Brien trophies he has played a role in capturing.

This upcoming season will mark Steph Curry’s 10th season as a member of the Golden State Warriors. Curry reportedly seems to think that his previous injuries are now behind him.

“It’s probably one of the best summers I’ve had in terms of my prep work going into a year,” Curry told NBA.com. “So I’m excited about what that’ll mean on the court.”

Up Next: The Warriors head to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to take on the Lakers in a nationally televised game on Wednesday, October 10 at 7:30 pm PT on ESPN.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! SacKings will pick second in NBA Draft

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NBADRAFTLottery
Photo: @NBADraftLottery

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The NBA Draft Lottery order was selected in Chicago on Tuesday night, and the big winners of the night were the Sacramento Kings. The Kings entered the evening slotted to pick seventh on draft night in June. The Kings finished the season tied with the Chicago Bulls but lost a coin toss so the Bulls owned the sixth selection pre-lottery draw.

NBADraftFox
@NBADraftLottery

The Kings had just an 18.3-percent chance of winding up in the Top-3 in the Draft Lottery. Those odds may have been helped a little because the team was represented by first-year point guard De’Aaron Fox who has been a positive force for Sacramento ever since his arrival in June of 2017 from the University of Kentucky.

The Kings moved into the Top-3 in the 2017 Draft Lottery back fell back to the number five pick because Philadelphia had the right to swap selections if the Sacramento pick was higher than the Sixers. With the number five selection, the Kings took De’Aaron Fox.

This good fortune becomes even more important because the Kings will not have a first-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. The 2019 first-round selection was dealt away early in the tenure of Vlade Divac’s administration of basketball operations. This makes the 2018 draft selection even more important than it would normally be because it has to count for two seasons.

Who will be the number two draft pick?

Luka
Photo: @LukaDoncic

Virtually every mock draft site has Luka Doncic going as the number two selection in the 2018 NBA Draft. He is an international player currently playing with Real Madrid of Spain originally from Slovenia. Doncic is a 6-foot-7 small forward/shooting guard who is capable of playing positionless basketball that has become so popular in the NBA today.

Doncic is just 19-years old and definitely plays older than his years. He is an outstanding assists player who also is a strong rebounder on offense and defense. Doncic is an above average scorer and shooter at the free throw line. He needs work on his three-point shooting percentage and his number of turnovers needs to be lower.

The Kings front office has two prominent members – Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic – who are Eastern Europeans and should be able to make Doncic feel comfortable in Sacramento. One of the Kings up and coming stars is former Euro star – Bogdan Bogdanovic –  who certainly understands the style of basketball Doncic has been playing and could help make the transition to the NBA.

It looks like a match made in heaven right? Well, wait just one minute. The Phoenix Suns believe that Doncic can play point guard in the NBA. That’s right. They think this 6-foot-7 budding superstar can play point guard in “the association” alongside their star shooting guard Devin Booker. If the Suns believe Doncic can play that role, he could become the number one pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

If Doncic goes number one, who goes number two?

NBADraftAyton
Photo:NBADraftLottery

That would leave DeAndre Ayton from Arizona available for the number two pick. Ayton is a 7-foot-1, 250-pound center who has an NBA body. He scores in multiple ways and has even been developing a three-point shot. Ayton runs the floor well and is not afraid of contact. He has great hands and good footwork.

His weakness is his defense. Ayton tends to get caught flat-footed too many times. He needs to do a better job defending against the pick and roll – a staple of the NBA. He needs to be more consistent about contesting shots.

Ayton is going to be a star in the NBA.

The Suns are going to be under immense pressure to draft the Arizona product and keep him in Phoenix. However, the Suns may opt to pass and go with Doncic who may pay off with more long-term results for them.

Either way, the Kings cannot go wrong. They are going to be able to draft a player who is going to become a star in the NBA.

Warriors, behind the hot shooting of Klay Thompson, drub Suns 117-100

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors played the penultimate game of the 2017-2018 season Sunday night in Phoenix and they played the game to win even though a win or a loss would not affect their status as the number two seed in the Western Conference. Klay Thompson was on fire in the first quarter. If he were any hotter, the Suns would have had to call in the Phoenix Fire Department to cool him off. Klay missed his first shot but then went on a run that saw him score 19 consecutive points. He finished the game with 34, and the Warriors won 117-100. Steve Kerr had this to say about Klay’s performance. “That was fun to watch,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “He had the arena pretty excited. Every time he went up for a shot after that first few, you could hear the anticipation of the crowd. Yeah, he had it rolling.” Said Thompson, “It was good to get in a good rhythm, especially with one game left now [in the regular season], and to have some great momentum going into this playoff stretch.” That’s Thompson’s first 30-point performance since Jan. 17 when he scored 38 in Chicago. “I’m shooting a career high in three-point and field-goal percentage, so for me, that’s more valuable than a few big games,” he said.

Klay ended the first quarter with 22 points, and the Warriors finished the period with a four-point lead 33-29. Golden State kept the pressure on as they had the defense working and led by 18 at one point in the second quarter. They cooled off a bit but finished the first half leading 64-50.

The Warriors, as they have done so many times, this won the third quarter 27-22 and led by 19 heading into the fourth quarter. The Suns, missing six players due to injury, were unable to overcome the deficit and fell to the Warriors 117-100.

Game Notes and Stats- The Warriors were led by Klay Thompson’s 34 points. The Warriors beat the Suns for the 15th consecutive time. The Suns own the worst record in the NBA at 20-61. They have one game left to play, and the players probably will be happy to see the season end. The Suns are in the NBA draft lottery, and they will have more chances to get the number one pick.

Four of the five Warrior starters were in double figures. Draymond Green had 14, Kevin Durant 17, Quinn Cook 14, and Klay 34. JaVale McGee scored 11 in just 9 minutes of playing time, and Shaun Livingston pitched in with 10. Steph Curry, Patrick McCaw, and Andre Iguodala were not available due to injury.  The Suns were missing Devin Booker, T.J.Warren, Josh Jackson, Marquese Chriss, and Elfrid Payton. However, five of the Suns finished in double figures. Daniel House had a career-high 22 points, Dragan Bender 14, Alex Len 16, Tyler Ulis 15, and Jared Dudley, coming off the bench, 11.

The Warriors play the Utah Jazz Tuesday night in Salt Lake City. This will be the final game of the season for the Warriors, and they will not know who they will be playing in Round One of the playoffs until Wednesday.