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Sacramento is trying to avoid disappointment on the court and off of it. For more, check out Sactown Royalty.
San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) – Tony Parker scored 18 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, guiding San Antonio to a 108-103 win over the Kings.
Manu Ginobili added 24 points and seven assists, while Tim Duncan netted 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, winners of 11 straight and 16 of the last 17 meetings.
“I thought our big three pulled it out for us; they dug down deep,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Tony carried us in the third quarter and then Manu and then Timmy. Those three guys were great tonight. We had to dig deep with them and they were the reason we won the game. I thought Sacramento did a great job.”
The Spurs had their 22-game home winning streak broken Sunday against the Lakers, but have since won two in a row at the AT&T Center. George Hill and DeJuan Blair each contributed 14 points in Friday’s triumph.
Jermaine Taylor and Omri Casspi each had 16 points in reserve roles for Sacramento, losers of five in a row.
“We took it right down to the wire,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said. “Ginobili did what he does. I was very proud of our effort. I thought we played the pick-and-roll as well as we’ve played it all year. It’s hard to stop them, because they’re the best in the league at it.”
Pooh Jeter’s pull-up jumper tied the game at 93 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining, but the Spurs went back in front for good on Ginobili’s three-ball. That started a 12-0 run, which was finished off by Ginobili’s three-point play with 2:02 left. The big three of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker accounted for all of those points.
The Kings got within four points, but that came with 12.8 seconds left.
San Antonio held a 22-20 edge after the opening quarter and a 52-46 edge at halftime. Casspi’s layup had the visitors within 75-71 moving to the fourth.
DeMarcus Cousins is looking more and more like he's going to be a special basketball player for the Sacramento Kings. Going against Dwight Howard for some stretches, perhaps the most dominant defensive athlete in the NBA today, he scored 29 points on 16 shots, nailed 13 of 18 free throws, and helped foul out Howard. He did have seven turnovers (some on poor offensive fouls), but also grabbed seven rebounds and three steals (including a nice breakup of a Cousins alley-oop. Marcus Thornton added 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in support of the young big.
Unfortunately for the Kings, both Tyreke Evans and Beno Udrih were out, which meant Luther Head was the starting point guard. Which meant Jameer Nelson could have his way on both sides of the court. Head was 2 for 10 (including missing the potential game-tying three), and Nelson scorched him for 26 points on 11 of 17 shooting, including a bunch of crucial fourth quarter buckets. Howard added 16 points and 15 rebounds, Jason Richardson scored 19, and Hedo Turkoglu nailed the dagger three down the stretch to help give the Magic just enough to beat Sacramento.
For postgame reaction, go to Sactown Royalty for reaction from Kings fans & Orlando Pinstriped Post for reaction from Magic fans.
With every passing day, it continues to look like the Kings 26 year stay in Sacramento is coming to an end. Numerous reports suggest that the Maloof Family (who own the Kings) are looking to move to Anaheim in time for next season. There is no deal in place as of yet, but as Mayor Kevin Johnson stated, Sacramento is "Plan B" at this point for the Maloofs. The Maloofs will meet with the NBA Board of Governors April 14-15 to discuss a potential move, and if they do decided to move, a vote will take place sometime between then and April 18th. The Lakers and Clippers are against a move, not wanting another team in their market, and its also been reported that the Warriors are against a move as well, since they don't want to set a precedent for another team moving into their territory, namely San Jose. Still, that's a long way from enough votes to block a move, as at least 15 owners would have to vote against it. Only two (Mark Cuban of Dallas and Paul Allen of Portland) voted against the last NBA relocation (Seattle to Oklahoma City).
On the court, it hasn't been much better for Kings fans. ARCO Arena is no more, and in its place is Power Balance Pavilion, but the new name hasn't brought any extra wins as the Kings have yet to win under the new name, losing the first game against Portland, and more recently getting blown out by the Houston Rockets. The Kings also failed to win on the road at Utah in overtime.
It hasn't been all doom and gloom for Sacramento however as DeMarcus Cousins has had a bit of a bounce back week, achieving a double-double in each of the last three games. Against Portland he tied his career-high with 28 points, at Utah he grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds (to go with 18 points and matching his career-high in assists with 7) and then a 20-11-3 game against Houston (All 20 points came in the first half).
Newcomer Marcus Thornton has also been a bright spot, scoring in bunches (he's averaging 20.3 points since coming to Sacramento), and giving the Kings another option on the perimeter.
Sacramento also welcomed back Francisco Garcia, who came back against Utah after missing 21 games due to a left calf strain. Garcia didn't look rusty at all either, scoring 18 points on just 6 shots against Utah, and then hitting 5-9 against Houston the next game, which saw him back in the starting lineup.
In injury news, Tyreke Evans is still out for the foreseeable future as he continues to undergo treatment for Plantar Fasciitis. Rookie Hassan Whiteside had knee surgery and is out for 4-6 months, putting an end to a disappointing rookie season that only saw him play 2 minutes. Omri Casspi missed the game against Utah due to back spasms but returned against Houston.
Sacramento Kings 103, New Orleans Hornets 115: 4th Quarter Collapse Leads to Another Kings Loss
New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) – Chris Paul scored a season-high 33 points to go with 15 assists and seven rebounds in his return to the lineup, as the New Orleans Hornets used a big fourth quarter to down the Sacramento Kings, 115-103.
Paul had missed the last two games with a concussion for the Hornets, who have won four of five. David West donated 25 points and nine boards.
Carl Landry tallied 20 points off the bench for New Orleans, which took three of four from Sacramento this season. Marco Belinelli chipped in 12 points.
Marcus Thornton finished with 25 points and three steals against his former team, but the Kings dropped their sixth straight game. DeMarcus Cousins recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Samuel Dalembert ended with 16 points and eight boards for Sacramento, which has lost five straight on the road. Francisco Garcia added 12 points in defeat.
New Orleans entered the fourth quarter down by one, 85-84, but started the period on a 23-5 run to pull away. Paul tallied nine points during the burst, which Emeka Okafor capped with a three-point play for a 107-90 lead with 4:16 remaining.
West made a running jumper a few minutes later to make it 113-95, and it was a double-digit game the rest of the way.
The Hornets ripped off five straight points late in the first quarter to grab a 29-22 lead on Landry’s slam with 38 seconds left. New Orleans held a 31-24 margin after 12 minutes.
Sacramento outscored the Hornets, 33-26, in the second stanza to make it 57-57 at the half.
Neither team led by more than five in the third quarter.
Mar 12 8:30p by Aykis16