Kings open the Las Vegas Summer League on Friday with a 89-85 loss to Suns

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Summer League is about development

The Las Vegas Summer League is about player development and not about wins and losses. Yes, the players and coaches like to win. The fans love wins, but again the goal is the development of young players.

Teams this season are also looking for players to fill roster slots 16 and 17. These are also known as the “two-way” roster players. These players will make one rate when playing in the G-League (officially the NBA Gatorade League) and the NBA minimum rate when playing for their NBA team.

As of today, the number 16 and 17 roster spots for the Kings are empty.

Players are also looking for roster spots on G-League teams. The Kings G-League franchise is the Reno Bighorns. The NBA is in the process of turning the G-League into a true minor league system to feed players to “the association”.

The bottom line is there are many story lines to watch in Las Vegas over the next 11 days.

The Game

The game itself was entertaining. It was a close contest that featured some very talented basketball plays and some very ugly, “we are still learning” plays. There were a few “dust ups” and even some technical fouls.

The were 17 lead changes and the game was tied 14 times. Sacramento’s biggest lead was 6-points while Phoenix held an 8-point advantage at one point. The Suns out-rebounded the Kings 41-39.

The Kings posted 11 assists and turned the ball over 14 times. The Suns turned it over 17 times and had 12 assists. Each team had eight steal.

The Kings had one glaring advantage and it was in blocked shots. Sacramento blocked 9 Phoenix shots while the Suns blocked 4 Kings field goal attempts.

Kings

• De’Aaron Fox — It was the “D-Fox” show a number of times in the game, but he is the number one draft pick and isn’t that what you want to see? There was a beautiful Kentucky to Kentucky assist to Labbissiere that led to a nice layup. A cross-court pass to Hield let him glide in for an easy two. Fox finished with 4 assists, 5 steals and let’s not forget his 18 points (7-16 shooting). He also demonstrated his breakaway speed multiple times.
• Justin Jackson — The number 15 overall draft selection did not start the game but he made the most of his 26 minutes coming off the bench. He shot 7-for-11 from the floor (2-4 from 3PT range) for a total of 18 points. Jackson does not demand the ball but puts himself in the right spots to score if the ball comes his way.
• Buddy Hield — The second-year guard is joining his new teammates in Vegas to tune up for the new season. Hield scored 16 points in 24 minutes of playing time. He shot 6-for-16 but was 0-for-6 from long range. Hield did have two very impressive drives to the bucket which could be a very nice addition to his game.
• Skal Labissiere — The big forward appears ready to pick up where he left off in April for the Kings. He scored 10 points in 28 minutes. Labissiere was 4-for-9 shooting while adding two blocked shots and one steal.
• Malachi Richardson — The shooting guard who missed the last part of the season due to injury started the game. He was able to play 24 minutes. Richardson posted 8 points shooting 2-for-7 including a 3-point basket. He looked a little rusty but it will not take him long to get back up to speed.
• Georgios Papagiannis — The big center got the start and played 28 minutes. His stats speak to the dichotomy that is “Papa G”. He scored no points (0-3 shooting). It is so frustrating watching him not being able to put-back close shots off rebounds. He led all rebounders with 11 and had 2 blocked shots. Papagiannis uses his size so well in those areas. He also added 2 assists and 1 steal. The key is to remember he is still young and under development.

Suns

• Marquese Chriss — The Sacramento area native made it hard to watch him because it is obvious that he is developing into the player his was projected to be when he was drafted by and then traded by the Kings. With a bulked up body, he scored 19 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in 33 minutes on the floor. Chriss was 5-for-17 shooting but he made his way to the free throw line 13 times where converted 9 shots. He just bulls his way to the basket. When you watch him, keep saying Labissiere, Richardson, Papagiannis, Bogdanovic over and over again because that is who the Kings received in that trade.
• Josh Jackson — The number 4-overall draft pick had a very nice first game for the Suns as he scored 18 points. The forward from Kansas shot 6-for-17 (0-2 3PT) grabbed 8 rebounds and had 2 assists in 34 minutes of playing time. He even showed that he can make the midrange jumper that the experts say he needs to add to his game.

Up next

The Kings will be back in action on Sunday night when they will play the Memphis Grizzlies. Game time is 7:00 p.m. PDT and can be seen on NBA TV. Memphis is 1-0 after beating the Wizards in their first game.

Images from NBA.com and ESPN

Kentucky Wildcats players dominate the Kings-Suns game – SAC wins 107-101

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Chriss and Labissiere go at it in Kings-Suns game Photo NBAE

An NBA game was played on Wednesday night in Phoenix and a Kentucky men’s basketball scrimmage broke out. The Kings featured their Wildcats – Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere. The Suns put the spotlight on their former Kentucky players Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis. Phoenix gave former Wildcat Eric Bledsoe the night off even though he dressed for the game.

The future of these two franchises has been tied together since draft night in June of 2016. Phoenix and Sacramento agreed to a draft night trade that may effect the direction of the two organizations for years to come.

The Kings used their lottery pick to select Marquese Chriss out of the University of Washington and then sent him to Phoenix. In exchange, the Suns sent the Kings two first-round picks and the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic.

With those draft picks, the Kings selected center Georgios Papagiannis out of Greece and forward Skal Labissiere out of Kentucky. Sacramento knew that Papagiannis was going to be a development project and figured Labissiere would be as well. “Papa G” is developing while Skal is growing by leaps and bounds in every game he plays in for the Kings.

The Suns have also been pleased with the growth of Chriss. He has looked like a 19-year old rookie at times, but Chriss has also had moments of brilliance during the season. Phoenix has every reason to be excited about having him on their roster.

On Wednesday, the game belonged to the Kings and their young big men. Sacramento downed the Suns 107-101 in the “Valley of the Sun” winning their second consecutive game. The Kings were led by the incredible play of rookie forward Skal Labissiere who scored a game-high 32 points and made it a double-double by adding 11 rebounds. He shot a very respectable 11-for-15 from the floor including a 3-point basket.

Fellow Kentucky alum Willie Cauley-Stein came up big again for the Kings versus the Suns as well. He posted a double-double game with 14 points and 11 rebounds. WCS also had five assists, four steals and four blocks.

Rookie shooting guard Buddy Hield had a quiet night as he spent much of his playing time playing defense against the very tough Devin Booker. Booker scored 19 points but he had to take 26 shots to make those points. Hield and Garrett Temple defended Booker well in the game.

Other Kings who contributed: Afflalo 14 points, Koufos 13 points/six rebounds, Ty Lawson 11 points/six assists, Garrett Temple eight points and Langston Galloway played again putting up eight points.

TJ Warren led the Suns scoring attack with 24 points. Booker had 19. Chriss had a big night putting up 17 which is just over twice his season average. Alan Williams had a double-double game with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Ulis also had a double-double with 13 points and 13 assists.

The Kings are off until Saturday when they will face the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Buzzer beating bank shot gives the Suns a 105-103 win over the Kings

Booker shoots the game winner versus the Kings on Friday night Photo: NBAE

by Charlie O. Mallonee

NBA fans used to live for the final two minutes of a game. They were rough, tumble and full of exciting action. Now with all of the stoppages for replay reviews, the excitement of the final 120 seconds has been all but lost.

On Friday night at the Golden 1 Center, the sellout crowd (17,608) were treated to an “old fashion” nail biting two minute finish in the game between the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings.

The excitement began with 2:32 remaining in the game when DeMarcus Cousins broke a 98-all tie with a step-back 3-point basket from the right corner off an assist from Matt Barnes. The Suns missed a jump on their possession. The Kings grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 2:09 to go.

Cousins missed a jumper coming out of the timeout that was rebounded by Bledsoe of the Suns. T.J. Warren sank a jump shot at the 1:34 mark to bring Phoenix within one point of the lead at 101-100.

Each team missed a field goal opportunity then Cousins missed a layup that Lawson rebounded and then he was fouled by the Suns Tyson Chandler. The Kings maintained possession and Cousins attempted a 3-point shot that missed and Chandler rebounded.

The Suns Warren hit a 3-pointer (assist Booker) with 21.6-seconds on the clock to give his team a 103-101 lead. The Kings immediately called a timeout.

The Kings ran their play out of the timeout and with 8.2-seconds to go Darren Collison sank a 15-foot jump shot (assist Cousins) to tie the game at 103-103. It was the Suns turn to call a timeout.

Phoenix inbounded the ball at midcourt and to no one’s surprise the ball wound up in the hands of second-year guard Devin Booker. Booker put up a 20-foot fade away bank shot that  went in the hoop as the final buzzer sounded. The Suns had won the game 105-103 to the stunned amazement of the big crowd.

Who did what in the game

Kings (19-31)

Cousins hits two of his 22 versus the Suns Photo: NBAE

 

• DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings scoring attack with a triple-double: 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists(sixth career triple-double). Cousins got into foul trouble and picked up his fifth personal foul with 9:22 to go in the 4th quarter and he did not return until there was just 3:18 left in the game. How much of a difference could the big man have made in that six minutes is now a question to be pondered over beers at the local pub.
• Darren Collison scored 19 points for the Kings as he shot 8-for-16 from the floor and hit 3-of-4 3-point attempts. Joerger was very happy with Collison’s play after the game.
• There was a Ben McLemore sighting on Friday night. McLemore made a rare start as the team made adjustments with Temple out due to injury and Arron Afflalo did not dress due to illness. McLemore played 35-minutes and scored 18 points.
• Ty Lawson made an impact in the game off the bench again for Sacramento on Friday night. The speedy guard put up 18 points hitting on 7-of-10 attempts from the field and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
• Matt Barnes did not have a big scoring night (6-points) but hauled in 10 rebounds and dished out 4 assists for the Kings.
• Willie Cauley-Stein played only 14-minutes in the contest but came up big especially in the six-minutes that Cousins was sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter with the five fouls. He also scored four points and had four rebounds.
• As a team the Kings outrebounded the Suns 43-39. They outscored Phoenix in the paint 36-20. Sacramento even scored more fast break points (14-9) than the Suns. The Kings had 23 assists versus 13 turnovers which resulted in 22 Phoenix points.

Suns (16-34)

• 20-year old guard Devin Booker scored a game-high 33 points for PHX. He scored just seven points in the first half. Booker went 11-for-24 shooting and hit 4-0f-8 from beyond the 3-point line. He also went 7-for-10 from the free throw line.
• T.J. Warren was the offense for the Suns in the first half. While much of the team seemed less than present, Warren was active and ready for action. He finished with 21 points including going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
• Eric Bledsoe had a 20 point game for the Suns in 33-minutes on the floor. He was just 4-of-12 from the floor but was 3-for-6 from 3-point land.
• Maybe the disappointment of the night for the crowd was the play of local product Marquese Chriss. Chriss who played his high school basketball in Elk Grove and was drafted by the Kings and then traded to Phoenix played just 15-minutes and scored only two points. Chriss picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter which really limited his playing time. It may well have the combination of playing before a large contingent of family and friends while trying to defend DeMarcus Cousins that keep the young rookie from having a better game.

Joerger’s postgame thoughts

Collison had a big second half for the Kings Photo: NBAE

• Heck of a basketball game
• Both teams started kind of slow (it was 49-49 at the half)
• I’m really proud of out guys. We held a fast break team to nine-points on the fast break and basically won every statistical category there is.
• I thought Darren (Collison) really stepped up his game in the second half.
• It was tremendous that we had great point guard play with Ty (Lawson) and Darren at times playing together.
• It was great to see Ben McLemore get going a little bit and heck of a basketball game.
• Very proud of out team

Focusing on 8th place in the Western Conference

The battle for the eighth and final playoff slot in the Western Conference continued on Friday night:

• Denver now has sole possession of 8th place as they beat the Bucks 121-117
• Portland is in 9th place 1.5 games back after losing to Dallas 108-104
• Dallas has jumped into 10th place 2.5 games back of Denver with their win over Portland
• The Kings are now in 11th place 3.5 games behind Denver after Friday’s loss to Phoenix

Up next on the schedule

The Kings have no time sit and ponder their loss to the Suns. The Golden State Warriors make a return visit to the Golden 1 Center on Saturday night. It is never easy to face “the Splash Brothers” but to have to play them on second night of a back-to-back set is really unfair.

Phoenix returns home on Saturday night to host the Milwaukee Bucks who lost in Denver on Friday.