Sacramento Kings Weekly: Back Into Last Place

Wednesday January 22 at Houston Rockets

The Kings have beaten the Rockets both times they have played this season, however, this time was different with both Gay and Cousins leaving the game in the first half with injuries. The Kings were never able to recover from the injuries, the Rockets scored 64 points in the second half on their way to 21 point win 119-98. The good think that came away from this game was the bench stepping up with 56 points. Derrick Williams scored 22 points and had 11 rebounds. Next Jimmer Fredette had 14 points on 4-6 from three. Then Ben McLemore finally scored double digits with 11 points, however, it was on 3-10 shooting in 35 minutes. With this loss the Kings fell to 2-4 on the six game road trip, and without Cousins and Gay it was going to be hard for the next few games.

Friday January 24 vs Indiana Pacers

This was the first game the Kings played without both Cousins and Gay, and the Kings let this one slip away with some help from the referees. The Kings began the game hot scoring 37 first quarter points and even took a 10 point lead into halftime. However, the Pacers, having the best record in the league, made a run and had it down to a four point lead with 15 seconds left. That is when Paul George made a three and was “fouled” by Williams for a four point play. From there the Pacers took over the overtime and won the game 116-111. The foul call looked pretty bogus, if there was any contact by Williams it was not enough to make that call that late in the game. The bright spot of the night was Marcus Thornton, who found his shooting touch and scored 42 points. Thornton shot 16-27 from the field and was 7-15 from downtown. The Kings have been waiting for the shooting guard position to produce something for a few game, so it was nice to see Thornton have a great game. Furthermore, Thomas was great as well with 38 points and six assists. This was a great effort by the Kings at home and it was a shame that a bad call had to help decide the game.

Sunday January 26 vs. Denver Nuggets

The Kings were back to their old defensive habits vs. the Nuggets by giving up 30 points or more in each quarter for a total of 125 points. The Kings did their best to keep up but without a couple of their starters, they just could not do it managing a 125-117 loss. Thomas had 22 points, but it was on 21 shots, with Cousins and Gay out Thomas has been trying to pick up the slack and it is difficult. One good thing about the game was there was another sighting of a shooting guard, this time it was Ben McLemore. He had 18 points on 6-12 shooting and was able to hit a couple of threes. When the other starters come back the Kings will need either Thornton or McLemore to keep playing the way they have over the past couple of games.