The Sacramento Kings gave a valiant effort tonight in Dallas, but a series of mistakes late cost them big time, allowing the Mavs to come away with the 110-100 win.
Roddy Beaubois and Dirk Nowitzki each scored 15 to lead the way for Dallas. Also, Shawn Marion scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds for Dallas. The Mavs hit 50 percent (7-for-14) of their 3-point attempts and out-rebounded the Kings 56-40 on the night. Six Mavs players finished with double-digit scoring figures in a well-balanced Dallas attack.
DeMarcus Cousins picked up his 34th double-double, finishing with 25 points, 18 rebounds and a career-high six steals. Marcus Thornton returned for the Kings after missing five straight games with a bruised left calf. He looked solid in his return, scoring 16 points on 7-for-16 shooting. Tyreke Evans and Isaiah Thomas chipped in 16 a piece and Jimmer Fredette scored 13 off the bench for the Kings, who fell to 19-39 on the season.
Playing for the second time in three days, the Sacramento Kings lost 109-94 to the Los Angeles Clippers in a game that was close through three quarters, but became a highlight reel late.
Blake Griffin shook off DeMarcus Cousins’ postgame comments from Thursday night and punished the Kings with a 27 point, 14 rebound performance. Randy Foye broke loose for Los Angeles, scoring 25 points on 7-for-9 shooting from 3-point land. Starting just 1-for-8 from the field, Chris Paul struggled early against the defense of Isaiah Thomas. But the All-Star point guard managed to finish strong, ending the game with 19 points, 15 assists and seven steals.
Cousins paced the Kings with 15 points, but it wasn’t pretty. The budding star went 5-for-19 from the field, with many of his misses coming from the perimeter. Francisco Garcia scored 13 points starting in place of the injured Marcus Thornton, but left the game in the third quarter with a concussion. The Kings interior defense missed veteran Chuck Hayes, who sat out with food poisoning.
“Of course he would say that. That is what Blake is going to say, because he’s in L.A., where actors belong. And he is an actor.” –DeMarcus Cousins on Blake Griffin.
First, let’s get this out right now – Cousins is one of the top five big men in the league. At 21 years old, Cousins is already dominant and he is only going to get better. Experts will point out his high foul rate, high turnover rate and questionable shot selection as reasons why he won’t succeed. I will tell you that those issues are factors players typically grow out of or at least improve significantly as they mature.
Cousins is chastised for his immaturity off the court and I agree, he can be difficult to deal with on occasion. He can be offensive and say things that he shouldn’t, but he also takes losses personally and is the first to accept responsibility when he’s at fault. But for the record, there is nothing criminal about this kid. Cousins hasn’t stolen a car or punched a night club patron in the face. If it wasn’t for the fact that he plays in the NBA, he would just be a gregarious, giant of a man.
The Kings made a low risk, high reward pick-up last week when they signed 6-foot-6, third-year swingman Terrence Williams to a 10-day contract.
So far, so good.
Williams has instantly earned time on the floor and stayed away from the issues that have kept him from finding a long-term home in the NBA.
On Saturday, the Kings made yet another commitment to Williams when they signed him for the remainder of the season. With only 14 games remaining in this lockout-shortened season, the move should still be considered low risk, but Williams thinks he might have found a home in Sacramento.
“Yeah, I don’t want to go no where,” Williams said while sitting in front of his locker before Wednesday’s game against San Antonio. “I like what the organization is doing and where they are headed. I think, especially with them getting a new arena, with coach (Keith) Smart and coach (Alex) English, and Bobby Jackson.”
Williams has found himself on the outside looking in twice already in his three-year career. But there is hope that he is ready to make the improvements necessary to stick around this time.
A week ago Thursday, the Utah Jazz walked into Sacramento and beat the Kings on a last second buzzer beater by veteran center Al Jefferson. Tonight, the Kings returned the favor, beating the Jazz 104-103, in a tough fought battle in Utah.
“I thought we had the right spirit because you can’t be tight and make the wrong kind of mistakes,” coach Smart said on the post game telecast. “I’d rather have them make the aggressive mistakes with the right purpose in mind by being a little free. I thought these guys did a very good job of not getting frustrated in the moment, keeping a loose body about themselves and (they were) able to make some great plays.”
A bloodied DeMarcus Cousins continued his strong play, finishing the game with 27 points and 14 rebounds, despite catching a stray elbow between the eyes late in the game. Marcus Thornton added 26 points for the Kings and rookie Isaiah Thomas scored 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting while leading his team with six assists.
Big Al Jefferson had a battle royal with Cousins, posting an impressive 27 point, 16 rebound performance. Rookie Alec Burks played a tough fought 34 minutes off the bench for the Jazz, finishing with 15 points and four rebounds, but it wasn’t enough. The Jazz shot an incredible 52 free throws tonight, 20 more than the Kings and they grabbed 27 offensive rebounds in the loss.
Before Jason Thompson rolled his left ankle late in last Thursday’s game against Utah, the Kings starting power forward was having an unbelievable five-game stretch. The fourth-year big man out of Rider has had stretches of success in the past, but nothing quite like this.
“Just consistency, being out on the floor, being comfortable, not being in foul trouble and playing my game,” Thompson said last week about his recent surge in play. “I think I’ve always had flashes, but the thing about it is just consistency. You have to have faith in coaches, you have to have faith in me and put it all together.”
Consistency has eluded Thompson in his first three years in the league. Be it coaching changes or erratic play on the floor, Thompson had never really got into a groove like this. Over his last five games, JT is averaging 17.6 points, 13.6 rebounds and three assists, while shooting 66 percent (38-for-58) from the field. He became the double-double machine that many thought he would be after a strong rookie season three years ago.
What’s even more interesting is that Thompson is doing damage from just about everywhere on the floor. Using the NBA’s new box score media tool, we’re now able to break down every scoring opportunity from the Kings’ big man and the tale of the tape is intriguing to say the least.
In Houston, the Sacramento Kings came out hot in the first quarter, but fizzled late when they went away from DeMarcus Cousins. The Rockets took advantage, beating the Kings 113-106 in overtime.
“I’m not happy at all,” coach Keith Smart said on the telecast following the game. “We self destruct. We have some success as a unit, as a group and then you stay with it. You stay with it and you allow players to make the right plays for each other and then you get away from it.”
The Rockets’ Patrick Patterson played extremely well off the bench, finishing with 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Luis Scola scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but it was veteran Earl Boykins, the 5-foot-5 dynamo out of Eastern Michigan that saved the day for the Rockets. After signing a 10-day contract earlier today, Boykins scored 10 points, including four clutch free throws in the final 20 seconds of the game.
Cousins punished the Rockets frontline, finishing with 38 points and 14 rebounds for the Kings. Marcus Thorton scored 27 for the Kings, while former Rocket Terrence Williams played well down the stretch, finishing with 10 points off the bench.
I guess we missed the memo. It should be standardized by now. Every third week of the month is Jimmer Fredette week. Everyone who covers the Kings or the NBA for that matter MUST write something on the former BYU star, just to appease the masses.
That’s what it is, just in case you didn’t know – appeasing the masses. And trust me, there are masses of Jimmer fans and a lot of detractors as well.
I once wrote a post, in which I compared Jimmer Fredette to Fernando Valenzuela. That post still stands tall as the most viewed post in Cowbell Kingdom history. Stop laughing, I’m serious.
For reasons we cannot explain, anything Jimmer flies off the shelf. The theories, the updates, the reasons or excuses – depending on who the reader is.
The fact that Jimmer got another DNP-CD Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors only feeds the storyline. And there are a plenty of storylines over the last few days.
The life of an NBA player can be complicated to say the least. You have friends and family that surround you. Some are positive influences, some aren’t.
For Tyreke Evans, he has always had the positive support of his older brothers. In fact, big brother Julius “Doc” Evans, CEO of Blu Print Entertainment, is both Tyreke’s roommates here in Sacramento and one of his managers. Big brother came out the week before the lockout ended to help little brother get his house in order and it appears he’s staying for the long haul.
Doc has plenty going on for himself, like a new rap single under the artist name “International i” coming out mid-April and the release of a new clothing line. But his primary job is making sure little brother Tyreke is on the right path.
I’ve had a chance to meet Doc on many occasions. To call him a social butterfly would be an understatement. He always has a smile or a return text for you.
Tyreke Evans loves Sacramento and so does Doc. This is their home now. This is the team that drafted him and showed complete faith in him. There’s going to be extension talk this summer. That’s what happens when contracts reach their end. While there are rumors that the Kings and the Evans brothers might not be on the same page regarding Tyreke’s worth, Doc has one thing to say about that.
Update (11:55 am): The Kings announced that they’ve officially signed Terrence Williams to a 10-day contract.
The Sacramento Kings admitted one failed experiment Tuesday, when they waived forward J.J. Hickson. Two days later, they are ready for a new challenge.
First reported by our friend Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated, the Sacramento Kings are on the verge of signing recently released small forward Terrence Williams, to what is believed to be a 10-day contract.
Williams made a surprise trip to Power Balance Pavilion with his agent Aaron Goodwin Wednesday night; just in time to watch the Kings beat up on the playoff-bound Memphis Grizzlies.
While he sat courtside, waiting to complete contract discussions with Kings President Geoff Petire, we were able to grab him for a very quick Q&A.
