AP photo: Matt Barnes stands by the Sacramento Kings bench during thier game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night
By: Eric He
There’s no better place to end a road trip than against a beatable opponent, and the Sacramento Kings took care of business against the Dallas Mavericks — the bottom-feeders in the Western Conference — on Wednesday night in a 120-89 win to wrap up a six-game swing.
Five players finished in double figures as DeMarcus Cousins led the way with 24 points to go along with 14 rebounds and seven assists.
“Nobody wants to fly that long with a loss under their belt,” Cousins said to reporters. “A good way to go home, good way to end this trip. Hopefully we can gain some momentum from this and start a little streak.”
The Kings led by just four at halftime at 56-52, but dominated the second half. They outscored the Mavericks 29-12 in the third quarter to pull away. An 11-0 run to kick off the third helped gain separation, putting Sacramento ahead 67-52.
They never looked back, extending the lead to 20 at the 4:33 mark on a basket by Cousins, who again dazzled in the game with an array of offensive moves from both inside and outside.
The Kings’ 21-point advantage at the end of third quarters ended with them dropping 120 points on the lowly Mavericks.
Rudy Gay and Darren Collison each had 19 points, and Gary Temple had 17 off the bench.
The Kings end their road trip with a 2-3 record. They play the Kings on Friday at home.
Legal trouble?
Cousins and Matt Barnes could be in some hot water. They were both sued on Wednesday in connection with an alleged assault at a night club in New York that occurred earlier this week. There have been no criminal charges yet.
But reports indicate Barnes was sought for police questioning regarding the incident. TMZ released a video purportedly showing Barnes and Cousins leaving the club. Police say Barnes allegedly choked a woman and started a fight.
If you are old enough to remember the movie “All the President’s Men” which chronicled the infamous break-in of the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate office complex, the key informant – “Deep Throat” – told the two young investigative reporters “to follow the money”. When unusual events happen to famous people or organizations, Deep Throat’s advice is usually a very solid approach to uncovering the truth – “follow the money”.
According to TMZ Sports, two of the people involved in the melee at The Avenue nightclub in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City early on Monday morning have filed lawsuits against Sacramento Kings players Matt Barnes and DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins was known to have been present during the incident but had not been the subject of the alleged violence that took place inside the club. Only Barnes had been mentioned as a possible suspect in the fight.
TMZ is reporting that Jasmine Besiso and Myrone Powell have filed suit against Barnes and Cousins claiming they were “brutalized” by the players.
The lawsuit reportedly breaks the events down as follows:
Besiso and Powell claim they were just “hanging out” when Barnes came up to Besiso and started to choke her
Powell says he then tried to intervene to stop the attack and that is when Cousins became involved and punched him in the face
After Powell was struck, Barnes supposedly released Besiso and elbowed her in the face, knocking her unconscious
Myrone says he taken to the ground and Barnes and Cousins kicked and punched him in the head and body
NYPD was called and responded but Barnes and Cousins were gone by the time the authorities arrived
Photo: NY Daily News
The “victims” rep says it was a serious situation
The alleged victims representative called the incident a “vicious and unprovoked attack” according to TMZ
The same spokesperson called Cousins’ first involvement a “blindside punch”
The rep also stated the two persons who are suing were taken to hospital by ambulance and treated for what they called serious injuries – which were not specified
The defendants also had something to say
A representative for Matt Barnes had stated earlier that Barnes and his party were attacked after he accidentally bumped a person in the club’s VIP section
Barnes himself has encouraged everyone to understand there are two sides to every story
Cousins or any of his representatives have yet to make a statement concerning the incident
No charges have been filed in NYC
Initial reports had the NYPD ready to charge Barnes as the assailant based on video it had obtained – presumably from security cameras inside the club
That informantion was given to TMZ Sports by a person who was “not authorized” to speak about the situation
There have also been unconfirmed reports that Barnes was in communication with NYPD before leaving the city for Dallas
The fact that no charges have been filed yet does not mean none will be filed – it is truly a wait and see situation while the incident is investigated
Obviously, a lawsuit would be enhanced if criminal charges were brought forward and a some type of a guilty verdict or plea resulted from those charges
The Kings have still issued just one statement related to this event
“We have clear standards of conduct and behavior expected of the entire Kings organization – on and off the court. We are working with all parties involved to gather information in order to take any appropriate next steps.”
How long will the NBA remain silent?
Do not mistake silence for complacency – you can take it to the bank that NBA security is actively investigating this situation as you read this article
Naturally the NBA wants to give the NYPD room to do its criminal investigation and is hoping that no legal charges will be filed as a result of this incident
Even if no criminal charges are brought forward that does not mean Barnes and Cousins are out of the woods with “the Association”
The NBA standards of acceptable behavior may well be above what is acceptable by the laws of the State of New York – this entire event may well have negative results for Barnes, Cousins and the Kings even criminal charges and civil lawsuits are avoided
Post incident video
TMZ has posted video that it says was taken outside the club just after the events transpired. You can view the video at http://www.tmz.com/category/tmzsports
TMZ Sports was the first to release news that Sacramento Kings forward Matt Barnes was involved in an incident in a New York City area night club early Monday morning.
Barnes was in the club with teammate DeMarcus Cousins. According to the story, Barnes became involved in some sort of altercation with a woman in the club and the woman was choked by Barnes. Another man and woman tried to intervene and were reportedly punched by Barnes.
Per the TMZ story, video they obtained that shows Barnes and Cousins after the fight has the Kings center talking about hitting one of the people involved in the altercation.
In USA Today’s report on the altercation, they state the video obtained by investigators shows Barnes as being the assailant in the assault of the women and the man. The statement on the video content came from a source not authorized to release information on the contents of the evidence.
Barnes made a statement via Instagram that “there are two sides to every story.”
“We continue to cooperate fully with authorities,” said Barnes’ attorney Alex Spiro.
The Sacramento Kings issued the following statement on Monday:
“We have clear standards of conduct and behavior expected of the entire Kings organization – on and off the court. We are working with all parties involved to gather information in order to take any appropriate next steps.”
The Kings have a game in Dallas on Wednesday night with the Mavericks. Will Matt Barnes be with the team? That is open to question at this time.
What is not open to question is this is exactly the kind of situation the Kings did not at this time based on what is happening with the franchise on the floor.
“48” – that is the most import number the Sacramento Kings have to drill into their minds right now. They need to learn that a NBA basketball last for 48 minutes and that means as a team the Kings need to play hard for 48 minutes.
The Kings did not play hard for all 48 minutes in the game at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday night and Sacramento lost to the Knicks 106-98. This was an unusual game in the sense it was lost in the first half and almost redeemed in the second half, but that is exactly how so many games in the NBA are lost.
Shots would not fall for the Kings in the first half
The Kings shot just 28.6-percent (14-49) in the first half. The term is often used that “the basket had a lid on it”. Well in the first of the game on Sunday for Sacramento, the basket had a lid on it. The Kings were not taking bad shots . The Knicks were not playing great defense. Literally, the ball would not fall through the hoop. The Kings went 9-for-26 in the paint.
The Knicks did not shoot the lights out of the Garden. They shot 42.3-percent (22-for-52) in the first half of the game. New York shot just 36.7-percent in the first quarter.
As the teams headed to the locker rooms at the half, the Kings were lucky to trailing by just 14 points, 55-41.
The Kings came alive in the third quarter
Carmelo Anthony and Rudy Gay photo: NBAE
The third quarter began like the second quarter ended. The Knicks kept pouring it on behind the scoring of Porzingis and Anthony and opened up a 20-point lead with 7:59 left to play in the period. At that point, the Kings began to turn the game around.
Starting with a Rudy Gay 25-foot 3-point basket at the 7:02 mark, the Kings began to cut into the Knicks lead. Led by Cousins’ 11 points and Gay’s 10 points the Kings cut the New York lead to one point with 48-seconds remaining in the quarter. At the end of three quarters, New York led the game 81-77.
The Kings came close in the fourth quarter but could not close the deal
The Knicks behind the play of Prozingis opened the lead back up to eight points. Cousins kept the Kings close and Sacramento cut the New York lead down to two points with help of strong play from Gay, Collison and Cauley-Stein.
Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Jennings took over from there adding to the Knicks lead and the Kings were unable to respond. Sacramento had spent so much energy working their way back into the game – they did not have enough left in the tank to fight back overcome the Knicks lead.
The Knicks won the game 106-98.
Cousins was the star of the game again for Sacramento (7-13)
The big center recorded his 10th double-double with 36 points and 12 rebounds. He also had four assists and three blocked shots. Cousins was 9-for-30 shooting from the field
Rudy Gay scored 22 points shooting 7-for-18 and grabbing nine rebounds
Darren Collison put up 13 points and dished out six assists
Kosta Koufos scored only two points but he pulled down 11 rebounds that included five offensive rebounds
Willie Cauley-Stein played 23 minutes scoring nine points and hauling in four rebounds. Coach Dave Joerger said Cauley-Stein’s length on defense matched up well against Prozingis
The Kings shot just 32.3-percent (31-96) as team for the game
Willie Cauley-Stein at the Garden photo: NBAE
The usual suspects came through for the Knicks (11-9)
The Knicks had four players score in double figures while shooting 44.3-percent (39-for-88) from the floor. NYK also shot 37.9-percent (11-for-29) from 3-point range
Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose each scored 20 points in the game. Rose continues to look more like the Rose of old all the time
Brandon Jennings put up 19 points with 4-of-5 his scores being 3-point baskets. He was also a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line
Kristaps Porzingis started the game slowly but finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds
Up next on the schedule
The Kings wrap up their five game road trip on Wednesday night in Dallas with what has become a must win game over the terrible Mavericks. A win would let the Kings finish the road trip 2-3.
The Knicks also hit the road and visit South Beach to take on the Heat on Tuesday night.
Cousins and Horford battle under the basket Photo NBAE
The Kings and Celtics went to war on the basketball court on Friday night in Boston. The game featured 23 lead changes and 12 ties. As those stats would imply, both teams had the opportunity to win the game. In the end, Boston led by Al Horford was able to put the “W” in the books because of their tough play late in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics won their 11th game of the season as they downed the Kings 97-92. Sacramento now drops to 7-12 on the season and 1-2 on what is now a five-game road trip.
The Kings started slow and finished sluggish
Sacramento went with the “the big” starting lineup in this game – Koufos, Cousins, Gay, Afflalo and Collison. Boston began running away from this starting five immediately. By the 4:26 mark in the first quarter, the Celtics held a 13-point lead 24-11. Dave Joerger pulled all of his starters except Cousins and the second unit erased the deficit tying the game at 29-29 at the end of the first period.
That set up a real battle between the teams that played out in second, third and part of the fourth quarters.
With 7:54 to go in the game, Al Horford hit a hook shot that tied the game and the Celtics eventually went on a 10-0 run that created a major uphill battle for the Kings. Sacramento led by Cousins tried to fight their way back into the game and did cut the Celtics lead to three points with 39 seconds remaining in the game. The Kings were unable to score again in those final seconds and lost the game.
The Kings lost Cousins for medical treatment late in the 3rd and early in the 4th quarters
Late in the third quarter, Ty Lawson and DeMarcus Cousins were both going for a defensive rebound when Lawson’s left elbow hit Cousins above the left eye. The blow opened up a cut above Cousins’ left eye. He was taken to the locker room where they glued the cut shut and he returned to the game with under eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Was that the turning point in the game? No, it was not. Read the next section and you will understand why it was not the key to the loss.
Missed shots in the paint – poor shot selection – turnovers all haunt the Kings
“We just shot ourselves in the foot. We turned the damned thing (the ball) over like I’ve never seen.We take bad shots sometimes and it just ticks me off. At bad times … stuff we know we have to get better at. We’re not a bunch of rookies. We can get better. We’ll keep plugging away and keep getting better, but we shot 47 shots in the paint and missed how many layups? Turnovers killed us. Shots come and go – we didn’t make shots,” said Kings head coach Dave Joerger after the game.
Sacramento outscored Boston 42-34 in the paint but went 21-for-47 in the high percentage shooting area. The Kings shot just 37.9-percent (33-for-87) for the game. It is almost impossible to win a game in the NBA and shoot under 40-percent. Sacramento turned the ball over 15 times and those TOVs created 21 points for Boston.
Cousins was the Kings scoring leader but it was not his best night – Barnes was big
DeMarcus Cousins was the game’s leading scorer with 28 points but he had to take 26 shots to tally those points. He was 2-for-7 from long range. Cousins had nine rebounds so he did not record a double-double
Matt Barnes did have a double-double for the Kings on Friday night. He scored 12 points, grabbed 16 rebounds (game-high) and added five assists. Barnes also provided some much needed energy on defense several times in the game
Rudy Gay and Darren Collison each scored 12 points for Sacramento. Gay had eight rebounds but went 1-for-7 from 3-point range. Collison had three assists
Omri Casspi played almost 27 minutes off the bench and scored seven points. Casspi brought some much needed energy late in the first quarter
Willie Cauley-Stein had some strong minutes of playing time in the first half and scored six points in the game
Matt Barnes moves with the ball in Boston Photo NBAE
Al Horford was the star for Boston in the game
Horford had a complete game for the Celtics on Friday night against the Kings. The Boston center played 35-minutes scoring 26 points, recorded eight rebounds, dished out three assists, had two steals and six -yes you are reading correctly – six blocked shots. He shot 10-for-18 from the floor and 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was even more impressed with Horford’s defense. Stevens talked about how his center is always at the ready on defense. Horford did make a key defensive play on Cousins in the final seconds of the game to deny the Kings big man a 3-point shot opportunity.
Other Celtic contributors
Former Kings player Isaiah Thomas put up 20 points and handed out seven assists on a night when he did not shoot his best. Thomas shot 6-for-21 from the floor and 0-for-5 from 3-point land
Jae Crowder added 16 points and Avery Bradley scored 15 for Boston
One of the big weaknesses for the Celtics is the lack of bench scoring. The Celtics reserves scored just 12 points in the contest. The Kings bench scored 33 points in the game
Isaiah Thomas goes to the basket against his old team on Friday night Photo NBAE
Up next on the schedule
The Kings have the day off in New York City on Saturday and then will face the New York Knicks in “the Garden” on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. PST in game four of the five-game road trip.
The Celtics kick off a road trip on Saturday night in Philadelphia with the Sixers assuming the floor is dry enough for play. The NBA will make sure the floor is game-ready for the Celtics and Sixers … take that to the bank.
DeMarcus Cousins scored a game-high 37 points in win over the Nets on Sunday night. Those 37 points allowed Cousins to pass Chris Webber for third on the all-time Sacramento Kings scoring list.
Cousins now has 8847 career points for Sacramento. Webber accumulated 8843 points during his six-plus years with Sacramento.
Peja Stojakovic is currently in second-place with 9498 points and the great Mitch Richmond holds down the number one spot with 12,070 points. The all-time franchise (Royals/Kings) points leader is Hall of Famer Oscar Robinson.
Based on his current scoring projections, Cousins could pass Stojakovic for second-place on the scoring list later this season.
It was a night of technical fouls plus a flagrant two ejection
DeMarcus Cousins picked up his fifth technical foul in the third quarter of the game for contact with Luis Scola’s face. It was incorrectly reported as his fourth technical foul in last night’s story. Cousins is now tied for the league lead in that category with DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers.
The Kings Kosta Koufos was charged with a technical foul in the fourth quarter for arguing with the officials. Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson picked up a “T” in the fourth out of frustration with the officials and his team. Nets guard Randy Foye was also a recipient of a technical late in the final period.
Matt Barnes received his flagrant two foul (which was a flagrant one all the way) and ejection from the officiating crew on Sunday night in Brooklyn.
Four technicals and a flagrant two ejection begins to sound like an officiating crew that might have lost control of a game. This would be a good game for the chief of officials to review.
The Kings went back to the big starting lineup on Sunday in Brooklyn
After using the the “small ball” starting lineup for the past three games, Sacramento head coach Dave Joerger went back to the “big lineup” versus the big Nets. That means Koufos started at center, Cousins slid back to power forward, Rudy Gay played the three, Arron Afflalo was at shooting guard and Darren Collison started as the Kings point guard.
Three Kings return to Reno
Center Georgios Papagiannis, Forward Skal Labissiere and Guard Malachi Richardson ended few days with the parent club and returned to the D-League on Sunday. The Bighorns hosted the Warriors D-League entry the Santa Cruz Warriors.
The Bighorns used a runaway second quarter to establish a solid lead over Santa Cruz and won their second game of the season 100-84.
Malachi Richardson led the Bighorns scoring attack with 24 points and made it a double-double with 11 rebounds. He shot 8-for-18 from the floor, 3-for-6 from 3-point range and hit 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
Skal Labissiere recorded 18 points and grabbed four rebounds. He went 6-for-11 shooting from the field and was 6-for-8 from foul line.
Papagiannis did not play which was listed as a coach’s decision. Kings head coach Dave Joerger had told us that having all three players in a game really limited the number of touches each player received and they want to maximize that number to speed up player development.
The Bighorns will host the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston) on Thursday.
Don’t let this guy get to close to you on the court in D.C.
FiveThirtyEight.com says the Wizards have a 68-percent chance of beating the Kings tonight in Washington (remember: this is the second game of a back-to-back set on the road). FiveThirtyEight’s CARMELO system predicts the Wizards are the favorites minus 4.5 points.
CARMELO also predicts the Wizards will finish with a record of 34-48 and have a 31-percent chance of making the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
The fellows who make those predictions for the owners of those big resorts say go with the Wizards minus 4.5 points. They call the over/under as 210 to 210.5.
Looking ahead to game six of the road trip in Dallas
The chances of a road team winning a game in the NBA stand at approximately 40-percent. That means the odds are against you before you ever start the game.
The Sacramento Kings kicked off a six-game road trip in Brooklyn on Sunday night against the Nets. The Nets came into the game having lost six consecutive games and were desperate for a win. Sacramento knew this was a team they could beat and needed to defeat to make it a successful start to the road trip.
The Kings (7-10) met their goal by soundly defeating the Nets 122-105 to start the long road trip on a positive note.
The Nets opened the game with fast and furious play
Brooklyn plays fast as team normally, but they opened this game with a sense of urgency wanting to end their losing streak and feeling like the Kings were a team they could beat on their home court.
The Nets decided to use the Rockets philosophy and started shooting as many 3-pointers as possible against the Kings. The concept worked momentarily as Brooklyn opened up a nine point lead shooting 5-for-10 from long range, but the Kings got organized on offense scoring with high percentage shots in the paint. At the end of the first quarter, the Kings had cut the Nets lead to four points – 35 to 31.
The Sacramento second unit slowed the Nets down in the second quarter
The Kings second unit led by Matt Barnes and Garrett Temple slowed the Nets down by increasing the defensive pressure and continued to cut into the Brooklyn lead using high percentage shots in the paint. Sacramento tied the game up with 8:52 to in the first half, and then they took the lead.
The Nets took the lead back before the end of the half, but they were not able to reestablish the fiery pace of the first quarter. Also, the Kings continued to score. DeMarcus Cousins hit a 25-foot bank shot for 3-points near the end of period. At the end of the 12-minutes, Sacramento had won the quarter 27-24. Brooklyn went to halftime with a 59-58 lead over the Kings.
Photo NBAE
In the third quarter the Sacramento Express rolled into Brooklyn
The Kings have been a strong second-half team in general this season. On Sunday night in Brooklyn, they found a whole new running gear thanks to their star center. Cousins took charge of the game scoring 18 points in the quarter, shooting 6-for-9 from the floor including hitting 2-of-2 from 3-point range. He went 4-for-4 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals in the period. Cousins did in 12-minutes what a majority of players would love to do in an entire game.
Rudy Gay added five points and two assists. Darren Collison scored five points and had one assist. Matt Barnes put up three points and dished out three assists in just 5:30 on the floor.
By the end of the quarter, the Kings had outscored the Nets 34-18 in the period and had a 92-77 lead in the game.
The one negative of the quarter was that DeMarcus Cousins picked up a technical foul for hitting Luis Scola in the face under basket while trying to make a layup. Cousins then went to the line to shoot two free throws because Scola fouled him in the act of shooting. It is Cousins fourth technical of the season.
Photo NBAE
The fourth quarter should have been an easy one for Sacramento but is wasn’t
Everything started off the Kings in fourth quarter just the way they wanted things to go. It looked like it would be a forgettable 12-minutes and Sacramento could move on to Washington, D.C. for the game on Monday night.
Then at the 9:35 mark of the fourth quarter, Sean Kilpatrick of the Nets drove to the basket for a layup. Matt Barnes of the Kings ran in from the angle to cut him off and there was heavy contact. Replay revealed that Barnes’ left arm made contact with Kilpatrick’s face. The officials went to review the video and everyone knew Barnes was going to be issued a flagrant one foul. Instead, the referees called it a flagrant two foul and Barnes was ejected from the game. (Let me just say that Barnes previous reputation as a tough guy may have come into play in the call – imho).
The ejection changed the momentum of the game and the Nets promptly went on a 16-2 run and cut the Kings lead down to 99-93.
Rudy Gay hit a 19-foot jumper with 6:29 to go in the game which kicked off a 14-0 run by the Kings. That run killed any hope the Nets had of coming back in the game.
Sacramento won the game by the final score of 122-105.
Sacramento leaders
Photo USA Today Sports
DeMarcus Cousins was the leading scorer in the game with 37 points and made it a double-double with 11 rebounds
Rudy Gay had a big game with 22 points, eight assists and eight rebounds
Darren Collison scored 18 points
Ty Lawson scored 13 points coming off the bench for the Kings
Omri Casspi played again for the Kings putting up eight point and grabbing five rebounds. He was 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
Everyone on the Sacramento bench except Anthony Tolliver – that includes Ben McLemore and Willie Cauley-Stein- played in the game
Brooklyn’s top producers
Guard Sean Kilpatrick was the Nets leading scorer with 22 points. He went 8-for-13 shooting including three 3-point baskets
Brook Lopez put up 17 points and hauled in seven rebounds while battling with DeMarcus Cousins all night
Bojan Bogdanovic added 13 points for Brooklyn
Justin Hamilton was the Nets rebounding leader with 10
Key stat of the game
Points in the paint: Kings 50 Nets 36 – this is where the game was won
Up next on the schedule
The Nets game was the first game of a back-to-back set on the road for the Kings. Sacramento will play on Monday night in Washington, D.C. The Wizards are 5-10 on the season and are coming off a loss to San Antonio. The Kings did play the Wizards in the preseason at Rupp Arena on the campus of the University of Kentucky.
The Nets will try to end their seven-game losing streak on Tuesday night when they host the 14-4 Los Angeles Clippers.
The Kings wrap up their five-game homestand on Friday night when they host the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are 9-6 on the season and are in fifth place in the Western Conference.
The Rockets continue being road warriors tonight
Tonight’s game kicks off a five-game road trip for Houston
By the end of this trip the Rockets will have played 14 of their 20 games on the road
Houston is 5-4 on the road to date; they were 18-23 on the road last season
Toronto stopped the Rockets three-game winning streak on Wednesday night with a 115-102 win in Houston
WARNING: the Rockets are 5-0 in the first game following a loss this season
It’s still James Harden’s world
James Harden NBA.com
Harden is averaging 28.7 points, 12.5 assists, and 7.7 rebounds per game
He has scored or assisted on 53.7-percent of the Rockets field goals this year
Harden has 12 double-doubles (points/assists) so far this season
He has recorded 15+ assists five times this season
New additions since last year
Ryan Anderson NBA.com
First, there is the a new head coach in Mike D’Antoni. This is his fifth head coaching job in the NBA. He has been the head man at Denver, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles Lakers and now Houston
Local product Ryan Anderson formerly of New Orleans – the 3-point bomber who loves to take on the Kings – is now a member of the Rockets. He is averaging 12.3 points per game and shooting 38.4-percent from 3-point range
Houston also signed Eric Gordon as a sixth man away from New Orleans. He is averaging 15.4 points per game off the bench for the Rockets
Kings – the final game of the homestand
Sacramento is 2-2 on this homestand. A win tonight would give them a winning record on this home tilt
This is the first of four meetings between the Kings and Rockets this season
The Rockets won 3-of-4 games last season
The Kings are looking to build on their wins over Toronto and Oklahoma City
This will be another test for the new “small ball” line up that has been put in place by head coach Dave Joerger
For Sacramento it’s still about Boogie
Cousins celebrates versus Thunder (Rocky Widner/NBAE)
As Cousins goes so goes the Kings. The big man scored 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against OKC. They will need big numbers from him again tonight
Rudy Gay is always important to the Kings success on the court. He put up 17 points versus the Thunder just below his season average of 20.2 ppg. With a scoring machine like Ryan Anderson at forward for the opposition, Gay’s production will be key
Point guard Darren Collison exploded on offense in his first start of the season. He scored 21 points and dished out six assists in the Wednesday game
Sacramento also received good support from the bench on Wednesday night. Ty Lawson, Kosta Koufos, Ben McLemore and Garrett Temple all played productive minutes in the game
Coach Joerger went with a short bench against OKC. He used just nine players in that contest. Will that be the case again tonight?
The trade rumors just will not go away
More trade rumors were flying around on the internet today claiming that DeMarcus Cousins is about to be traded soon. The rumors have indicated that a trade would happen in early December to as late as February 2017.
The good news for Kings fans is their star player seems to be immune to the trade talk at this point is career. He has been the subject of trade rumors so often Cousins might only be concerned if he was left out of the rumor mill.
The concern is affect the trade talk might have on his teammates. It does not take much to distract a team and take them off their focus of trying play winning basketball. They need to follow the lead of their star player and focus on the game and not the talk off the court.
Back on the road again
Barclay Center home of the Nets NBA.com
The Kings will head back out on the road for six games in 12 days with all but one game to be played in the Eastern time zone. It is a long trip but the good news is there is only one back-to-back set of games on the trip.
The trip opens on Sunday night in Brooklyn with the Nets. The Kings will then get the back-to-back out of the way early as they play the Wizards in D.C. on Monday night. They will also visit Philadelphia, Boston, Manhattan, and Dallas before returning home on December 9th to host the Knicks.
For entertainment purposes only
The good folks at FiveThirtyEight.com have the Rockets as the favorites in the game minus 0.5 points. They give the Rockets a 52-percent chance to win the game.
The FiveThirtyEight CARMELO system projects the Rockets to have an 85-percent chance of making the playoffs but just a one-percent chance of winning the NBA Championship.
The fine folks in Nevada say the Rockets are the favorites minus 3.0 to 3.5 points. They believe the over/under will be 215 to 216 points.
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.
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)
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
Ty Lawson probable starter Photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE
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.
The Sacramento Kings NBA D-League entry – the Reno Bighorns – opened their 2016-17 season with a 112-103 loss on the road deep in the south of Texas to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets) on Sunday night.
The Bighorns started the game very slowly and appeared ready to suffer a blowout as the Vipers shot 50-percent from the floor and outscored Reno 32-13 in the first quarter.
Things improved for the Bighorns in the second quarter as they scored 22 points but the Vipers continued to stay hot as they shot 50-percent again for the period and put up 29 points of their own.
At the half, Rio Grande Valley held a 61-35 lead over the Bighorns.
A different Bighorns team stepped out on the floor to start the third quarter. The Bighorns turned on their defensive intensity and then added improved play on offense to put themselves right back into the game. Led by Malachi Richardson’s and Isaiah Cousins’ eight points each the Bighorns outscored the Vipers 33-17 to close within 10 points of the lead after three quarters of play.
The Vipers came out in the fourth period with the realization that they needed to step up their game or they faced the possibility of losing a contest they once had under their control. Viper forward Isaiah Taylor scored 12 points and dished out five assists to lead the charge as Rio Grande Valley went back up by as many as 16 points. Reno did not lay down in the final quarter. The Bighorns scored 35 points led by Malachi Richardson’s 11 points and Lamar Patterson’s 10. Reno outscored the Vipers 35-34 in the fourth.
When the final buzzer sounded, Rio Grande Valley had defeated Reno 112-103.
Kings fans will recognize the names of the Bighorn players who made a difference
Lamar Patterson – signed to Reno as an affiliate player to the Sacramento Kings- was the Bighorns leading scorer with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Patterson was an impressive 9-for-18 from the field. He played 32 minutes.
Malachi Richardson – who came to the Kings from Charlotte in exchange for Marco Belinelli – added 22 points. He went 4-for-12 from the floor including hitting on 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Richardson also went 11-for-16 from the free throw line. He played 38 minutes.
Other former Kings roster players who had an impact were center Georgios Papagiannis who scored 15 points in 29 minutes on the floor. Second-round draft pick and affiliate player Isaiah Cousins scored 14 points. Forward Skal Labissiere put up 9 points and grabbed 11 points in his 31 minutes of playing time.
Chane Behanan – who played in Mexico last season and for Rio Grande Valley the year before that – added eight points in 13 minutes of playing time
Rio Grande Valley Vipers
The Vipers scoring was led by forward Isaiah Taylor who is an affiliate player of the Houston Rockets. He scored 24 points and hit four 3-pointers. Taylor distributed seven assists in his 31 minutes on the floor.
Three other Viper player players scored in double figures: Kyle Wiltjer (22), PJ Hairston – who has played in the NBA – added 15 points and Le’Bryan Nash scored 21 off the bench.
The Vipers outscored the Bighorns 60-44 in the paint
What’s coming up for the Bighorns
The Bighorns travel to Austin where they will play two games with the Austin Spurs. They will play a game on Tuesday at 9:00 AM PST and on Thursday at 5:30 PM PST. The Bighorns will then head home for their home opener on Saturday, November 19 with the Oklahoma City Blue.
