Postgame Recap: Kings @ Blazers

PORTLAND 88, SACRAMENTO 81

March 9, 2010 - At the Rose Garden, Brandon Roy led all scorers with 19 points as the Blazers held off the Kings, 88-81. Sacramento trailed by 11, 73-62, entering the fourth quarter but Francisco Garcia’s three-pointer jump-started a 12-1 run. Jason Thompson’s lay-up capped off the run and tied score, 74-74, with 8:11 remaining. Marcus Camby scored four of Portland’s next five points for a 79-74 advantage with 5:03 left. The Kings cut into the Blazers’ lead and trailed, 81-78, with 3:35 left, but the Trail Blazers scored seven straight points to seal the win. Portland limited the Kings to just one made field goal in the final four and a half minutes. Tyreke Evans led the Kings with 18 points and Carl Landry added 17 points. Spencer Hawes grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Beno Udrih contributed 13 points. For Portland, Andre Miller and Nicolas Batum each scored 14 points. Camby, Roy, and Juwan Howard each grabbed a team-high-tying eight rebounds. The Blazers outscored the Kings, 27-13, in the second quarter and had their biggest lead of 12 in that quarter.

Postgame Quotes: Kings @ Mavs

Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal

(On Tonigh’t Game)
“Well, we cut it to 2, and Tyreke [Evans] driving to the basket and he didn’t get the call. I’m not saying it was a foul, I’m saying he didn’t get the call. They did what veteran teams do – they put us away. Really the biggest difference in the game for us was we turned it over 17 times, they turned it over 8 times. And we’ve been really good at that lately and tonight we weren’t. And you give turnovers to a team like Dallas they get runs outs, get easy baskets, and that’s the one thing we couldn’t overcome tonight. I thought out of the 48 minutes we probably had 43-44 good enough minutes to think we could win that game. But those lapses, and the turnovers, we couldn’t overcome. Dallas is a very impressive, excellent team and I’m really proud of the way we played. I think that as we learn how to tighten up our offense a little bit we’ll have a lot better chance of coming out with a lot more of these wins. Anyway, tough loss for us against a great team.”

Kings Guard Beno Udrih

(What does it say about your team to make a comeback at the end of the game?)
“We’re here to get better and play hard. We’re a young team and don’t have a lot of experience. So we’re just trying to learn and get better.”

(How much fun was it in the first half as the team was playing well)
“It’s always fun, especially when you get going like that. Then they had a player too that was hot so it’s tough. They’re a good team, they have a lot of weapons, and congratulations to them.”

(What does it say about your team to hang with such a hot Mavs team that’s won 10 straight)
“We played 42 minutes of good basketball. Against a team like that you’ve got to play 48 minutes, and six minutes in a stretch they made a run and it was too big of a run. A team like that, they always know how to run when they’re ahead to stay ahead. “

Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle

(On the win despite missing players.) “We found a way to win and the start wasn’t good obviously and there was some frustration, but it was all about holding it together, keeping the composure and bringing up the level of defensive energy. It was just too easy for them early. Beaubois gave us a great lift off the bench, I thought Stevenson gave us a lift. You know, Barea played well. Najera played solid. So, when you are thin like that you just have to
collectively find a way.”

(Any update on Brendan Haywood.)
“I would think he would be day-to-day. But, he had some a little stiffness this morning and then he tweaked it on the jump ball of all times. So, that wasn’t a good start.”

(On the technical situation.)
“Well, I was just thought there was contact that should have been called a foul on two or three occasions and I had an opinion on it. My opinion was noted, but when you go out on the court sometimes you get one and sometimes you get two, so I got two and that was it..”

(On the team going on a run after the ejection.)
“I was certainly glad. I don’t take credit for that. In those situations, you have to get playing better. Whether or not the coach getting thrown out contributes to that, that is up for debate. I doubt it. I think we were due to play better and finally started getting some stops and look, the guys off the
bench really helped too.”

(What is your feeling on this team.)
“When you go on a streak like this, everyone is gunning for you. Everybody wants to be the team to take you down. So, you are going to get everybody’s
best game. We’ve had some slow starts, but it is something we have been able to overcome many times. We are working on starting better, but hey, it is a 48 minute game for a reason. So, the streak is alive. We get on the plane tonight and head to Chicago and lace them up again. We just have to keep this going as long as we can.”

Mavericks guard Roddy Beaubois

(How big a win was this tonight with all the guys out with injuries?)
“It’s a big win for us and we really wanted to win this one because of Jet being out. We knew it was going to be difficult after Haywood wasn’t going to play but we did a good job and we’re happy about the win.”

(With Jet out you played a lot of two-guard tonight)
“I really tried to be aggressive with Jet being out and we needed everyone to push themselves so I really tried to be aggressive and that worked and JKidd and JJ (Barea) really set me up tonight. We played great together tonight.”

“I’m feeling more confident out there and my teammates have been talking to me and everyday I’m feeling better.”

“The fans are incredible and I really like playing here.”

Mavericks forward Eduardo Najera

“We’re getting smaller by the minute that’s what Dirk said. We’re ok as long as we follow the concepts defensively and I thought our zone is what got us going especially in the first half and that kind of solves the height problems we just need to rebound a little bit better.”

(Talk about the zone defense?)
“It definitely breaks the rhythm of the other team and we did a good job of playing zone. We have a lot of experience, we’ve played it before and it seems like we all are pretty smart defensively and we can hide some of our one on one weaknesses in our zone and it’s working so far really good for us and helped us win some games.”

“We’ve got to start playing better especially when we have the lead we stopped playing defensively and stopped running. We’ve got to get stops, get the rebound and go.”

Postgame Recap: Kings vs. Rockets

SACRAMENTO 84, HOUSTON 81

March 3, 2010 - At the Toyota Center, Carl Landry recorded a game-high-tying 22 points and 10 rebounds against his former team in leading the Kings to an 84-81 win over the Rockets. The Kings won despite shooting just 32 percent from the field (32-100 FG), marking the first time that the Kings accomplished that feat since the Cincinnati Royals defeated Philadelphia, 95-93, on November 3, 1963, with a .318 field goal percentage. Sacramento held a seven-point advantage, 82-75, with 3:11 left in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets scored six unanswered points as Aaron Brooks made one of two free throws to pull Houston within one, 82-81, with six seconds remaining. Landry was fouled and made both free throws to give the Kings an 84-81 lead with four seconds left, giving the Rockets one last chance. Brooks had a good look at a three-pointer but missed with 1.9 seconds left. Tyreke Evans struggled from the field, shooting just 4-of-22, finishing with nine points, only the fourth time this season he has been held under 10 points. Former King Kevin Martin also had trouble finding his shot, making just three of his 13 field goal attempts in tallying 14 points. Beno Udrih tallied 13 points and Spencer Hawes grabbed a team-high-tying 10 rebounds. Brooks tallied a game-high-tying 22 points and Luis Scola recorded a double-double with 19 points and a game-high 18 boards. In the fourth quarter, the Kings limited the Rockets to 28.6 percent shooting from the field. The Kings’ 61 field goal attempts in the first half established a new Sacramento-era record. Sacramento turned the ball over nine times - in three of the last four games the Kings have turned the ball over 10 times or less.

Postgame Recap: Kings vs. Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY 113, SACRAMENTO 107

March 2, 2010 - At the Ford Center, the Kings had no answer for Kevin Durant who had game-highs of 39 points and 10 rebounds and Russell Westbrook who added 30 points and 13 assists as the Thunder outlasted the Kings, 113-107. Francisco Garcia’s three-pointer with 4:50 left in the fourth quarter capped off a Kings’ 10-3 spurt to pull them within two, 100-98. Durant then made a driving lay-up as the Thunder answered each Kings score as Sacramento could not get closer than three points the rest of the way. Carl Landry’s dunk with 34.1 seconds left cut the Thunder lead to 111-107. Durant was fouled and sealed the win with two free throws, finishing a perfect 12-of-12 from the line. Tyreke Evans led the Kings with 27 points and Landry contributed 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Beno Udrih and Francisco Garcia each tallied 13 points. The Kings outshot the Thunder from the field, .539 to .500, but were outrebounded, 32-43. The Thunder crashed the offensive glass, converting 17 offensive boards into 23 second-chance points.

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Clippers

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“On a night that we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, I thought our defense won the game for us. I thought that we played 48 minutes of first class defense, really for the second game in a row. When our offense let us down a little bit and our free throw shooting let us down a little bit, we still hung on because of the defense until we were able to make the shots we needed to win the game. So I view this as a big step forward in our progression as a team – to be able to get a defensive win against a team that just handled us pretty easily last week. I thought Ime (Udoka) probably made the play of the game when we missed a shot and we had a one-point lead and then he stole it and we ended up scoring and it gave us a little bit of breathing room. I thought that Carl (Landry) was huge for us down the stretch and of course Tyreke (Evans) started making some of those shots he was missing to put the game away for us. So I feel great about our effort. I thought Spencer (Hawes) played a good complete game. Even though in the second half he didn’t score, I still thought that he was a big part of the win. It’s great to not shoot the ball very well and still get a win.”

“Even though we weren’t really able to score that much, the fact that we only turned it over nine times (shows that) our offense didn’t beat us. If we would have had 20 turnovers and shot 43.2% percent, we would be talking about a loss. It’s been two games in a row where we’ve done a good job of taking care of the ball and we didn’t do anything to beat ourselves.”

“It always puts smiles on people’s faces when you win. We’ve tried to maintain confidence in the players, and have them feel our confidence, because we know that a lot of the tough breaks that come in this league aren’t because of lack of effort. We need more experience, we need more experience together, and so because you don’t have those things, there’s no reason to be mad. I think our team has done a pretty good job of keeping the focus on continued improvement and I think that’s probably why we’re smiling as much as the wins in a lot of ways.”

“I’ve got great confidence in Ime. He’s a player that the other guys respect for his knowledge and his toughness and his experience. We lean on him at both ends of the floor in pressure situations.”

“We’ve made strides. We understand the need to become a good defensive team. We’ve had two good defensive performances in row, and I think three out of the last five we’ve played 48 minutes of good defense. If we can have that be our calling card as well as to be an offensive team that’s tough to guard – which I think we’re a lot more balanced now with Carl to be able to go into the low post and get some big fourth quarter hoops, get to the line – I think that we’re taking some good steps toward becoming a legitimate NBA team that can expect to win whenever we play, at least hope to win whenever we play.”

“Well we view every game as important. We want to win any time we play. We want to learn from whatever the lesson is from that day, every time we play, and at the same time we want to develop our young players. We won’t give young players playing time – they have to earn it. But if it’s a situation where we can develop them, I think it’s in the best interest of the franchise. We’re counting our wins; we want to get as many as we possibly can and build on that next year.”

Tyreke Evans

“It felt pretty good. We played good defense. Spencer (Hawes) came out and gave us a good start. I think that is what carried us on from there.”

On playing better defense tonight
“Coach told me to keep attacking, and when I attack I put the pressure on the defense. I was trying to attack and find the open guys and Beno (Udrih) and Omri (Casspi).”

On the Clippers winning the previous match up
“I wasn’t thinking about the loss (to the Clippers last game) but I knew I wanted to get them back. They beat us and then they came into our house and we just wanted to get a win.”

On Baron Davis
“I have known Baron since I was coming up in basketball. We played AAU basketball. I talk to him a lot and we were just talking about if I fouled him or not. We know each other pretty well.”

Spencer Hawes

“We have a tough road trip ahead, but we have some good momentum of basketball going into it.”

On setting the tone early
“I think that it was key not only for myself, but for the team. We came out and were being aggressive and assertive early. We were trying to put the pressure on the defense and also trying to open up for the other guys.”

On Chris Kaman
“He is an All-Star, there are no bones about it. He is so skilled down there and for me it is kind of like playing against myself. He goes left or right, and can really create so many problems when he gets rolling. I think our team did a great job of containing him.”

“It is good to have the fans out here and supporting us. It is good to have that swagger back at ARCO.”

Beno Udrih

On if the team is feeling looser and not so tense
“Coach was trying to tell us all year long to push the ball up the court faster and to get some easy buckets if we can. We have been getting into our offensive sets faster lately. Before, we were fighting against the shot clock. Now, we fight maybe one or two times. We are just playing a lot faster and we have been moving the ball much better. We also are not turning over the ball as much anymore and we are learning. It is a long process.”

On putting in hard work
“This year we have been working really hard. We had two good practices. We beat Utah, we beat the Clippers now, and we all feel good about ourselves. We are making steps forward and we need to keep making steps forward so we can get better everyday.”

Los Angeles Clippers Kim Hughes

On how they lost the game

“I thought we took that first half off. I don’t believe we are a good enough team to play the first half like that with poor energy, a little bit selfish at times. I thought we competed in the second half. I was disappointed in our bigs. I thought we turned the ball over way too many times. All of them, collectively, were really loose with the ball. I think we gave up 25 points off turnovers and we only got six from them. That is a 19-point differential. That is the game.”

On the communication between Rasual Butler and Baron Davis

“No, they got into it. We want guys to talk. We are not a very verbal team and we plea and cajole for that all the time. I like the bantering in the second half and telling each other what to do. But, we are not a one half team. We have to play like that out of the gate. Losing Craig Smith hurt, but I think DeAndre came in and gave us valuable minutes. It is tough as well when you shoot 37 percent from the field. I don’t really know how to explain it because Sacramento is not a very good defensive team.”

On Tyreke Evans’ play

“He attacked the hoop. He had a nice lay-up. He is a tremendous talent. I thought we did a good defensive job on him. The primary focus of our defense was to stop him. He is virtually impossible to guard one-on-one. He has great size, speed and quickness. He broke out at the end. He is going to hit some shots. The time he made the lay-up down the stretch, our bigs did not help out enough in pick-and-roll coverage and that happens with fatigue or a poor decision. We are going to give up some lay-ups, but I thought, in the second half, we were much more solid defensively.”

Los Angeles Clippers Forward Drew Gooden

On play of Tyreke Evans

“He put a lot of pressure on us defensively attacking the basket and on pick-and-roll and being in the teeth of our defense.”

On falling behind early

“First half we started out sluggish down 12, 14 or whatever it was at halftime. We clawed our way back towards the end but we just didn’t have enough pressure. I don’t think we had enough poise to close that game out. It was still anyone’s game towards the end.”

On not making enough shots

“You got to make shots. They shot 43 (percent). You hit a few more shots and the game changes. It was a tough night for us.”

Los Angeles Clippers Center Chris Kaman

On not being able to put together two good halves

“It was a tale of two halves. The first half wasn’t ours. We did a great job in the second half of fighting back and keeping the game close. We just didn’t have enough to win it.”

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Postgame Recap: Kings vs. Jazz

SACRAMENTO 103, UTAH 99

February 26, 2010 - At ARCO Arena, Beno Udrih scored 25 points, Tyreke Evans tallied 24 and Spencer Hawes recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Kings end a five-game losing streak and snap Utah’s seven-game road win streak with a 103-98 decision. The Kings shot 70.6 percent from the field in the fourth quarter as Udrih and Evans were a combined 8-of-8 from the field and totaled 18 of the Kings’ 28 points. Carl Landry’s two free throws with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter broke a 97-97 tie and gave the Kings the lead for good. Evans hit a clutch basket with 14.8 seconds remaining to give the Kings a 102-97 edge and Udrih sank one of two free throws to seal the win. Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. Deron Williams also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 assists, but was harassed into a 4-of-16 shooting effort from the field. The Kings were outrebounded, 48-37, but had a season-low eight turnovers. Of Utah’s 36 field goals, 29 were assisted.

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Jazz

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“Before I get started, I just want to say a lot of people have been asking about my wife and praying for her and I appreciate all of the concern and prayers. She’s doing a lot better; (she) had to see a lot of doctors and things are doing pretty well. So thank you for all of the concern. I know she was watching and enjoyed this game tonight. This was a vision of the way we want our team to play. To be able to beat one of the best teams in the NBA – one of the hottest teams – in a solidly-played game is very gratifying. I knew those two days of practice would help us; I didn’t know they’d help us that much. We really played defense, moved the ball, had very few turnovers and played a very solid NBA basketball game. I think it’s how we envision this team being. I’m so happy for Spencer (Hawes) I can’t even really talk straight about it. He showed what he’s made of tonight and we want that every game now, that’s all we ask. It was really an excellent effort by him and certainly Beno (Udrih) responded in a big way. Tyreke (Evans) made the plays down the stretch and throughout the game was sensational. Ime (Udoka) off the bench was really right on time with some great defense and hustle plays. It’s just a lot of fun when it’s like that. The building was very much behind us and we care about that.”

On the chest pump with Spencer Hawes:
“If you want to see that again you’ll probably have to go back to YouTube. I doubt if I’ll pull that one out again for a long time. We talked about it today; we thought it’d be kind of cool to do that. I know everybody wanted to make a bigger deal out of what happened – it’s been three days of reading about coach and player hating each other and that was never really it. It was just kind of fun.”

On Spencer Hawes:
“That’s exactly the kind of performance he’s capable of. It’s hard to bring that every night but he was one of the absolute key reasons we were able to get this win tonight. At both ends of the floor he was exceptional.”

On the starting lineup:
“Tyreke and Beno have worked really well together all year. The main reason I was bringing Beno off the bench even before Kevin (Martin) came back was because I knew that would be his role when Kevin came back. I brought him off the bench for the first few games after the trade just because we only had two point guards on the roster. But then Francisco (Garcia) has been coming around, looking really good in practice and able to handle that position a little bit so I just decided that we would try to go with the players that have played the most minutes this year together. Beno has really played well enough this year to deserve a crack at that position. We would worry about a backup point guard if that issue came up but we tried to start the game with our strongest team.”

On Tyreke Evans:
“Well it’s just another example of how amazing and special he is. He’s not only talented but he’s consistent and he thrives under pressure. You can’t really ask for anything more than that in any NBA player let alone a 20 year-old.”

“It’s always great to have a lot of passers on the floor. Both Beno and Spencer are excellent at reading situations, passing the ball and keeping the defense honest because of their ability to shoot the ball. I think it really helped our offense and our continuity. I thought our offense was the best it’s been all year with the ball movement, the decisions and the patience. It was really nice to see.”

Tyreke Evans
“That was a big win for us. After the game I told Beno this is where we need to get better, in closing out our games. Some games we let slip away from us, but today we did a good job in closing it out.”

On if the win will help their confidence
“Hopefully this win can help us finish out the season strong. We need to be able to come back next year and be a playoff team.”

On him and Beno playing together
“When Beno goes in there and gets that pull-up (shot) going, he is smooth. He was doing a good job of pushing the ball and stopping the ball and getting the shots up. That also helped open it up for everyone else. He gave me the opportunity to drive and get to the line. We could have won by more if we would have made our foul shots, but the most important thing is that we just got the win.”

On Utah Jazz’ Carlos Boozer
“I think that (Carlos) Boozer and those guys just play hard. Their big men stepped up to the challenge tonight and they didn’t back down. Boozer is a good player and a good post-up player so he can get those tough shots, but (Carl) Landry and (Joey) Dorsey came in and did a good job (of guarding him).”

Beno Udrih
“We had good practices the last two days. Coach decided to go with this starting line-up for tonight. We brought the aggressiveness from our practices to the game and that is what we have to do more often. Sometimes we can get lackadaisical and just don’t play as hard in the game as we do in practices, but today we brought it and that is why we won.”

On him and Tyreke playing together
“Tyreke and I like to play with each other because sometimes it takes pressure away from him and sometimes away from me. We just like to play together and it works for us.”

On not getting much practice in
“We have been struggling and then all the trades happened. We really didn’t have any full practices before the last two days. We couldn’t really get to know the new guys, they basically just ran those plays at games and they saw it on the board, but they couldn’t really play. The last two practices really helped us and they have been good.”

“They (Utah Jazz) had won seven games on the road. It is definitely helping our confidence and hopefully we don’t get satisfied with this win today. In two days we have the Clippers and we have some payback to do. We didn’t play a good game against the Clippers in L.A. We have to get that win too.”

Utah Jazz Head Coach Jerry Sloan

Tonight’s game…
“They got us early in the ball game. They did a great job getting on top of the basket and scoring the ball inside. They blew by. We couldn’t stop them. That was pretty much the pace all night. We gave them 50 points in the paint. When you let a team get you in that situation it’s pretty tough to win. I thought they played real well.”

Last 2 minutes of the game…
“You have to be able to make shots. We didn’t shoot the ball very well. They put the ball in the basket. It’s pretty hard to miss when you shoot lay-ups. They drive by you. They got after us and we never did respond in any period of time except for about 3 or 4 possessions. That was about as far as we would go. They made us turn the ball over. They had 19 points off of turnovers.”

Deron Williams playing against Tyreke Evans…
“He’s a terrific player. He’s a big man. It’s tough to try and put someone on him that can keep him out of the paint. He can beat you with the dribble. He can go inside and post you up. He’s probably one the biggest point guards since Magic or Oscar Robertson, someone like that. He’s got a big body and very strong. Well poised for a young man.”

Ending seven-game road winning streak…
“It’s disappointing but that’s what basketball is all about. See if you can bounce back. We’ll see what kind of toughness we have to get ready and finish up the season. We have a lot of basketball yet to play and a lot of tough games to play. Hopefully we will respond to the pressure we have on us. If you like to play basketball this is the time of the year to play. Step up and be counted.”

Deron Williams, Utah Jazz Guard

Playing against Tyreke…
“He played really well down the stretch. It’s a tough matchup for any point guard. He makes me look small. He’s able to do so many things around the basket and when he gets in the lane you think you have him contained but he gets right up over you.”

Last 2 minutes of the game…
“You have to give credit to them. They got stops. We could have done a better job executing but we didn’t.”

Kings’ backcourt…
“They (Tyreke Evans and Beno Udrih) played really well together tonight, when Beno comes out and gets 25 points its tough to beat them. He played so well. His mid-range game was on today. He was attacking the basket in transition. He was doing great things out there on the court.”

Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz Forward

Tyreke Evans’ game…
“That kid can play. They put the ball in his hands. His jump shot is getting better. He can get around guards. He can finish with contact. He can play.”

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Postgame Recap: Kings @ Suns

PHOENIX 104, SACRAMENTO 88

February 21, 2010 - At the US Airways Center, Jason Richardson scored 14 of his game-high 26 points in the second quarter and Phoenix’s defense held the Kings to 34 second half points in the 104-88 win. Sacramento led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter and held a three-point advantage at halftime thanks to Beno Udrih’s three-pointer with 16.2 seconds left before the half. In the third quarter, the Suns outscored the Kings, 10-4, to take a 67-62 lead with 4:49 left. Phoenix then turned a six-point lead into a 13-point edge to start the fourth quarter. Sacramento managed to trim the Suns’ lead down to eight, but the Suns responded and pushed the lead back to double digits. Carl Landry led the Kings with 18 points and Udrih tallied 17 points off the bench. Tyreke Evans and Donte Greene each scored 16 points. Jason Thompson grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Phoenix’s Amar’e Stoudemire (19 points, a game-high 14 boards) and Steve Nash (11 points, 17 assists) each recorded double-doubles. The Kings outshot the Suns from the field, 47.3 to 46.1 percent, but were outrebounded, 36 to 49. The Suns also crashed the offensive glass for 20 rebounds. Phoenix won the season series against the Kings, winning three of the four meetings.

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