Sacramento Kings Weekly: Patience Is Hard!
The Week That Was
Monday, Dec. 23 vs. New Orleans Pelicans
The Kings were probably grateful to be home after a 1-3 road trip to the East Coast and to have Tyreke Evans back in Sacramento. However, it was the same old Kings giving up 36 points in the fourth quarter and losing to the Pelicans 113-100. Evans was back to his old self in Sac Town with 25 points and 12 assists, all this while coming off the bench. Not only did they allow Evans to get to the basket at will, they allowed the Pelicans to shoot 49 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3. As usual Cousins and Thomas had more than 20 points each, however, the other three starters scored 14 points total in 89 minutes. Jason Thompson scored zero points in 27 minutes and only three rebounds. The hardest part of this loss was the fact that the Kings shot 42 free throws while the Pelicans shot only 27. This was just another tough home loss for the Kings.
Friday, Dec. 27 vs. Miami Heat
Dec 27, 2013; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings power forward Jason Thompson (34) goes up for a basket against the Miami Heat during the first quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Miami Heat came into Sacramento limping, playing without Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen and Chris Andersen. But of course they still had LeBron James, who helped the Heat jump out to a 17-point lead on the Kings. James ended the game with 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, however, it was not enough as the Kings came back and won in OT 108-103. The Kings were finally able to slow down a team and hold the Heat to only 18 and 16 points in the third and fourth quarters. Again Cousins and Thomas both played well both scoring more than 22 points, but they finally had help from Rudy Gay, who came up with 26 points. Furthermore, Thompson was able to come through with 10 big points and really helped keep Chris Bosh contained. This felt like a big win for the Kings even without Wade and the others this was a good win against a good team.
Sunday, Dec. 29 at San Antonio Spurs
The Kings looked like they were going to fall easily to the mighty Spurs by falling behind by 12 points early in the first half. However, the Kings scored 38 points in the third quarter to take a six-point lead in to the fourth quarter. But then the big three Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili took over in the fourth quarter helping the Spurs score 31 points and holding the Kings to 17. This helped the Spurs to a 112-104 win. The Kings were all set up for this win, they had out rebounded the Spurs 51-44 and shot 45 percent from the field. However, in the end the Spurs experience was just too much, the Kings looked like they did not know what to on defense in the fourth quarter at all running around leaving shooters wide open. It was good to see the Kings play good in San Antonio, but again just like all season they fell short.