Tag: Tyler Ulis

Kings eclipse the Suns 129-104 in season home finale

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

phx hield
Buddy Hield drives to the hoop in Kings win over the Suns Photo NBAE

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings played their 41st and final home game of the 2016-17 NBA season Tuesday night at the Golden 1 Center. The Kings sent the sellout crowd of 17,608 home happy by soundly defeating the Phoenix Suns (24-58) 129-104.

Here’s your 2:20 Game Wrap

The season is now over for Phoenix. They finish with a record of 24-58 in 15th and last place in the Western Conference of the NBA. The Suns currently hold the number two pick in the NBA Draft Lottery before the pull of the ping-pong balls. That means Phoenix has a 19.9-percent chance of winding up with number one overall selection in this years’ draft.

As of now, that would mean the Suns would probably be the winners of the Lonzo Ball sweepstakes. Tighten those seatbelts – it could be a wild ride from here.

The Kings (32-49) are now in a tie for 12th place in the Western Conference with the Dallas Mavericks. If the season were over today, the Kings would own the number nine and 10 picks in the NBA Draft Lottery.

Dave Joerger seemed caught up in the victory celebration after the game

Major performances on offense

Kings

  • Buddy Hield leads all scorers in the game with a career-high 30 points
  • Ty Lawson posts his first career triple-double with 22 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds
  • Sacramento uses nine players in the game and eight of them score in double figures
  • Kings shoot 51.8-percent (43-for-83) from the floor for the game
  • SAC uses the 3-ball hitting 9-for-19 (47.4-percent) from downtown
Phx ty
Ty Lawson posted his career triple-double vs the Suns Photo NBAE

Suns

  • Tyler Ulis led Phoenix in scoring with 27 points hitting 10-for-25 from the field
  • Sacramento native Marquese Chriss put up 22 points before a large crowd of family and friends
  • The Suns attempted 109 shots in the game connecting on just 41 (37.6-percent) of those attempts
  • PHX went just 14-for-24 (58.3-percent) from the charity stripe
phx joerger
Dave Joerger draws up a play vs PHX on Tuesday Photo NBAE

Up next

The Kings will be in Los Angeles on Wednesday to face the Clippers in the final game of the 2016-17 regular season. This game will help to determine who will finish fourth or fifth in the Western Conference. It is really a battle for home-court advantage.

For the Suns, the season is over. Up next for them, the NBA Draft Lottery.

Intern Jordan Chapin was our videographer for the coverage on Tuesday evening

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

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Los Angeles Kings v Phoenix Suns
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.