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Kings win a thriller over the Raptors 102-99

Published on November 21, 2016November 21, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Toronto Raptors v Sacramento Kings — Raptors vs Kings Photo: Rocky Widner NBAE

The Sacramento Kings have done the improbable by defeating the mighty Toronto Raptors 102-99 on Sunday at home to complete the season swept for the second consecutive season.

The win broke up a Sacramento four-game losing streak. Ironically, the Kings victory earlier in the month in Toronto also ended a four-game losing skid.

It is too early in the season to label it a “must win” game, but it was a “we need to win soon” game. The Kings have two games remaining on this homestand with Oklahoma City and Houston – two teams that are playing good basketball right now. The last thing the Kings wanted to do was go winless on a five-game homestand.

This game had one of the best endings for Kings fans in some time. If you are a Raptors fan, you do not share that opinion. In fact, you feel your team got “hosed”.

The final 101-seconds were wild

Darren Collison stole the ball from Patrick Patterson of the Raptors. Collison pushed the ball up the floor. He then passed the ball to Barnes at the top of the key. Barnes passed back to Collison who found the trailer Rudy Gay who put the ball away with commanding dunk.

Following a series of missed shots by both teams, Kyle Lowry was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer by Darren Collison. Lowry hit the first two charity shots but missed the third and Cousins pulled down the rebound.

Following a 20-second timeout, the Kings were unable to make a basket after playing keep away and committed a shot clock violation.

With 2.4-seconds left is when all the fun began.

The final 2.4-seconds felt the final five-minutes … oh they were!

Following the shot clock violation, the Raptors took a 20-second timeout which meant they would inbound the ball in the frontcourt. Toronto had to have a 3-point basket to tie the game and force an overtime session.

DeMarre Carroll was the player who was selected to inbound the ball. DeMarcus Cousins was put on Carroll to defend against the inbound pass. At the whistle, Carroll threw the inbounds pass to Terrence Ross. The ball hit the floor before Ross picked it up. Ross then took a 30-foot shot that was a beautiful “swish” shot for a game-tying 3-pointer. The ball clearly went through the basket before the red light lit up around the backboard.

DeMarcus Cousins immediately indicated to anyone who would listen that he had tipped the inbounds pass. If he did, the clock should have started then and Ross’ shot may have come too late to count.

Because it was under two minutes, the play went to an automatic video review to the NBA Video Replay Center in Secaucus, New Jersey for the final decision. After a complete review, the final decision was Cousins did indeed deflect the ball which means the clock started at the point. Running the clock from that point Ross’ shot came after time had expired, so the basket did not count. Kings win the game 102-99.

Toronto head coach Dwane Casey was incredibly upset with the officials and the decision. However, no one would expect him to be happy to have a potential tie game taken away from his team.

Important numbers for the Kings

Rudy Gay was the Kings high-scorer with 23 points and needed just 13 shots to tally those points. It was a nice comeback after having to two rough games.
DeMarcus Cousins recorded another double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) despite missing considerable minutes in the first half with foul trouble
Darren Collison put up 15 points and added nine assists in a very active game for the point guard
Arron Afflalo scored 14 points in 19 minutes coming off the bench
The lead changed 11 times in the game
This game was tied 13 times
The Kings shot 40.7-percent (11-for-27) from 3-point land
Sacramento held DeMar DeRozan – the NBA’s leading scorer – to just 12 points

Key stats for the Raptors

Kyle Lowry led the Raptors scoring effort with 25 points. He went 9-for-10 from the free throw line
Center Jonas Valanciunas – who did not play against the Kings in Toronto – put up 23 and hauled in 14 rebounds for the double-double in 37 minutes of playing time
DeMarre Carroll hit for 17 points to make 4-0f-5 starters in double figures
The Raptors shot 91.7-percent (22-for-24) from the free throw line

Up next

The Kings are off until Wednesday when they will host Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Raptors have the back-end of a back-to-back on the road tomorrow night in Los Angeles versus the Clippers.

Kings Countdown: “Small ball” arrives for the Raptors on Sunday in Sac

Published on November 20, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings head coach Dave Joerger has seen enough

“I’ve seen enough.We’re going to play small. DeMarcus is going to play center. I don’t know who else will play with him. It just gives us more zip, more life, more experience. That’s not any detriment to anyone else or what they’ve done.” That quote is from Dave Joerger’s postgame press conference on Friday night after the Kings lost to the Clippers 121-115.

After watching his team being blown off the court in the first half by the Clippers, Joerger shook up his lineup in the second half by going small with Cousins at the five, Gay at forward and three guards – Lawson, Afflalo and Collison. The result was improved shooting percentage, higher point production and better defense.

Kings had lost four in a row the last time they played Toronto

Sacramento faced the Raptors in Toronto at the end of a five-game/seven-day road trip that had seen the Kings lose four consecutive games. Expectations were very low for the Kings chances after they had been dominated by the Bucks in Milwaukee the night before.

To everyone’s surprise – especially the Raptors – the Kings played a strong game led by Rudy Gay’s 23 points and DeMarcus Cousins double-double (22 points, 14 rebounds) to defeat Toronto 96-91.

The Sacramento defense was as intense as it had been all season in that game in Toronto. The Kings held DeMar DeRozan under 30 points for the first time in the season. He had scored 30-plus points in the five consecutive games to start the season.

Kings can sweep the series for the second consecutive year

Sacramento swept the season series in 2015-16. Now, the Kings have the opportunity to do that again after winning the first game in Toronto.

The Raptors are a Tier-1 team which means they are definitely a playoff team that has chance to make it to the NBA Finals. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season where they lost to the eventual NBA Champions – the Cleveland Cavaliers.

FiveThirtyEight.com projects the Raptors as being the number two seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs this season with a 20-percent chance of being the top seed.

The Kings are still a Tier-3 team which means they basically have no chance of making the playoffs and will be a lottery team again. FiveThirtyEight currently projects the Kings have a 12-percent chance of becoming a playoff team.

Toronto beat the Nuggets 113-111 in OT on Friday night on the road in Denver

The Raptors Terrance Ross hit a 3-pointer with 37.6 seconds to go in the game and Emmanuel Mudiay missed from halfcourt as time ran out and Toronto won in overtime 113-111. DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points for the 10th time in 12 games this season for the Raptors. Kyle Lowry posted a double-double by scoring 18 points and dishing out 13 assists for Toronto in the contest.

The Raptors aren’t afraid of the road

Toronto (8-4) is 4-1 on the this season. The Raptors will not be intimidated just because they are coming into a new arena in Sacramento. Evidently, the Raptors don’t understand that they are supposed to have a 60-percent chance of losing because they are the visitors.

The key to winning is to stop DeRozan

DeRozan is currently the leading scorer in the NBA at 33.0 points per game. He is shooting 50.3-percent from field and leads all players with 145 field goals.

The Kings will also have to neutralize Jonas Valanciunas

Valanciunas did not play in the game in Toronto due to injury. He scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Denver game Friday night. Valanciunas ranks seventh with a field goal percentage of 57.8-percentage.

For entertainment purposes only

FiveThirtyEight.com predicts the Raptors have a 63-percent of winning the game on the Sunday night in Sacramento. They also say take Toronto minus 3.5 points.

The sports books show the game going to Toronto minus 1 to 3.5 points. The over/under is a consistent 209.5 points.

Kings put up a fight but the Clippers win 121-115

Published on November 19, 2016November 19, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

LA Clippers v Sacramento Kings — J.J. Redick fires away Photo: Rocky Widner NBAE

The Clippers are now 6-0 on the road but they almost blew this win

The Los Angeles Clippers improved their record to 11-2 on the season with a 121-115 win over the Kings in Sacramento on Friday night. At one point in the first half, Los Angeles had a 26-point lead. They held a 19-point lead after three quarters were in the books.

The Kings outscored the Clippers 30-17 in fourth quarter led by Matt Barnes and his 10 points that came from his perfect 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. DeMarcus Cousins added seven points, Ty Lawson put up five, Garrett Temple four, Anthony Tolliver three and Rudy Gay one point.

Sacramento cut the Clippers lead to two points with 2:04 to go in the game, but that was as close as they would come to retaking the lead. Los Angeles scored the final four points of the game on a dunk by DeAndre Jordan and two free throws from Chris Paul.

The Kings changed the the lineup in the third quarter which changed the game

Dave Joerger went “small” to start the second half moving Cousins to center, keeping Gay at forward and starting three guards – Lawson, Afflalo and Collison. Joerger felt the lineup change had a profound affect on his team’s pick and roll execution. He also felt the defense improved.

The Kings team shooting percentage improved to 52.9-percent (9-for-17) in the third period as they scored 31 points.

The Clippers scored 31 points as well but their shooting percentage fell to 42.9-percent as the Kings tightened up their defense.

Los Angeles still had a 19 point lead – 104 to 85 – at the end of three quarters.

The Clippers started the game on fire

Los Angeles started the game aggressively with Blake Griffin scoring 15 points and J.J. Redick adding 14 of his own. Griffin went to the free throw line eight times and converted seven times. Redick was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point land. The Clippers shot 70-percent as a team in the first quarter.

The Clippers put up 33 points in the second quarter paced by the 20 points scored by the second unit coming off the bench. Paul Pierce – who has been used sparingly – even made an appearance scoring six points. As a team, they shot 70.6-percent from the floor and 85.7-percent (6-for-7) from 3-point range.

The Kings improved their lot in the second period by scoring 30 points. DeMarcus Cousins scored 15 points in seven minutes on the floor to keep the game relatively close.

The Clippers held a 19 point lead – 73 to 54 – over the Kings at the half.

To no one’s surprise Cousins had another monster game

The Kings superstar scored 38 points in 36 minutes of playing time on Friday night. He also posted another double-double as he pulled down 13 rebounds in the game. The amazing big man also had seven assists and three steals.

Lawson, Collison and Barnes also came up big

Ty Lawson played 36-minutes against the Clippers and scored 18 points, dished out eight assists and hauled in seven rebounds. His point guard counterpart – Darren Collison – played 32-minutes putting up 16 points shooting 7-for-11 (one 3-pointer) from the floor.

Matt Barnes came off the bench and played 30-minutes for the Kings scoring 15 points and recording seven rebounds. He shot 5-for-10 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Coach Dave Joerger on the Kings performance

“I was proud of our guys. We came out and battled and got after it and we competed. I thought we had a lot of open shots – didn’t knock some down that could’ve really put it over the edge there late in the third quarter and then into the fourth quarter. But we didn’t put out heads down. We competed and I’m really proud of guys tonight.”

The Kings are going to go small

“I’m going to play small,” declared Kings head coach Dave Joerger after the game. “DeMarcus (Cousins) is going to play center. I don’t know who else is going to play with him. It just gives us more zip, more life, more experience. That’s not any detriment to anyone else for what they’ve done. Of course in four or five games, I’ll probably go back.”

It was the usual suspects doing the job for the Clippers on Friday night

Blake Griffin was the Clippers leading scorer with 29 points. He shot 7-for-15 from floor and was an impressive 15-of-16 from the free throw line.

J.J. Redick made rain like usual. 18 of his 26 points came off 3-point baskets. He was 6-for-8 from long range.

DeAndre Jordan posted a double-double scoring 16 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. His free throw shooting did not come into play as the big man did not go to the foul line once in the game.

Chris Paul also had a double-double for the Clippers. The star point guard put up 11 points and handed out 12 assists.

Austin Rivers was the key man off the bench for LAC adding 12 points and four assists.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers on how the Kings got back into the game

“Us! I thought that was more us. I give them credit. Coach (Joerger) went small and they got more patient in the game. They scored every time down it felt like and then we stopped offensively. We (started) going in North Carolina four corner stall, I felt like. You’re always happy to win the game, but we want to be better that … First half was beautiful basketball. It was a clinic; you couldn’t have played any better. Defensively is where it started and then in the second half we decided we were going to trade baskets with them.”

What’s coming up

The Clippers flew back to Los Angeles where they will host the Chicago Bulls (8-4) on Saturday night at the Staples Center.

The Kings will host the Toronto Raptors (8-4) on Sunday night at 6:00 PM at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

Kings Countdown: Friday night the red hot Clippers visit Sacramento

Published on November 18, 2016November 18, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Memphis Grizzlies v Los Angeles Clippers — Chris Paul vs Memphis Photo: NBAE via Getty Images

Los Angeles Clippers (10-2)

Clippers looking to rebound from second loss of season

LAC (10-2) lost just their second game of the season on Wednesday night to the Memphis Grizzlies 111-107 on their homecourt in Los Angeles. The Grizzlies Marc Gasol hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in the game to lead Memphis to the win.

J.J. Redick was the Clippers leading scorer putting up 29 points. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 14 rebounds. LAC shot 45.7-percent from the floor (37-for-81) and 9-for-25 (36.0-percent) from 3-point land. DeAndre Jordan went 0-for-2 from the free throw line.

Team Leaders for the Clippers

Forward Blake Griffin leads LAC in scoring with 20.6 points per game
DeAndre Jordan is the leader in shooting percentage at 57.8-percent with most of his scoring coming in the paint near the basket
Jordan is also the rebounding leader at 12.8 per game (3.8 offensive rebounds ppg)
Chris Paul dishes out an average of 8.3 assists per game
When it comes to 3-pointers, Paul and J.J. Redick average hitting 2.3 long shots per game each
As a team, the Clippers average 108.7 per game – fourth best in the NBA
The Clippers defense has held their opponents to just 93.8 points per game – number one in the NBA – this team not only can score, they can play defense

Does “hack-a-Jordan” still work?

DeAndre Jordan is shooting 44.0-percent from the free throw line so far this year, so it’s worth a try.

151112065240-deandre-jordan-nba-los-angeles-clippers-at-dallas-mavericks-home-t1 — DeAndre Jordan checks the scoreboard Photo: NBAE via Getty Images

How do you beat the Clippers?

The Grizzlies beat LAC by doubling the number of 3-pointers they hit. Memphis hit 15 from downtown to just nine for the Clippers
Memphis also outrebounded Los Angeles 43-35

This is the front end of a back-to-back for the Clippers

The Clippers have to go home after the game on Friday night and host the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.

Probable starters for the Clippers

Forward Luc Mbah a Moute 5.8 ppg
Forward Blake Griffin 20.6 ppg
Center DeAndre Jordan 10.3 ppg
Guard J.J. Redick 14.6 ppg
Guard Chris Paul 18.3 ppg

Sacramento Kings (4-8)

San Antonio Spurs v Sacramento Kings — Cousins battling under the basket Photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE

Game two of five at home

The Kings lost the opening game of the homestand to San Antonio 110-105. Now, they have to play the team with the best record in the NBA – the Los Angeles Clippers are who 10-2 on the season.

The Kings have lost three consecutive games

The Kings (4-8) have already experienced a four-game losing streak on the long road trip that featured five games in seven nights. The team would like to avoid matching that losing streak but that is going to be a tough task against a team like the Clippers who are playing so well on both ends of the floor.

Kings must play solid defense against the Clippers

The Clippers are just too strong of a scoring team to get into a shootout with in the game. If you do, you are going to lose. The Kings must slow the game down and play solid, hard nosed defense. They must decide who they are going to shutdown. Will they go after Griffin or Chris Paul? Sacramento has to make one of those players ineffective in order to have a chance to win.

Sacramento needs a third scorer to step up

The Kings have been dependent on DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay to carry the load when it comes to scoring. The Clippers are too strong of a team on defense for the Kings to have just two scoring options. The Kings need a third player to produce tonight – preferably a guard who might be able to hit some 3-pointers.

Last year versus the Clippers

The Kings were 1-3 versus the Clippers in 2015-16. Their lone win came in January 2016 at Staples Center when six Kings players scored in double figures.

How deep will the rotation go?

There had been rumors that Dave Joerger was going to shorten the rotation on his bench and then he used 10 players against San Antonio. Only Omri Casspi and Anthony Tolliver did not see the floor versus the Spurs. Will the same be true against the Clippers tonight?

Probable starters

Forward Rudy Gay 21.3 ppg
Forward DeMarcus Cousins 26.6 ppg
Center Kosta Koufos 5.3 ppg
Guard Aaron Afflalo 9.6 ppg
Guard Ty Lawson 5.4 ppg

For Entertainment Purposes Only

FiveThirtyEight.com predicts the Clippers have a 69-percent change of winning the game to just a 31-percent chance for the hometown Kings. FiveThirtyEight says take the Clippers minus five points.

Other sites from that desert town in Nevada project an over/under of 204.5 points. They favor the Clippers minus 8.0 to 8.5 points.

A battle royal in Portland:Kings lose to Trail Blazers 122-120 in OT

Published on November 12, 2016November 12, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

799355fa552ec2f8

Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer, AP Photo

by Charlie O. Mallonee

We spit on your statistics about back-to-back games in the NBA

The statisticians, experts, journalists and oddsmakers all had written off the Sacramento Kings as having any chance to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night in the Rose City:

The Kings had suffered a devastating loss to the Lakers 101-91 on Thursday night in Sacramento
The game in Portland was the back end of a back-to-back home/road set with the average chances to win the game at 37.3-percent historically
The Trail Blazers are seen as a more talented team than the Kings and are expected to make the playoffs and possibly go on to the second round while Sacramento is expected to be in the Draft Lottery … again
The game in Portland would be the Kings 11th contest in 17 days and the team needs a break to rest and recoup
Sacramento entered the game a 6.5 to 9-point underdog

What no counted on was the Kings forgot to read the script before the game and they came to play. Somehow they survived a first half that ended with the Blazers leading 62-57 and came out ready to to battle in the second half despite all of the odds being against them.

The Kings rode the play of Cousins, Gay, Koufos, Afflalo and Collison in the second half to outscore the Blazers 49-44 to force the game into overtime.

The teams tied the game up five times in the five-minute overtime session. With the Blazers up by two points with 14.3 seconds to play, Cousins missed a 26-foot jump and Rudy Gay missed a 16-foot desperation turnaround fadeaway shot with one-tenth of a second left on the clock. When the horn sounded, Portland had won the game 122-120 but they knew they had been in a battle royal.

Cousins was a different player on Friday night

Cousins put his inconsistent Thursday night performance behind him to lead the Kings in scoring with 33 points to go with nine rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and one steal. Cousins did all of this after being assessed a technical foul in the first quarter for exchanging shoves with Meyers Leonard. Cousins knew his limitations and worked with them of Friday night.

Rudy Gay is proving to everyone that he is worth the new NBA pay scale

Gay may have given notice that he plans to opt out of the last year of his contract with the Kings but he is not playing like a man who does not care. In fact, it is just the opposite. Rudy Gay is giving it his all on the court every night and not in a selfish way.

Against Portland, he posted a double-double scoring 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Gay also added three assists, two steals and one block. He shot 50-percent from the floor (9-for-18) including going 2-for-4 from 3-point range. Gay went 9-for-10 from the free throw line.

If Vivek Ranadive and Vlade Divac are serious about building a contender, they need to get out the checkbook and get ready to start participating in the bidding war for one Rudy Gay.

Has there been a changing of the guard?

The man on the point who made it happen on Friday night for the Kings was Darren Collison. Collison played almost 40 minutes scoring 20 points while dishing out four assists and hauling in five rebounds.

The Kings starting point guard Ty Lawson played just 15 minutes and had four assists. That is not to imply Lawson has become obsolete but most observers felt that Collison would establish himself as the number one point guard at sometime after his return. It appears Collison decided he would declare himself number one a little sooner than anyone expected.

Ty Lawson will not be going anywhere. He still has a very vital role to play for this Kings team. Look to see more sets with Lawson and Collison on the floor together in a “small ball line up”.

Head Coach Dave Joerger’s thoughts on the game

Our team played hard
We were playing on fumes – 11 games in 17 days
Turnovers were catastrophic – 15 that resulted in 25 Trail Blazer points
Portland’s guards were fantastic – starters Lillard and McCollum combined for 67 points
Rudy (Gay) and Cuz (Cousins) gave their all on the court at all times in the game
It was a fun basketball game
Our group is resilient – they can take a punch – they don’t go away
He’s (Cousins) engaged – he’s all in

What’s coming up for the Kings

Thankfully for the Kings after the brutal 11 games in 17 days schedule they have four days off. There will be some practice/shoot-arounds, but they will also be lots of rest on the agenda.

The Kings next game will be on Wednesday night at the Golden 1 Center when the San Antonio Spurs come back to town. The Kings will have four more home games before heading back out on the road.

Hello Biggest Little City in the World

Three of the Kings rookie players have been assigned to the Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League. Skal Labissiere, Georgios Papagiannis and Malachi Richardson will be playing with the Bighorns.

The fact is these young players would not be seeing any significant playing time in Sacramento. The second fact is they need significant playing time to prepare for the NBA. The solution is to play significant minutes in the D-League.

Do not expect to see the players move from Reno to Sacramento often unless they are needed to cover a roster spot because of an injury to an active player.

We will keep you up to date on their progress in the D-League on a weekly basis.

Youth was served in Sacramento: Lakers surprise Kings 101-91

Published on November 11, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

lat-lakers-kings-wre0044530517-20161110 Photo 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.

Game Preview: Kings vs the Lakers tonight 11/10/16 in Sacramento

Published on November 10, 2016November 10, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

TRIVIA QUESTION – James Harden leads the NBA in assists (12.3 apg) and ranks fourth in scoring (31.5 ppg). Who is the only player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring and assists in a single season?

Los Angeles Lakers

This is not Kobe’s Lakers team

This is the actually “the team” Mitch Kupchak has been trying to put together for the past three seasons. No longer are the Lakers centered around an aging “star” who would not accept a reduced role for the betterment of the team.

D’Angelo Russell – the number two-overall draft pick in 2015 – is leading the team in scoring with an average of 15.4 points per game. Third-year forward Julius Randle out of Kentucky is beginning to be an impact player in the starting line up averaging 14.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He has two double-doubles so far this season. Guard Jordan Clarkson is adding 15.1 points per start for LA. The “youngsters” are starting to make their mark on the team.

New coach – new attitude

Luke Walton is in his first year as head coach of the Lakers. He was the “hottest” coaching prospect on the market during the off-season after the job he did filling in for Steve Kerr at Golden State. Walton is the eighth person to have played for and coach the Lakers. He is also the youngest head coach in the NBA at 36 years old.

Lakers come into the game tonight with 4-4 record

The Lakers have won three of their last four games. They are coming off a 109-97 loss at home to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. It was the first time LA had not scored at least 100 points in their last five games. They also suffered a defensive lapse as Dallas shot 52.4-percent from the field.

The Lakers biggest win of the season came on November 4 when they downed the Golden State Warriors 117-97 on national television.

One of the most improved teams

The Lakers are considered by some to be one the most improved teams in “the association”.

Sacramento Kings

Trying to keep the winning streak alive

After winning big in in Toronto last Sunday to close out the road trip and handling the winless Pelicans at home on Tuesday night, the Kings are anxious to up their winning streak to three in-a-row.

DeMarcus Cousins is still leading the way on offense for the Kings with 25.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. He scored 28 against the Pels. Rudy Gay continues to be hot averaging 22.4 points per game. Darren Collison will play in his second game since returning from suspension and should have some significant impact on the second unit against the Lakers.

Defense is the key

The key to the back-to-back victories for the Kings has been holding their opponent to under 100 points. They are still averaging giving up 101.9 points per game which is too high but is coming down from the 102.5 that is was at the beginning of the road trip.

The Lakers have scored 108 points or more in each of their four wins.

Going for the sweep

The Kings swept the Lakers in the four-game series last season for the first time in their history. Sacramento would like to send a message in this game that they have every intention of repeating that feat again this season.

The Kings have won seven games in-a-row against the Lakers and five in-a-row in Sacramento.

Tough back-to-back

The Kings host the Lakers in Sacramento tonight and then have to travel to Portland to play the always tough Trail Blazers on Friday night. They face a reduced chance to win on the road because of the back-to-back scenario in Portland.

For entertainment purposes only

FiveThirtyEight.com using their CARM-elo system gives the Kings a 70-percent chance of winning tonight’s game with the Lakers. They say take the Kings minus 5.5 points.

Some of the other well-known entertainment sites also have the Kings as the favorites at minus 5.5 points with an over/under of 209 to 209.5.

Nationally televised game

Tonight’s game is being televised across the nation by TNT. That means their is no local play-by-play cable coverage on Comcast California.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Nate Archibald of the Kansas City-Omaha Kings led the NBA in scoring (34.0 ppg) and assists (11.4 apg) in 1972-73.

Kings triumph in Toronto 96-91

Published on November 6, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

NBA: Sacramento Kings at Toronto Raptors — Photo credit:Tom Szczerbowski USA Today

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings victorious in final game of road trip

The Sacramento Kings bounced back from playing one of their worst games of the season on Saturday in Milwaukee to playing one of their best games of the year on Sunday in Toronto to defeat the Raptors 96-91. Toronto (4-2) had won three consecutive games. The Kings (3-5) had lost four games in a row.

The Kings have played what has been rated the toughest schedule so far this season in the NBA. Five games in seven nights on the road in the Eastern Conference traveling from Miami to Toronto is brutal. It is also the reality of playing in the NBA. Every team has stretches in their schedules like this and to be successful a team has to deal with the difficulties.

The Kings found a way to deal with best team they had to face on this road trip by stepping up their defense and shortening the rotation off the bench. Head coach Dave Joerger used just nine players off his bench on Sunday night and his veteran players came through for him with the extended playing time – especially on defense.

The Kings held the hot shooting Raptors to just 35.7-percent (30-for-84) from the floor. The Toronto guard tandem of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry entered the contest averaging 53 points combined per game. The Sacramento defense held them to just 38 combined points on Sunday night.

DeRozan had scored at least 30 points in each of Toronto’s five games this year. The Kings held him to just 23 points.

The Sacramento Kings won on Sunday because of their defense. It has been awhile since you have read those words.

It’s deja vu all over again

The Kings swept the two -game series with the Raptors last season. The Kings won 107-101 in Sacramento behind DeMarcus Cousins 36 points and 10 rebounds. The Kings downed the Raptors in Toronto 104-94 when they had six players score in double figures.

The Kings will have a chance to complete the sweep this season on Sunday November 20 when the Raptors will visit the Golden 1 Center.

Kings dominate the paint

Toronto was without starting center Jonas Valanciunas who sat out because of a left knee contusion. That meant the Raptors 2016 first-round draft pick Jakob Poeltl and Lucas Nogueira who the Raptors have been developing overseas and in the D-League since 2011 had to play the five spot. Poeltl looked like a rookie and eventually fouled out of the game. Nogueria who was seeing his first action of the season after being out because of a sprained ankle looked very good. It is easy to see why Toronto has invested in his development.

The Kings dominated the paint outscoring the Raptors 52-30. Sacramento also out-rebounded Toronto 47-43.

Top performers

Rudy Gay led the Kings scoring attack with 23 points. Gay missed the game in Milwaukee with sore ribs. He played the game in Toronto with his ribs wrapped which did affect his shooting as he went 9-for-19 from the floor.

DeMarcus Cousins posted another double-double game with 22 points and 14 rebounds to go with four assists. Cousins was much more effective from out on the high post than down low under the basket. When he would drive the lane, Cousins was virtually unstoppable.

Ty Lawson was very good on the point dishing out 11 assists and adding five points. Shooting guard Arron Afflalo scored 12 points off just eight shots.

Matt Barnes was a force on defense and scored eight points plus grabbed 10 rebounds. Garrett Temple impacted the game with presence scoring eight points to go with a steal and a blocked shot.

DeRozan led the Raptors in scoring with 23 points but went 7-for-20 shooting. Lowry had 10 assists. Nogueia was the Raptors leading rebounder with five.

Dave Joerger was a happy man after the game

In the postgame press conference Joerger said:

He was really proud of his guys and how they responded in a back-to-back game
They (the Kings) get after people defensively
We had seven guys with two or more rebounds
We kept the turnovers down (the Kings had 11 turnovers and gave up just two points off those turnovers)
We had seven stops in a row with under 2:30 to play
A win like this gives you confidence
Rudy (Gay) gave us a big boost

What’s coming up

The Kings have a long flight home and then must get ready to face the New Orleans Pelicans (0-6) on Tuesday night at the Golden 1 Center. Sacramento then has the Lakers (3-3) at home on Thursday night before heading back out on the road.

The Raptors hit the road and will face the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. They then travel to Charlotte to face the Hornets on Friday night.

Kings blown out by Bucks 117-91

Published on November 6, 2016November 6, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Photo: Darren Hauck AP Photo

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings still without a win on road trip

The Sacramento Kings were never in the game on Saturday night in Milwaukee as the Bucks turned the game into a “laugher” by leading by as many as 31 points in the contest and never allowing Sacramento to have the lead in the game.

The Bucks were led by the play of “the Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo who scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out eight assists, made four steals and added one blocked shot in just 25 minutes on the floor against Sacramento. Antetokounmpo seized control from the beginning of the game and the Kings seemed powerless to stop him.

The other unstoppable Milwaukee player on Saturday night was 3-point shooting specialist Mirza Teletovic who scored 22 points going 7-for-9 from 3-point range. He did not attempt a two-point shot in the game. The Kings seemed unable to find a way to put a body on Teletovic to shut him down from long range.

Garrett Temple was the Kings leading scorer coming off the bench to put up 19 points in 28 minutes on the floor. He went 7-for-10 from the floor including going 5-for-6 from 3-point range to lead the Kings attack.

Milwaukee shoots 50-percent from the floor

It is almost impossible to win a NBA game when you let your opponent shoot 50-percent from the field. The Kings allowed the Bucks to shoot 50-percent (41-for-82) from the floor on Saturday night. The Bucks were able to connect on 14-of-33 (42.4-percent) 3-point shots. There is no way to sugarcoat the analysis of those results. The Kings played very poor defense on Saturday night.

The Bucks played aggressive defense and the Kings shot poorly. Sacramento shot just 39.3-percent (33-for-84) in the game. A NBA team is not going to win a game shooting under 40-percent in a contest. The one bright spot for the Kings shooting game was their 3-point shooting percentage which was 35.7 (10-for-28). They would take that 3-point percentage as an average every night if they could.

Fast break points killed the Kings

The Milwaukee Bucks scored 26 points off the fast break on Saturday night. The Kings scored one point off the fast break. No that is not a typographical error. Sacramento only scored one point off the fast break in the game. That is a concern because that is a symptom of a team that is giving up.

Young Kings get a chance to play in garbage time

Rookie forward Skal Labissiere out of Kentucky got the opportunity play his first minutes in a NBA regular season game on Saturday night. He played 15 minutes and scored eight points and hauled three rebounds in his NBA debut.

Rookie guard Malachi Richardso also made his NBA debut on Saturday night. He played six minutes and scored three points shooting 1-for-3 from the floor.

Not to be outdone, the Kings had their own Greek professional player make an appearance on Saturday night. Georgios Papgiannis made his NBA debut playing six minutes, scoring two points and picking up three personal fouls.

For all three young men, they are minutes in their lives that will never be forgotten.

What Joerger had to say after the game

Kings head coach Dave Joerger looked tired and frustrated after the game. He talked about:

the need to stay positive
the team has to stay together
the team knows they are better than this
it’s a tough time that they just have to work through
the players cannot put their heads down
using the rookies was nothing more than giving a rest to the vets in a blowout game

It does not get easier on Sunday

The Kings left Milwaukee after the game for Toronto where they will play the Raptors on Sunday at 3:00 PM PST/6:00 PM EST in Toronto. The Raptors are 4-1 on the season and are led by the red hot guard DeMar Rozan who has scored 30 or more points in each of his team’s first five games.

Toronto has won three consecutive games. The Kings have lost four games in a row and are 0-4 on their five-game road trip which ends in Ontario on Sunday.

The Kings were without forward Rudy Gay on Saturday in Milwaukee due to a rib cartilage strain. There is no word on his status for Sunday in Toronto. Forward Antony Tolliver also missed the Bucks game due to a knee problem.

Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com projects the Kings have a 13-percent chance to win the game on Sunday. They say take the Raptors minus 11.5 points.

Game Preview Update: Sacramento Kings vs. Milwaukee Bucks Saturday, Rudy Gay Doubtful to play

Published on November 5, 2016November 5, 2016 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Injury Update

Jason Jones beat writer for the Sacramento Bee is reporting that Rudy Gay is doubtful to play in the game in Milwaukee tonight due to sore ribs. Gay was instrumental in the Kings series sweep of the Bucks last season. Matt Barnes and Omri Casspi would pick up the slack if Gay is unable to go.

Rudy Gay Trade Rumor Update

The most recent trade rumor mill has the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Kings working on a deal that would send Rudy Gay to the Thunder for Cameron Payne. This report comes Headlines and Global News.

The Thunder are looking for someone to take some of the pressure off Russell Westbrook to be “the offense” with the departure of Kevin Durant.

Payne is coming off the injury list with a broken foot. The Kings are said to be looking for a “long term” solution at point guard. The young Payne who backs up Westbrook could possibly fit that role.

With Gay declaring he is opting out of his last year of his contract with the Kings to test the free agent market, his name is going to come up frequently in the rumor mill.

Kings need to a win on this road trip

The Sacramento Kings (2-4) have lost three consecutive games on this first long road trip of the season. After losing in Atlanta, Miami and Orlando, the Kings will be looking for their first win of the road trip in Milwaukee on Saturday night. The Bucks are another tier-three team that is not expected to make the playoffs. In theory, the Bucks are a team the Kings should be able to beat on the road.

Bucks will be trying to keep a winning streak alive

Milwaukee (3-2) won their second consecutive game on Thursday night when they defeated the Indiana Pacers 125-107. The Bucks are now 3-0 when they score 100-plus points in a game this season. That makes one of the goals for the Kings in the game very easy to prioritize … “keep ’em under 100!” Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker scored 27 points each in the win.

Kings dominated the series last season

The Kings won both games of the series with the Bucks last year. Sacramento won 128-118 in Milwaukee and then took the game in Sacramento 111-104. Ironically, the Kings won both of those games without DeMarcus Cousins in the line up for either game. Rudy Gay was the leading scorer for Sacramento in both of those wins over the Bucks.

Casspi takes a bigger role in Orlando

Omri Casspi came off the bench and played 23 minutes against the Magic. He scored 12 points shooting 5-for-13 including two 3-point baskets. Playing time had been hard to come by for Casspi but his involvement in the Orlando game may mark a change in Dave Joerger’s rotation.

Farmar is with the team

Jordan Farmar who signed with the team on Wednesday was the Kings in Orlando on Thursday but did not play. He will be available to play in Milwaukee on Saturday night.

Key players in the game

The Kings will be dependent on the big two – Cousins and Gay – as they have been so far in all of their games this season. What they will be looking for is another key player to step up. In Orlando, the Magic shutdown Cousins and Gay in the fourth quarter and the Kings needed another player (or players) to take over the scoring in order to earn the victory. That player has yet to be identified.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker are the key players for Bucks. They will look for help from Greg Monroe coming off the bench to lead the attack for the second unit. Milwaukee also added free agent guard Matthew Dellavedova in off-season to upgrade their team.

For entertainment purposes only

The odds-makers are in high agreement so far about this game on Saturday night. They list the Bucks as the favorites minus two points which is the usual home court advantage call. The over-under projection is 204.5 points.