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S Jack get busy in return to Oakland He came, he got booed, he scored 30pts and his team, the Charlotte Bobcats ran to a 121-110 win over the Golden St. Warriors in Oakland Friday night. It was the first game back for Stephen Jackson, traded away from Golden St. after the season started. Jackson demanded to be traded and the Warriors granted him his wish. They sent him packing to the Bobcats, who at the time were going nowhere fast. With Jackson Charlotte has one of the best records in the Eastern Conference and they showed the Warriors why with a 41pt second quarter. The Warriors were led by Corey Maggette's 25pts. Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry each had 22pts. This game belonged to Jackson who hit shot after shot for his new team. Since the trade, Charlotte has gone 20-16, improved its scoring average by more than 15 points and have moved into a tie with Chicago for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. GSW, on the other hand, has gone 10-26 since parting ways with S-Jack on Nov. 9th. The warriors are scoring less without Jackson to. Golden St. scores five points less without Jackson then with him. On a team that needs to out score their opponents, that's not a good sign and the Warriors record indicates that. Stephen Curry has stepped his scoring up lately and the Warriors will need the rookie to continue to improve. Curry has been the Warriors most consistent scorer the past few weeks. It could not come at a better time for the short handed Warriors who have looked like the team from the movie Fast Break at times with all the D-League players that have come through Oakland this year. Jackson was right. You can't win with a line up like the Warriors are throwing out there every night. In Charlotte Jackson does not have to play power forward like he did under Warriors head coach Don Nelson. Playing for the Warriors was taking years off Jackson's career every game. It was different when Golden St. had Baron Davis to take some of the heat off S-Jack. One man can only take so much pounding.
Warriors take another hit as they try to get comfortable at home They have been on the road most of the season, coming home one a day or two before heading off to the airport for a flight to yet another city. Golden St. is home for seven of their next nine games. The Warriors are in last place (11-25), but this home stand is a chance to get some wins. Only one team out of the seven up coming home games have a winning record. That would be the Northwest Division leading Denver Nuggets (24-14). The Warriors got some bad news when they team found out forward Anthony Randolph will miss the next two months and possibly the rest of the season. An MRI revealed the second-year forward has two torn ligaments on the outside of his ankle. he will be in a cast for the next three weeks before he can start rehabilitation. Randolph was the Warriors best rebounder, leading the team with 215-total boards (6.5-a game) while dropping in 11pts a night. That news was followed by Runny Turiaf twisting his ankle in the Warriors loss to Cleveland Monday night. Turiaf might not play against Miami and if he misses many games it will leave a big hole in the middle of the Warriors line up. As is if that hole could get any bigger. the warriors have just one healthy center on the team. Andris Biedrins will have to hold it down for the warriors right now. Biedrins will have to stay healthy and improve on his 4pts a night scoring average if the Warriors are going to make some kind of move in the next two weeks. The Warriors will have to step up their game all around to make up for the lack of a big man. Nothing new to the fans of Golden St. Stephen Curry has begun playing like a veteran the past few games. Many wonder if he is about to hit the rookie wall. Curry has already played more games this year then he has all of last season.
Kings better, can't get past NBA's best You can tell that the Sacramento Kings have gotten a lot better from last year to this one. Their record is around the .500 mark and they have been in most games this year. The difference between being in most games and winning most games is how you close them out and the Kings have not done that very well the past two weeks. Against of the best the NBA has to offer Sacramento lost in overtime to Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers in back to back home games before heading on the road to lose to the Lakers New Year's day on a buzzer beater by Kobe Bryant 109-108.
Wade brings the Heat to Sacramento 12/6/09 -- The Miami Heat (11-9) evened out a four game West coast road trip with a win over the Sacramento Kings 115-102.
All-star Dwanye Wade was a beast scoring a game-high 34-points to go with 10-assists in front of Gabrielle Union and 13,186 reported fans. "You could have probably projected that we go 0-4 on this road trip," Wade said. After recent heart-wrenching losses to the Lakers and Nuggets, Miami came out of the gates fast. Wade set the tone early and took the ball strong to the cup. He forced regular trips to the charity stripe where he sank 14-of-16. He also shot over 62-percent (10-of-16) from the field. "He's a fantastic player," King's Coach Paul Westphal acknowledged. "It's really tough when he gets to the line when he is not picking himself off the floor... It's tough to guard that." The Kings (9-10) dug themselves a hole shooting 40-percent in the first half. With 1:39 remaining in the second quarter Wade made two free throws to cap off a 15-2 Miami run that extended their largest lead of the game to 19. Guard Quentin Richardson hit 2 of his 5 threes over the 3-minute run that put the Heat on top 59-40. The Kings only scored 19 points in the second period and went into the locker room down 15. Emerging rookie Tyreke Evans, tried to counter Wade all game. Evans finished with a team-high 30 points on 10-of-19 from the field. He is averaging 20 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds a game. "He is the most complete rookie at this point," Wade contends. Evans didn't have much help other than 6-foot-11 swingman Donte Greene. The second year player from Syracuse used his length to defend smaller guards and had a balanced offensive attack. Twelve of Green's 21-points came in the first half when the Kings were struggling. The Kings were still in striking distance late in the fourth quarter thanks to reserves Omri Casspi and Beno Udrih. Casspi had 8 of his 14 points in the final period, including two from the arc. Sacramento cut the lead to 6 after Beno Udrih hit a free throw with 5:42 remaining in the game. But with Flash on the other side that was as close as they could get. Wade hit two jumpers to quell the crowd and put the Heat in a double-digit lead for good. The Heat moved the ball well and produced 30 assists as a team with 5 players in double figures. Richardson and Michael Beasley each added 20 points and 5 rebounds. Reserves Udonis Haslem and Dorell Wright shot over 68-percent (15-for-22) scoring 15 points and 19 points respectively. "As much as Dwyane Wade did beat us, the other players really contributed to their team," Coach Westphal acknowledged. "We really couldn't shut enough of those guys down to have a chance to win the game." Photo's click here
Kings get their heads back above water The Sacramento Kings have a pulse again and it starts with a new head coach and what is looking more and more like a rookie of the year campaign for guard Tyreke Evans.
Thompson, in his second year out of Rider is a rebound away for averaging a double-double. He is scoring 14pts and pulling down 9-rebounds a game. Sacramento beat Indiana 110-105 to improve to 9-8. The Kings also have their second four game winning streak of the young season. Sure the teams Sacramento has beaten are not title contenders. Before the Pacers the Kings knocked off New Orleans, New York and thankfully New Jersey. Sacramento has an 8-2 home record, but they are just 1-6 on the road. In their two four game winning streaks, seven of those games were at home. The one road game Sac has won was at Utah early in Nov. and that win was followed by victories over Golden St., Oklahoma City and Houston. Head coach Paul Westphal was just what the kings needed. A head coach who knows how to win. Westphal has the credential's. He led the Phoenix Suns to a berth in the NBA Finals back in 1992-93 and he had an overall record of 267-159. He coaches a good system and that is what a young team like Sacramento needs. The Kings are playing just enough defense to have a winning record. Sacramento scores 104.88pts and they give up 104.29pts. It has gone from a game of inches to a game of percentage points. The Kings have shot a little better then their opponents hitting .474% pf their field goals while giving up field goals at a ..465 clip. Coaching move make a big difference when games are so close. Putting players in the right position to win is one of the hardest things to do. The Kings are not missing the play of guard Kevin Martin with Evans holding down the 2-guard spot. Evans is giving Brandon Jennings a run for his money in the 2009-10 rookie of the year award. Evans was named rookie of the month for November. Tyreke is balling like one of the best in the NBA right now. Evans and Cleveland’s LeBron James are the only two players averaging at least 18.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game this season. Evans is scoring 19.2pts a game. Jennings is just ahead of him at 21.5pts a game, but Jennings gets to put up more shots in the Bucks offense.
Kings hammer listless Warriors
Two games ago Sacramento lost their leading scorer, Kevin Martin (30 ppg.), for eight weeks to a broken wrist.
The Warriors, on the other hand, was without team effort. This was evident by how the Kings crushed Golden State on the boards 52-34. The difference for the game was the Kings scoring 29 second-chance points by collecting 15 offensive rebounds. The Warriors (1-4) lethargic performance was epitomized on the ending play of the third quarter. With .4 seconds remaining in the period, Kings reserve forward Donte Greene lobbed the ball from the sidelines to the rim for Jason Thompson to throw down a dunk, as the Warriors were stuck in cement. This gave the Kings a 96-77 lead going into the final period. The Kings had a balanced scoring effort with all starters reaching double-digits in scoring. Jason Thomas completed his third straight double-double, adding 19 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Beno Udrih hit for 20 points to go with 6 assists. The surprise tonight, however, was 6-11 Donte Greene from Syracuse who finished with a career-high 17 points in 20 minutes. For the second night it a row it was rookie sensation Tyreke Evans leading the Kings without the NBA's third leading scorer, Kevin Martin. Evans proved again that he can be a scoring threat, leading the team with 23 points on 8-of-15 from the field in just three quarters. He also added eight rebounds and two assists to go with no turnovers. He connected for 32 points last night in a win at Utah. "Honestly I don't want to go too overboard about a guy who's just played his seventh game," Coach Paul Westphal stated. "But sometimes we just drop our mouths at some of the plays he makes." Golden State tried throwing everyone at Evans, but to no avail. First rookie Stephan Curry got a clinic, and then defensive specialist Stephen Jackson got a taste of the rookie. "We couldn't guard him," Coach Don Nelson assessed. "I put a bigger guy on him and with his size; he has the ability to get where he wants to go in the paint." Evans dominated the second quarter using his strength to get to the cup. He finished with 18 in the period on 6-of-10 form the field and 6-of-7 from the line. The second quarter was pivotal for the Kings as they started to establish control as they went into the locker room with an 11-point half-time lead. Golden State continues to slip into a deep coma as the internal strife is becoming increasingly vivid. They were just blasted at home by 28 at the hands of the historically bad Los Angeles Clippers last night. Then a thirteen point loss to a Martin-less Sacramento. This game was actually worse than the final score suggested as the Warriors were down 25 points with 5 minutes remaining in the game, until they finished on a 20-8 run. "Another beat-down," frustrated Stephen Jackson stated. "What can I say? It is just all bad right now." In fact, no Warrior had more than 7 rebounds. Corey Maggette came back to life connecting on 8-of-12 shots for 20 points. Kelenna Azubuike, Anthony Randolph and Anthony Morrow all hit over 50-percent of their shots. Warrior guard play was at disadvantage. Curry and team captain Monta Ellis both finished with nine points each shooting a combined 8-of-19 (42%) with a combined 9 turnovers. “We are doing everything we can at this point,” Ellis suggests. “We are trying our best. It's just not working for us right now.” Or maybe they are not working for themselves right now.
Hawks soar past kings 113-105 11/4/09 Sacramento, Calif. -- The Atlanta Hawks (4-1) outlasted the Sacramento Kings 113-105 the Arco Arena behind balanced scoring and 54-percent shooting from the field.
“We cold’t stop them,” a frustrated Coach Paul Westphal explained. “We’ve got to find a way to protect our basket better defensively. And it would also be nice if we could make a few more shots.” The Kings (1-4) fourth quarter performance buried any hopes of a winning streak. They shot a meager 42-percent for the game, but a stifling 27-percent in the final period, converting on only 6-of-22 field goals. They also shot themselves in the foot missing 4-of-10 free throws in the period. With 42.8 seconds remaining in the game and Sacramento down 109-103, guard Kevin Martin connected on a driving lay-in and got fouled. With a chance to cut the lead to three, he missed the free throw and the Kings didn't score the rest of the game. “We had to get the ball moving and we had our chances at the end but we messed up,” Martin admitted. Martin, the NBA's third leading scorer at 30.6 ppg., finished with a game-high 29 points on 11-of-22 from the field. He also added 11 rebounds with no turnovers. Second year forward Jason Thompson brought an inside presence for the Kings, finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. That was not enough to clip the Hawks, who had a balanced scoring attack with all their starters hitting double figures. All-Star Joe Johnson paced the starters dropping 26 points on 11-of-22 from the floor, to go with 8 rebounds. It was the bench play from sharp shooting assassin Jamal Crawford who torched the Kings for 26 points on 10-of-15 from the field. Crawford, who is averaging close to 18 points a game in 27 minutes, was coming off a 27-point performance in a win at Portland the night before. Crawford who is trying to fit in with his third team in three years understands his roll off the bench. “The first game I took just three shots and the coach said, 'uh uh we didn't bring you here for that, we brought you here to be who you are, and that’s a scorer.’ It has been great my teammates and coaches made (the transition) very easy for me.” He was as comfortable as a goose down pillow shooting over 66% from the field and 60% from three. Tonight it was 6-6 rookie point guard Tyreke Evans who was Crawford's pin cushion. Evans, who is still getting used to NBA competition only hit on 33-percent from the floor, including 0-for-3 from three. “He is going to be good by the way,” Crawford commented on Evans. “He is going to be really good.” Evans did assert himself in the second quarter scoring 10 of hit 15 points. That built his confidence for Evans run the offense, take chances and make the decisions down the stretch. With 2:30 remaining and a 5-point deficit, Evans drove to hole, got fouled and connected on one-of-two free throw to cut the lead 101-105. The Kings head to Utah for a game on Saturday (11/7) and then they have a four game home stand starting against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday (11/8). The Hawks have one more road game in charlotte Friday (11/6) before the head home for a game Saturday against Denver.
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Inside Sports 1st String Magazine All Rights Reserved 2001-10 |
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Power forward Jason Thompson has emerged as one of the best young players in the NBA. 
Tonight it was a team effort for the Kings who had 7 players in double figures.
The game was close throughout with 27 lead changes, but it was the Hawks down the stretch outscoring the Kings 30-18 in the fourth quarter. 
