Tag: Phoenix Suns

Kentucky Wildcats players dominate the Kings-Suns game – SAC wins 107-101

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Los Angeles Kings v Phoenix Suns
Chriss and Labissiere go at it in Kings-Suns game Photo NBAE

An NBA game was played on Wednesday night in Phoenix and a Kentucky men’s basketball scrimmage broke out. The Kings featured their Wildcats – Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere. The Suns put the spotlight on their former Kentucky players Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis. Phoenix gave former Wildcat Eric Bledsoe the night off even though he dressed for the game.

The future of these two franchises has been tied together since draft night in June of 2016. Phoenix and Sacramento agreed to a draft night trade that may effect the direction of the two organizations for years to come.

The Kings used their lottery pick to select Marquese Chriss out of the University of Washington and then sent him to Phoenix. In exchange, the Suns sent the Kings two first-round picks and the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic.

With those draft picks, the Kings selected center Georgios Papagiannis out of Greece and forward Skal Labissiere out of Kentucky. Sacramento knew that Papagiannis was going to be a development project and figured Labissiere would be as well. “Papa G” is developing while Skal is growing by leaps and bounds in every game he plays in for the Kings.

The Suns have also been pleased with the growth of Chriss. He has looked like a 19-year old rookie at times, but Chriss has also had moments of brilliance during the season. Phoenix has every reason to be excited about having him on their roster.

On Wednesday, the game belonged to the Kings and their young big men. Sacramento downed the Suns 107-101 in the “Valley of the Sun” winning their second consecutive game. The Kings were led by the incredible play of rookie forward Skal Labissiere who scored a game-high 32 points and made it a double-double by adding 11 rebounds. He shot a very respectable 11-for-15 from the floor including a 3-point basket.

Fellow Kentucky alum Willie Cauley-Stein came up big again for the Kings versus the Suns as well. He posted a double-double game with 14 points and 11 rebounds. WCS also had five assists, four steals and four blocks.

Rookie shooting guard Buddy Hield had a quiet night as he spent much of his playing time playing defense against the very tough Devin Booker. Booker scored 19 points but he had to take 26 shots to make those points. Hield and Garrett Temple defended Booker well in the game.

Other Kings who contributed: Afflalo 14 points, Koufos 13 points/six rebounds, Ty Lawson 11 points/six assists, Garrett Temple eight points and Langston Galloway played again putting up eight points.

TJ Warren led the Suns scoring attack with 24 points. Booker had 19. Chriss had a big night putting up 17 which is just over twice his season average. Alan Williams had a double-double game with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Ulis also had a double-double with 13 points and 13 assists.

The Kings are off until Saturday when they will face the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Kings: Let the games begin -the Bogdan Bogdanovic negotiations are on!

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

bogdanovic-1

“We have (Bogdan) Bogdanovic coming over next season as another asset.” Sacramento Bee February 25, 2017

If you thought Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic was going to finish his season in Turkey and fly to Sacramento ready to put on a Kings jersey ready to play, you would be wrong. The Kings obtained the rights to Bogdanovic as part of a draft-night trade with Phoenix that sent Marquese Chriss to the Suns.

Bogdanovic was drafted in the first-round (27th overall) of the 2014 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. The shooting guard decided to remain in Europe to play for Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Super League in part to avoid the NBA Rookie pay scale.

Now that three years have passed, Bogdanovic can negotiate a contract that pays him up to the maximum of a free agent with 0-6 years of experience in the NBA. A max deal at that contract level is projected to be $26-million dollars per year under the new CBA. Bogdanovic is not going get 26-mil but he is throwing down the gauntlet that he is not going to settle for $3 to 5-mil per year. This guy and his agents are looking for a major payday.

After researching his value, I still have no real idea where to place the “Euro” shooting guard on the salary chart. My guess (this is a pure “WAG”) is that Bogdanovic’s agent will be looking for a 3-year, $30-million deal with a one-year player option. This player and his agent have played hardball for three years, this will not be an easy negotiation.

Bogdanovic is having a very nice EuroLeague season. He is averaging 13.3 points per game while shooting a 55.2-percentage for 2-point shots and 38-percent from 3-point range. He scored a season-high 27 points against  Olympiacos Piraeus on February 23rd. By all accounts, he is a talented and still developing player with a tremendous upside.

Here is the downside. If Bogdanovic joins the NBA next season, he will be 25-years old. That is almost ancient by today’s NBA standards where first-round draft picks are 19-years old. A team will be asked to make a veteran level dollar investment in a player who will have a shorter career in “the Association” and has never played a minute in the NBA.

Bogdanovic might come into the NBA and have an instant impact while becoming an All-Star. The more likely scenario is that he will come into the league as rookie with a big learning curve and struggle like most rookies do while he adjusts to playing basketball at the highest level in the world.

Bogdanovic at the advice of his advisers has already played a very dangerous game with the NBA in order to up his contract value. If he spurs the Kings for next season, he takes an even more calculated chance that teams will want to invest big money in a 26-year old rookie. The “Euro” star needs to remember the big, new CBA money will not stay uncommitted for long.

For the Kings, this is a time to be prudent. They now have two first-round picks in a star-studded draft. They really like Bogdanovic’s game or they would not have included him in the Phoenix deal, but they need to cautious. Before backing up the “money dump truck”, the Kings must remember Bogdanovic has played zero minutes in the NBA where it is a brand-new game.

Buzzer beating bank shot gives the Suns a 105-103 win over the Kings

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Phoenix Suns v Sacramento Kings
Booker shoots the game winner versus the Kings on Friday night Photo: NBAE

by Charlie O. Mallonee

NBA fans used to live for the final two minutes of a game. They were rough, tumble and full of exciting action. Now with all of the stoppages for replay reviews, the excitement of the final 120 seconds has been all but lost.

On Friday night at the Golden 1 Center, the sellout crowd (17,608) were treated to an “old fashion” nail biting two minute finish in the game between the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings.

The excitement began with 2:32 remaining in the game when DeMarcus Cousins broke a 98-all tie with a step-back 3-point basket from the right corner off an assist from Matt Barnes. The Suns missed a jump on their possession. The Kings grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 2:09 to go.

Cousins missed a jumper coming out of the timeout that was rebounded by Bledsoe of the Suns. T.J. Warren sank a jump shot at the 1:34 mark to bring Phoenix within one point of the lead at 101-100.

Each team missed a field goal opportunity then Cousins missed a layup that Lawson rebounded and then he was fouled by the Suns Tyson Chandler. The Kings maintained possession and Cousins attempted a 3-point shot that missed and Chandler rebounded.

The Suns Warren hit a 3-pointer (assist Booker) with 21.6-seconds on the clock to give his team a 103-101 lead. The Kings immediately called a timeout.

The Kings ran their play out of the timeout and with 8.2-seconds to go Darren Collison sank a 15-foot jump shot (assist Cousins) to tie the game at 103-103. It was the Suns turn to call a timeout.

Phoenix inbounded the ball at midcourt and to no one’s surprise the ball wound up in the hands of second-year guard Devin Booker. Booker put up a 20-foot fade away bank shot that  went in the hoop as the final buzzer sounded. The Suns had won the game 105-103 to the stunned amazement of the big crowd.

Who did what in the game

Kings (19-31)

suns-cuz
Cousins hits two of his 22 versus the Suns Photo: NBAE

 

  • DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings scoring attack with a triple-double: 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists(sixth career triple-double). Cousins got into foul trouble and picked up his fifth personal foul with 9:22 to go in the 4th quarter and he did not return until there was just 3:18 left in the game. How much of a difference could the big man have made in that six minutes is now a question to be pondered over beers at the local pub.
  • Darren Collison scored 19 points for the Kings as he shot 8-for-16 from the floor and hit 3-of-4 3-point attempts. Joerger was very happy with Collison’s play after the game.
  • There was a Ben McLemore sighting on Friday night. McLemore made a rare start as the team made adjustments with Temple out due to injury and Arron Afflalo did not dress due to illness. McLemore played 35-minutes and scored 18 points.
  • Ty Lawson made an impact in the game off the bench again for Sacramento on Friday night. The speedy guard put up 18 points hitting on 7-of-10 attempts from the field and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
  • Matt Barnes did not have a big scoring night (6-points) but hauled in 10 rebounds and dished out 4 assists for the Kings.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein played only 14-minutes in the contest but came up big especially in the six-minutes that Cousins was sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter with the five fouls. He also scored four points and had four rebounds.
  • As a team the Kings outrebounded the Suns 43-39. They outscored Phoenix in the paint 36-20. Sacramento even scored more fast break points (14-9) than the Suns. The Kings had 23 assists versus 13 turnovers which resulted in 22 Phoenix points.

Suns (16-34)

  • 20-year old guard Devin Booker scored a game-high 33 points for PHX. He scored just seven points in the first half. Booker went 11-for-24 shooting and hit 4-0f-8 from beyond the 3-point line. He also went 7-for-10 from the free throw line.
  • T.J. Warren was the offense for the Suns in the first half. While much of the team seemed less than present, Warren was active and ready for action. He finished with 21 points including going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
  • Eric Bledsoe had a 20 point game for the Suns in 33-minutes on the floor. He was just 4-of-12 from the floor but was 3-for-6 from 3-point land.
  • Maybe the disappointment of the night for the crowd was the play of local product Marquese Chriss. Chriss who played his high school basketball in Elk Grove and was drafted by the Kings and then traded to Phoenix played just 15-minutes and scored only two points. Chriss picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter which really limited his playing time. It may well have the combination of playing before a large contingent of family and friends while trying to defend DeMarcus Cousins that keep the young rookie from having a better game.

Joerger’s postgame thoughts

suns-collison
Collison had a big second half for the Kings Photo: NBAE
  • Heck of a basketball game
  • Both teams started kind of slow (it was 49-49 at the half)
  • I’m really proud of out guys. We held a fast break team to nine-points on the fast break and basically won every statistical category there is.
  • I thought Darren (Collison) really stepped up his game in the second half.
  • It was tremendous that we had great point guard play with Ty (Lawson) and Darren at times playing together.
  • It was great to see Ben McLemore get going a little bit and heck of a basketball game.
  • Very proud of out team

Focusing on 8th place in the Western Conference

The battle for the eighth and final playoff slot in the Western Conference continued on Friday night:

  • Denver now has sole possession of 8th place as they beat the Bucks 121-117
  • Portland is in 9th place 1.5 games back after losing to Dallas 108-104
  • Dallas has jumped into 10th place 2.5 games back of Denver with their win over Portland
  • The Kings are now in 11th place 3.5 games behind Denver after Friday’s loss to Phoenix

Up next on the schedule

The Kings have no time sit and ponder their loss to the Suns. The Golden State Warriors make a return visit to the Golden 1 Center on Saturday night. It is never easy to face “the Splash Brothers” but to have to play them on second night of a back-to-back set is really unfair.

Phoenix returns home on Saturday night to host the Milwaukee Bucks who lost in Denver on Friday.

The Warriors trounce the Phoenix Suns

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors defeated the Phoenix Suns 139-108 in front of the 199th consecutive sellout at Oracle Arena Saturday night. The Warriors rebounded from the double-overtime loss to the Houston Rockets Thursday night. The Warriors increased their streak to 106 games without two losses in a row. The last time that happened was April 5-7, 2015.

The young Suns, coached by Earl Watson, were competitive with the Warriors in the first quarter. They took an early lead, fell behind, stayed even with the Warriors but the Dubs offense behind Steph Curry’s nine and JaVale McGee’s seven gave the Warriors a seven-point lead 37-30 after one-quarter. The Warriors went on a 16-0 run to start the second quarter  and led by twenty-one 61-40. They turned the ball over four times late in the period and the Suns behind a 17-5 surge closed the gap to just nine 66-57 at the half.

The third quarter belonged to Steph Curry. Curry scored twenty points and the Warriors blew open the game. They scored forty-two points in the stanza to lead by twenty-four 108-84. Steph and Draymond Green sat on the bench for the final twelve minutes. Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant played about six minutes and the bench finished up the game. The Dubs win 138-109.

Game Notes- The Dubs had five players in double figures. Steph Curry led them with 31. Klay Thompson had twenty-six and Durant finished the night with 20. The Dubs had thirty-seven assists. Durant had 8 and Green finished with 13 in just three-quarters of play. The bench was terrific. David West scored ten and JaVale McGee had 11. Leading scorers for Phoenix were Eric Bledsoe with 27 and Devin Booker had 21.

After the game, Steve Kerr said the team” had some good moments.” He also said ‘the most disappointing moment was the last two to three minutes of the second quarter.” That was when the Suns went on a 17-5 run that not only quieted the crowd but produced a little sweat on Kerr’s brow. Kerr, when talking about Kevin Durant, remarked that Durant “doesn’t care if he shoots.” Durant had taken just five shots in the first three-quarters of play. He finished the night with twenty and took just seven shots in the entire game. Durant had eight assists and blocked three shots.

The Dubs finish the homestand Monday night against the Indiana Pacers at Oracle Arena. Game time is at 7:30 pm. The Dubs then start a six-game road trip in Los Angeles against the Clippers Wednesday night. The Clippers are 16-5 and trail the Dubs by 1 1/2 games in the standings. Golden State’s record improved to 17-3 and the Suns fell to 6-14.

Leave a Reply

Post navigation

The Warriors have their hands full with the Suns,prevail in the fourth quarter.

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors needed a strong performance by Klay Thompson to down the young and hungry Phoenix Suns 133-120 Sunday night at the Oracle Arena.The Warriors, who had a hard time beating the Suns in Phoenix on October 30th, had another tough time subduing the Suns coached by Earl Watson.

The Suns fell behind early in the first quarter 12-7. They then went on an 11-0 run and led by seven 30-23 with 1:30 left in the period. The Dubs defense played better, and they closed the gap to two, but the Warriors committed a shooting foul with just 1/2 second left on the clock. The Suns made the two free throws and led by four 32-28.

It was more of the same in the second quarter. The Dubs led by three 62-59 at the end of the first half. Phoenix continued to play well, and the Warriors could not put them away. The Warriors did increase the lead to seven at the end of the third period, but the Suns took it to them and led the Dubs 111-106 with 6:15 left to play. The Warriors woke up on offense and defense. Klay Thompson scored eighteen of his thirty points in the quarter and the Warriors defense, led by Draymond Green, was able to keep the Suns under control. The Dubs win 130-122.

The Warriors were led by Klay Thompson, Steph Curry with 30 points, six assists, and six rebounds. Kevin Durant added twenty-nine, and he had five assists and nine boards. Mr. defense, Draymond Green, had a double-double. He scored fourteen points, eleven assists, and seven rebounds. The Suns had six players in double figures. Eric Bledsoe and T.J.Warren each scored twenty. Devin Booker added nineteen; Jared Dudley had fourteen, Brandon Knight pitched in with 10. Former Warrior, and a very popular player when he was here, Leandro Barbosa knocked down eleven. The Warriors honored their former player with a video tribute during a timeout in the first quarter. The fans gave Barbosa a standing ovation, and he waved back to the crowd.

After the game, coach Steve Kerr said:”We’re trying to win a championship, you don’t do that simply by outscoring people.” “We set a bad tone on defense from the beginning.” “They (the Suns) played a really good game.” “We did not do a good job defensively.Gotta play better.”

The Warriors improve to 8-2, and the Suns fall to 3-8. The Warriors start a four-game eastern trip starting Wednesday in Toronto against the Raptors. Friday night they meet the Boston Celtics then play a back-to-back game Saturday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. If you remembered last year, the Dubs had a very tough victory against the Celtics to keep their winning streak alive. They then went to Milwaukee, and the Bucks beat them snapping their 24-game winning streak. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself.

 

 

 

 

The Warriors struggle but they still win, defeat the Phoenix Suns

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Eric Bledsoe (2) of the Phoenix Suns gets the throw down on the Golden State Warriors Andre Iguodala (9) in the first half of Sunday night’s game in Phoenix

Phoenix- The Golden State Warriors defeated the Phoenix Suns 106-100 Sunday night in Phoenix. The Dubs started strong and owned  15-8 lead midway through the first period. After a time-out, the Suns came roaring back and went on a 16-0 run to take a 24-15 lead. The Dubs tried to get even, but they just were not in sync. They trailed by eight points at the end of the first period. Steph Curry scored the Dubs’ first ten points.The rest of the team scored just seven points in the last six minutes of the period. In the second period, the Warriors were not able to close the gap until late in the period. The Dubs trailed 57-55 at halftime. Kevin Durant scored nineteen in the first half to get Golden State back in the game. Steph added eighteen. The Phoenix attack was led by Eric Bledsoe, T.J.Warren and Tyson Chandler. The Dubs turned the ball over thirteen times in the first half, and the Suns were able to capitalize on the Dubs’ sloppy play.

Golden State did not run away with the game in the second half. It was nip and tuck all the way until the final seconds of the contest. The Warriors committed just two turnovers in the final twenty-four minutes of action, and their defense was superb. Draymond Green was terrific, and the Warrior defense allowed just forty-three points as Golden State won its second game of the year.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with thirty-seven points. Steph Curry added twenty-eight. Klay Thompson was cold for most of the game, but he did put in fourteen. Draymond Green was also cold from the floor, but he made up for it with nine assists and thirteen rebounds. Zaza Pachulia also had five points, and he tallied four assists and pulled down ten boards.

The Warriors had a hard time getting in rhythm all night long. They weren’t able to fast break a lot, and the biggest lead was just seven points. They were able to shut down the Suns late in the game, but the outcome was in doubt until Steph sunk two free throws with just 12.9 seconds left to play.

The stats in the game were this. Golden State shot 42.2% from the field. Phoenix shot 41.1% The Dubs were 8 for 29 from three-point range (27.6%). Phoenix was 8 for 23. The Suns grabbed 50 rebounds compared to the Warriors’43. The Dubs led 27-19 in assists. Golden State committed fifteen turnovers.

The Warriors record for the year is now 2-1 while the Suns, under first-year coach Earl Watson, drop to 0-3. The Warriors next game will be in Portland Tuesday night, and they return to the Oracle Arena Thursday night to face Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

 

 

Curry’s first double double leads to Kings’ win in Phoenix

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit Robin Hagy Photography

SACRAMENTO- It all came down to free throws at the end of the game. Fortunately, the end of the game was not constantly fouling the Kings, who gave up a 15 point lead they had early in the fourth quarter.

The Kings even had a seven point lead within a minute to play, but the Suns never quit. Phoenix would cut the lead down to two with 21 seconds left in regulation. Ben McLemore got to the line where he missed both free throws and gave the Suns some hope to tie it up. Luckily, rookie sensation Devin Booker missed a jumper and James Anderson got the rebound and got to the line. Anderson made them both to put the Kings up by four. After a couple of free throws by Quincy Acy to maintain their four point lead with three seconds to go. The Kings picked up win number 33, 105-101.

Without DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo, Seth Curry and Kosta Koufos stepped up in a huge way. Curry got his first career double double in the ball game with 20 points and 15 assists. Curry made some outstanding passes as he drove to the hoop and broke down the defense. On 8-14 from the field and 3-6 from beyond the arc, Curry continues to be an effective scorer. One of those threes he juked his defender, made a spin move and knocked down the shot. Curry is solidifying himself with his recent play and the Kings’ decision to sign him has paid off. Hopefully he will continue to develop and make an impact for this team who might not retain Rondo after this offseason.

As DMC sat out, the Kings lost his 26.9 points per game but Koufos did a good job on the offensive end with 19 points and eight boards. Gay chipped in 15 points and although McLemore missed two late free throws, he added 14 points of his own.

The Kings turned the ball over 19 times, which led to 27 points for the Suns. Phoenix also out rebounded Sacramento, 51-40. Phoenix grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and they scored 17 second chance points. Their turnovers and a bit lack of size almost cost Sacramento the game, but the Kings shooting 49.3% led to their victory.

Sacramento will finish their season on the road in Houston against the Rockets. Cousins will once again not play, so expect Koufos to get playing time once again. And whether or not Rondo plays, Curry must get more minutes in the season finale to to see his development as he continues to set career highs.

Sacramento Kings Wednesday game wrap up: Turnovers cost Kings in Minnesota

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit: NBAE– Minnesota Timberwolves Karl Anthony Towns (32) goes up on the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night

SACRAMENTO- The Kings had to play without DeMarcus Cousins after he injured his right knee in Monday’s contest in Chicago. As the Kings headed into tonight’s game, the team has struggled all season when he hasn’t suited up. Without the All Star center in the lineup, the Timberwolves looked to capitalize on that with their rookie center Karl Anthony Towns.

Towns had a huge game as DMC watched from the sidelines. The missing presence of Cousins in the middle allowed Minnesota to score a total of 64 points in the paint.

Sacramento was able to stay in the game for most of the game thanks to Rajon Rondo. Rondo totaled 14 points in the first quarter alone for his highest total in a quarter all season. The point guard kept the Kings in a good position all through the first half, as the T-Wolves led 50-48.

Minnesota broke it open in the third quarter as the the T-Wolves shot 70% from the field in the quarter. Sacramento was unable to play tough defense and allowed their opponent to out score them by ten in the quarter. Minnesota would lead 84-72 to end the the third.

The Kings did however try to make a come back to start the fourth. They were able to go on a 15-5 run and get the score to within two points at 89-87. But Minnesota was able to hit  A 6-0 run and open their lead back up. After getting back ahead, the T-Wolves never looked back and won by nine, 113-104.

The Kings turned the ball over 17 times, which led to 22 points for Minnesota. Towns totaled 26 points and 11 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins and Zach Lavine both added 23 more as the T-Wolves shot 56.3%. The Kings turnovers cost them the gave as they did get some good production out of other players. Kosta Koufus scored 15 points and grabbed 15 boards for a double double as he started in place of Cousins . Rondo finished with a team high 25 points and added 8 rebounds and 12 assists.

The three young Minnesota players dominated the Kings offensively and Sacramento missed DMC’s presence. With the season winding down, it could be interesting to see if the Kings can win a couple ball games for pride maybe just want to get a better lottery pick.

The Kings will head back to Sacramento after their 4 game road trip. They’ve struggled at home in the past month, but hopefully the team can pull out a couple more wins as the arena’s days come to an end. The Kings take on the Suns at home on Friday, March 25, at 7 p.m.

Kings end losing streak by crushing the Suns 142-119

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Phoenix Suns at Sacramento Kings
Darren Collison drives to the basket versus the Suns. Photo Credit: Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – Here are words you have not heard often this season – the Sacramento Kings waltzed their way to a win on Saturday afternoon destroying the Phoenix Suns 142-119.

The win ended a 3-game losing streak for the Kings. It was the eighth consecutive loss for the Suns (12-24) who have to play the Lakers in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The Kings (13-20) led by as many as 17 points in the first half but the Suns would not go down for the count. Phoenix outscored the Kings 35-28 in the second quarter and looked like they were ready to make a game of it.

At the half, the Kings led the Suns 59-53.

Sacramento came out in the third quarter looking like a team that was ready to put away their opponent. The Suns kept fighting and took the lead with 8:16 to go in the period. The Kings took the lead back off a Rudy Gay dunk with an assist from Casspi and they never looked back.

By the end of the third quarter, the Kings led the Suns 103-87 and every one in the building knew the fourth quarter would be a formality.

The Kings kept the hammer down in the fourth quarter outscoring the Suns 39-32. There was even a Willie Cauley-Stein sighting late in the game. Cauley-Stein played for the first time in almost a month due to a dislocated finger. The big rookie scored the first time he had the ball in his hands.

On Saturday, the Kings did what they should have done to Philadelphia on Wednesday night. They beat an inferior team and protected their home court. Sacramento is now 9-9 at home this season.

Kings

George Karl pointed to the play of Darren Collison as one of the main reasons the Kings beat the Suns. Collison came of the bench and scored 21 points hitting on 7-of-10 shooting attempts (2-for-4 3-pointers). He dished out six assists and went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in his 28 minutes of playing time.

DeMarcus Cousins had a positive outing scoring 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds. The big man shot 11-for-15 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the free throw line. Cousins spent a great deal of time in the paint and it payed off for the Kings as the Suns could not stop him.

Rajon Rondo posted another double-double game. He scored 15 points and distributed 15 assists in just 30 minutes on the floor. Rondo continues to amaze with his rebounding ability. He had six rebounds in the game with many coming at crucial moments for the Kings.

Marco Belinelli followed up his 28-point performance against the Sixers with 19 points versus the Suns. Belinelli shot 7-for-11 from the floor (2-for-5 long range) and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the foul line.

Omri Casspi had another solid game as a starter for Sacramento. He put up 13 points and hauled in seven rebounds in his 29 minutes on the floor. It is hard to see Casspi not staying in the starting lineup for the foreseeable future.

As a team, the Kings shot 60.9-percent from the field. They hit on 9-of-23 3-point attempts (39.1-percent). Sacramento outscored the Suns 60-32 in the paint.

Sacramento out-rebounded Phoenix 46-25. The Kings scored 14 second chance points to just nine for the Suns.

The Kings also took good care of the basketball. They turned the ball over 15 times while recording 30 assists for the desired 2-to-1 ratio.

Suns

No statistic of the game may be more important than the eighth consecutive loss for the Suns. If the Suns lose to the Lakers on Sunday, it is very conceivable that Jeff Hornacek will not be the Phoenix coach on Monday. The Suns have already replaced two of their assistant coaches.

Brandon Knight led the Suns scoring attack with 23 points. Rookie Devin Booker had an impressive game putting up 21 points for Phoenix.

The Suns had six players score in double figures.

Phoenix just could not match the Kings play in the paint and it cost them the game.

George Karl

Karl 1-2-16

The win over the Suns gave Kings head coach George Karl his 1115th NBA regular season victory. That ties him for fifth all-time with Phil Jackson.

When asked how it felt to tie Jackson on the all-time wins list Karl said, “Its a good, fun thing with my family. My son, my daughter, my son-in-law and my staff, we joke about it all the time. As I said to you before, he’s a great coach, he’s maybe the best. I don’t know what our record is against him, but I’m pretty sure it not very good. I know its not very good in the playoffs, but it might be decent in the regular season.”

What they said after the game

“One thing I just said after the game was we had two really good days of practice,” said Karl. “The effort in the second half, DC (Darren Collison) was incredible. It was effort. I’m not sure it was pretty. I’m not sure it was conceptually excellent. It was just effort. I’m just an old school guy that believes that effort magnifies talent.”

‘Oh it’s huge, it’s huge,” said Darren Collison on the victory. “We were embarrassed by the losses we had previously. We were able to get a win. It always feels good to get a win especially when you (have to) go on the road.”

Rajon Rondo made it clear that only the press is making his return to Dallas a big deal. He said it is just another road game.

He’s been coaching a long, long time,” said Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek about George Karl. “I played against him so he’s been there a long time. He’s always done a great job with his teams. They’ve always been high-scoring, high-flying teams and with the talent they have on the this team, they got them playing that way tonight. He’s one of those great coaches of all time with the amount of wins he’s racked up.”

Up next

The Kings will face the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Monday and the Mavericks in Dallas on Tuesday.

The Suns play the Lakers in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Karl frustrated by Kings play versus Portland

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Portland Trail Blazers at Sacramento Kings
Photo Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings committed four turnovers in their first seven possessions on Sunday night versus the Portland Trail Blazers. By the end of the game, the Kings had turned the ball over 23 times.

The Kings lack of value for the ball clearly frustrated their coach and he said so after the game.

“The first four turnovers were crazy. The beginning of the game was crazy,” said George Karl in his postgame press conference. “We’re trying to throw Aaron Rodgers passes in the window from 30 feet. It’s basketball! You’re supposed to throw a pass that has a 95 – maybe 98-percent chance of getting completed.”

Karl was brutally honest about his team’s performance. “We’ve got to value possessions. I don’t think we’re a talented enough basketball team not to put more value on every possession we play on both ends of the floor.”

Karl ended the press conference by standing and saying, “I’m done. I’m frustrated.” Then, the Kings head man walked back to his office.

The situation does not get easier for the Kings who have to travel to Oakland for a Monday night game with the Golden State Warriors. The Kings need to show a concerted effort versus the Warriors or there will be hell to pay from Karl.

The Kings have two home games following the Golden State contest. Philadelphia comes in on Wednesday and Phoenix visits Sacramento on Sunday. Those two games are really must wins for the Kings. The Sixers and Suns are the type of teams the Kings have to beat if the playoffs are even a remote possibility.