Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Lakers

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“I can’t come in here and be super down about our effort against the NBA Champions. It’s really fantastic to have this building full. Even though there were too many Lakers fans for my taste, it’s a great thing to have that support. I thought we played a good basketball game in a lot of ways – solid. We need to get a few more rebounds against a team that has great size, need to knock down a few more shots and need to make a few more experienced plays that the Lakers are great at because of how long they’ve been together, their cohesiveness and how good they are. I was pleased with our team. I thought there were a lot of good things – but we have to move on to the next one.”

“I thought Tyreke (Evans) missed some lay-ups that he usually makes – I don’t think Ron (Artest) had much to do with it. I doubt if Ron would say he had much to do with it. Tyreke got where he needed to go, made great decisions – he had 25 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, one turnover. If that’s stopping (Tyreke), I’d like someone to stop him every night.”

“If you remember Parish, McHale and Bird, that was a pretty tall frontline too. You have to go to the great teams to find anybody to compare this Laker team to. They can put up a lineup out there that gives them a size mismatch at every position. They decided to play Kobe (Bryant) at point, (Ron) Artest at two with (Lamar) Odom, (Pau) Gasol and (Andrew) Bynum – that’s a very long, versatile, experienced team. They present problems for anybody with their mismatches.”

“I thought that Jason (Thompson), Omri (Casspi), Francisco (Garcia) and (Andres) Nocioni really brought a lot of energy out there off the bench and did a great job in the second quarter. We did well in the second half too. The Lakers’ bench hit some more shots in the second half – we were trying to get them to shoot outside and they finally started hitting some. That gave them a little bit of space and that was all they needed.”

“We felt that offensively we could get some good shots against their length. Our bigs are all good shooters, they have good midrange games and we were able to hurt them that way but they hurt us more inside. Gasol and Bynum were really too tall for us to stop them but when we started double-teaming them we took chances on making them miss some threes and they didn’t miss enough of them.”

Tyreke Evans

On his plan for the night
“When you are playing against the (NBA) champs, you have to be pumped. From the get go tonight my goal was to come out and attack.”

On his spin move for a layup in the 1st quarter
“I caught him (Ron Artest) off guard and he tried to cut to the left and I spun to the right.”

On sensing if the team is growing together
“Definitely. Coach said that we just have to put it all together. The Lakers have been together for a long time and we just all got together. We have to keep working and play as a team.”

On knowing if he was one assist shy of his second triple double
“No, I didn’t know. It would have been nice to get it, but it didn’t happen.”

On going against the Lakers
“It’s tough. Sometimes, guys like Ron Artest let you beat them, but then Andrew Bynum will get a block shot. Two big guys, it is tough to get a shot over them. I was trying to kick the ball out and find the open guy for the shots. If we would have (made) more shots and (got more) rebounds we would have won the game.”

Carl Landry

On the Lakers play tonight
“They just execute their stuff and they run their stuff well. They keep fighting. Andrew Bynum got off to a good start and was able to get second chance points down low. Pau Gasol just kept coming and kept making jump shots, a couple left handed. They just kept planning and executed their offense in the end.”

On having a full house of mostly Lakers fans
“When I came out, I was really surprised. I thought we were almost playing in the Staples Center. I have never seen anything like that before. I know we are in California, but to see all those Lakers fans out there was kind of disappointing, but at the same time it was kind of motivating knowing that if we continue to work hard and do the right things and win ball games, then those Lakers fans could be Kings fans.

On the Lakers front line
“You just have to adjust. For me that is just an advantage being shorter and playing against guys who are bigger than me, I just go right by them. That is an advantage, so I like playing against them. Obviously tonight I didn’t really show it at all and I didn’t have the game I wanted to have, but playing against bigger guys is an advantage for me. It isn’t a disadvantage at all.”

On where the Lakers are right now
“I’m not sure. I am not even worried about the Lakers, I just worry about us. I am worried about us getting better every day, every practice and every game. I don’t care what is going on over there. I could care less.”

Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson

Tonight’s game…
“Our second quarter was the nemesis for us again tonight. Our group went out there and went 0-for-8 (in the second quarter). Four guys went out there to play that role. It put them right back in the game, gave them some energy. Then (Lamar) Odom got the technical foul and it contributed to that energy and resurgence for them. We came out the second and played the game that we wanted to play.”

Andrew Bynum’s performance…
“I think we have a better idea what and how to use Drew. Inside he got the resurgence after he really hurt his hip and knee bruise. There were a couple of things physically that kept him from having the power that he likes to have in the post.”

Tyreke Evans’ performance…
“Tonight he almost had a triple-double. He showed a lot of capability against a strong defensive player like Ron Artest.”

Andrew Bynum, LA Lakers Center

Tonight’s game…
“We had one let up in the second quarter. If we cleaned that up …..”

Ron Artest, LA Lakers Forward

Playing in Sacramento…
“There is no feeling. It’s just mute. Right now we’re just trying to win.”

Tyreke Evans’ game…
“He’s a good player. He’s playing like he’s Rookie of the Year.”

Pau Gasol, LA Laker Forward

Comparing Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry…
“They are different players. Obviously Curry has great ball handling and shooting skills. Tyreke plays well in the lane and uses his size really well. They have different games. They are both great players and have a bright future in front of them.”

Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers Guard

Back-to-back games…
“We’re playing the right way in terms of effort. We’re playing with the right energy to win games. That’s a big step. That’s the kind of things I want to see, playing with more urgency.”

Close games against the Sacramento Kings…
“I think we’re alert, period. I don’t think it mattered who were playing. Right now I think we are alert for sure and that kind of makes us pay more attention because we’ve had difficulties within the season.”

Playing against Curry last night and Tyreke Evans tonight…
“Tyreke is a grown man. Stephen Curry is a phenomenal player. They are completely different players so you can’t compare the two. I might be a little biased too because I’m from Philadelphia and so is Tyreke. Philly guys just have the all-around game, that’s just kind of how it is.”

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Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Blazers

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“Well I can’t say that was the greatest game the Kings have played this year by a long shot. There was a lot that showed our youth and inexperience. I thought that the Blazers’ defense was very aggressive and took away a lot of our first options. We responded like a team that’s been together for 12 games, which is what we are. They forced us into 20 turnovers. When we’ve been playing well these past eight games, we’ve only had one real bad turnover half – that was the second half in Dallas. We had a bad turnover game today. It takes away any other good things that might happen when you constantly are not getting good shots. Not only that, you’re starting the other team’s fastbreak with your turnovers. So that was a big negative for us. When you look at the stat sheet and the rebounds are relatively even, we shoot 50.6 percent and aren’t even close, that tells you a lot about the importance of these turnovers and just how tough the Blazers were – obviously, Brandon Roy in the first half and throughout the game and then in the second half (LaMarcus) Aldridge. They just picked us apart offensively. They look like a team that’s heading for the playoffs and we look like a team that’s barely been together long. So we need to get better from this game, learn from it, cut down our turnovers and bring more energy for the entire game. I thought that they played with much more energy than we did tonight too which is a really disappointing thing to say – I haven’t said that about our team very often this year – but I thought we looked like we let them be the aggressor tonight.”

“They looked like they were playing the first game of the week and we looked like we were on the second game of a back-to-back, didn’t we? I thought Roy, in the first half particularly, we couldn’t stop him. We did a pretty decent job on the rest of the guys at least numbers-wise but he took whatever he needed to take and it seemed like he never missed.”

“We didn’t do a very good job of getting dribble penetration. I think that we have to space the floor better. We looked at our last game and thought we spaced the floor pretty well against Toronto but tonight looked like we had nowhere to go. We did not space (the floor); we did not attack well. I give the Blazers a lot of credit.”

“(Andres) Nocioni is a good player. He’s proven what he can do in this league. Like everybody else on this team, if somebody’s playing, somebody has to be sitting. It’s nothing against him. We have a lot of players that play that position and it’s hard to give them all as much time as they would like to have. Other times in this year, Andres was playing a lot and I would get questions about why Donte Greene wasn’t playing. Then sometimes Donte and Andres would be playing and people would want to know why Omri Casspi wasn’t playing. We have a lot of good players in that position and we try to give players a fair look for long periods of time but it doesn’t always work that all of them can get as many minutes as they’d like. Right now it happens to be that Andres is left out but he’s a good player and that’s just the way our team is right now.”

Tyreke Evans

On what happened tonight
“They ran plays and we fell apart. We had too many turnovers. I think we had at least 20 turnovers. They also rebounded and got second shots. It looked like they didn’t even play last night.”

On the Trail Blazers’ play
“They have been together for a long time. They just continue to run their offense. Brandon Roy got hot and once he hit they all just started hitting. Rudy (Fernandez) also starting hitting and then we just fell apart.”

On Brandon Roy
“He came out and was able to get to the line. He hit a couple of shots and then he was on from there. He played at his own pace so he was able to find the shots he wanted. He is an All-Star and that is what he is going to do.”

On Andre Miller
“He is a veteran, so he is a smart player. He makes some smart plays and will try to cut you off and stuff. He has been in the league for a long time, so he knows more things than half the players on the team.”

Carl Landry

On what went wrong tonight
“Turnovers were the problem. You can look at the box score and see that. It is plain and simple like that.”

On all the calls by the refs
“That is a part of the game (all the whistle blowing by refs). We missed seven free throws. The rebound war was pretty much the same, but it was our turnovers. That is what killed us. We gave them about 15-20 points just off turnovers.”

On if their back-to-back had anything to do with their play
“It wasn’t them (tonight), it was us. I am not going to give any team in the league credit, we can compete with anyone. They are a good ball team and a playoff team, but tonight it had nothing to do with them playing a back-to-back, it was us.”

On if they are starting to have cohesion
“We are getting better as a team. Obviously it didn’t look like it tonight, but we are. We have practice tomorrow and we are going to go back to the drawing board. We will try to correct some of the mistakes that we had in tonight’s game and the last couple games. We have to just have to try to keep getting better every day.”

Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Nate McMillan

On tonight’s game
“I’m really pleased with these guys. To face the Kings and Golden State, games we really needed, our guys came out with a business-like approach. They played the game from start to finish in a back-to-back. Sometimes letdown is written all over a game like this. We knew they (the Kings) play better in this building and we had to come out and play better than last night. The challenge was to take the fourth quarter (from last night) and take it into tonight’s game.”

On the recent play of Brandon Roy
“It has taken a while to figure out how to use him with this group. Pick-and-rolls, which he has been really good at, teams have been double teaming and trapping. Now we are isolating him and just allowing him to go one-on-one and play from one side of the floor and the middle of the floor. It has taken a little while to adjust with the group that we have and figure out plays and take advantage of his skill. The last two games, he has just taken advantage of that and made good plays.”

On their strategy defending Tyreke Evans
“Nicolas (Batum). Get some length on him. Square your shoulders and try to shadow him in transition because he is really good going coast-to-coast. Just trying to square your shoulders and keep him in front of you and don’t allow him to get into the paint.”

Portland Trail Blazers Guard Brandon Roy

On his recent play
“I was in a great rhythm before my hamstring. I felt like, offensively, I was playing at a high level. And it is coming back. I kind of judge my game between how I’m playing my in-between game, my midrange. When I feel like that rhythm is going, then I am tough to guard. I feel like I am starting to get in a groove and just feeling confident out on the floor.”

On how he approached the game
“Tonight, I wanted to come out and be aggressive. Coming off a back-to-back, I wanted to come out and play hard and let the team know that that was last night and this is another game. Second half, late in the third quarter, I wanted to be patient and get guys involved. The fourth quarter, I wanted to finish the game and took what the defense gave me and continue to be aggressive. Even if that means to pass, just put pressure on the defense.”

On where they fit in the playoff race
“We know we are in eighth place, but we want to move up. It may be tough, but our biggest thing is to try to continue to move up in the standings. I feel like if we look behind us, we may put too much pressure on ourselves. Why settle? Let’s move up as high as we can. I try to look at the teams ahead of us like what the Spurs do, what is Phoenix doing and Oklahoma City. Those are teams that we feel like are close enough that, if they slip, we can catch them.”

On the expectations on the team for this season
“Expectations, those things change. That is why the NBA is 82 games and we have had our share of injuries. It also says how tough the West is. We may win 50 games and who is saying that is a failure. We put the expectations behind us a while ago. I think we are just trying our best to make the most of the team we have now. We have (Marcus) Camby here and he is getting in his flow and helping us a lot. I feel like I am getting my rhythm back from sitting out so long with that hamstring. We feel like we have a pretty good team.”

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Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Raptors

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“Obviously we really enjoyed the night. I think it was a treat for the fans to come out and honor Tyreke (Evans) that way and for him to have his first career triple-double – there’s going to be a lot of them. Our defense really did it. I thought the fact that in the first half we were only down five, turning the ball over, and really playing as poorly as we did, I thought that really said a lot for our defense. Then, in the second half, it all came together for us. That’s the vision of how we want our team to play – getting stops, limiting them to one shot, no turnovers and attacking with a lot of different players. So, that was very much validation for our players, (with) a tough back-to-back, to be able to put together a game like that. It was really exciting to see Tyreke have such a fitting night when there were people that came out for him.”

On Chris Bosh
“Between Carl (Landry) and Jason Thompson primarily, and help from different places at different times, he had a rough night. Now, we know a player as good as Chris Bosh a lot of times, it’s just because he missed, but we made him work and he did miss. We did a good job of limiting them to one shot and it was primarily Carl and JT.”

“Well (Omri Casspi) played like he has shown he can play, with a kind of energy and passion. I just give him a lot of credit for coming out and proving that he’s not too tired to compete. I thought Donte (Greene) did a really nice job at that position too so between those two players they both struggled a little bit last night in Portland and they came out of it in a big way and they both helped us quite a bit.”

“I think awards have their place and there are a lot of really good rookies this year. I wouldn’t want to downplay any of the things that they’ve done – there have been some phenomenal performances by some really talented young players. But when you just look at it objectively from day one, all the way through now, (Tyreke) has consistently been up there averaging over 20 (points), five boards and five assists and really taking steps to change the culture of this team. I just think that his consistency, as well as the obvious talent that he has, just really makes it an open and closed vote. I really don’t see how anybody else could get a vote if people look at the totality of the season. Now, there are some great players and they might end up having more successful careers than Tyreke – how can anybody predict that – but for this year, it’s just not even close. For what he’s done game after game all the way through, he’s one of the most consistent rookies I’ve ever seen.”

Tyreke Evans

“Coach told me that he wanted me to get it (a triple-double). He kept telling me to find people and he said I had a limited amount of time too, so I was trying to get it as fast as I could.”

On Defense
“It was a good job by Carl (Landry) and Jason (Thompson). They played (Chris) Bosh really well. I think we got the win because they got the stops tonight and we were able to get our fastbreak points.”

On RekeROY night
“It was exciting and it reminded me of college at Memphis. It was a college atmosphere out there and I had a lot of fun. The crowd was into it and we played really well in the second half. Beno (Udrih) started out good, than Donte (Greene) and Jason (Thompson) and Carl (Landry) were all hitting shots. That was when we were at our best, when everyone was playing well.”

On having a great second half
“They did a good job on (Chris) Bosh, they took some tough shots and got fastbreak points, I was able to get Carl a couple of baskets and Beno hit a couple three’s. From there we kept it going and were on a roll.”

Carl Landry

“Coach told us that this is one that we needed to have. We went out there and the first five minutes of the game we just stayed aggressive and attacked. We pretty much sucked the air out of them.”

“It was really fun. Having a chance to see Omri (Casspi) get on the board after he had a tough first half of the game. In the third quarter to see him score, that was fun. We are all like brothers in here. We are with each other eight months of the year. It was a good feeling out there tonight.”

On their confidence tonight
“That is all a young team needs is confidence. We are all playing here, and with confidence I think this team is going to get to the next level.”

On Tyreke
“He is a phenomenal player. He had a great game today. I think it was his first triple-double. That is something that a lot of people in this league won’t accomplish and he accomplished that as a rookie. That is a great accomplishment.”

Beno Udrih

On coming out with energy in the second half
“We were down five points (coming into the third quarter) and we said that we were going to bring the energy and we did. We moved the ball, we played good defense and whenever you do that, even a playoff team can’t do anything about it. We just kept the momentum going into the fourth quarter and just played good.”

On playing good defense
“I think that my mentality about basketball is defense wins. So today we did that and we played good defense on Bosh and the Raptors. We definitely came out and played defense and that is why we won.”

Toronto Raptors Head Coach Jay Triano

Tonight’s game…
“I think we got really selfish. We had guys coming down and taking shots and other guys are not happy that they don’t touch the ball. We miss the shot and they get the rebound and then fastbreak points. It’s a 10-0 run before you know it. We caved after that. We tried to call timeout and tried to bring them back together but again it’s the same thing. This is a team that if you give a little confidence to, they didn’t have it the first half and they did the second. It just streamrolled from there.”

Back-to-back games…
“Honestly I didn’t see a lot wrong with our energy. Sacramento played last night too. The biggest difference tonight was two words - selfishness and confidence. We got selfish and they got confidence.”

Tyreke Evans…
“In the third quarter I thought we started to come back tonight then he just picked us apart. We can’t stop him with one guy. Their confidence was rolling so he kicks it out and they start making threes. He’s tough to guard.”

Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors Guard

Selfishness effecting tonight’s game…
“It’s team defense. Sometimes it’s good when you don’t want your man to score but you should be able to help your teammates too. Hopefully we’ll have a day off, practice Friday and be ready for the next game.”

Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors Forward

Tonight’s game…
“Tonight was a tale of two halves. I think we let our offense dictate too much defensively. You are going to have nights when you struggle offensively but you can’t let that dictate your mood.”

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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. Celtics

BOSTON 95, SACRAMENTO 92

February 16, 2010 - At ARCO Arena, missed opportunities allowed the Celtics to hold off the Kings, 95-92, sending Sacramento to its fourth straight home defeat. Paul Pierce, who shared team scoring honors with Rasheed Wallace with 17 points a piece, drilled a three-pointer to put Boston ahead, 89-87, with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter. The Kings missed four free throw attempts and Wallace made two for a 91-87 Celtics lead with 15.4 seconds left. Tyreke Evans, who finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, hit a three-pointer to bring the Kings to within one, 91-90, with 6.2 seconds remaining. Ray Allen and Omri Casspi each made their two free throw tries for their respective teams as the score remained a one-point difference with Boston ahead, 93-92. Although Casspi tried to purposely miss his second attempt, the ball banked in. Pierce was fouled and calmly sank two free throws for a 95-92 Boston advantage. Casspi was sent to the line with 0.7 remaining, but missed both attempts. Jason Thompson recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards off the bench. Casspi finished with a game-high 19 points. Kevin Garnett led the Celtics on the boards with nine. Francisco Garcia made his season debut after missing the first 52 games of the season after a right forearm and wrist injury suffered in the preseason.

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After a three-day basketball break for all but two members of the Sacramento Kings – Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi – All-Star Weekend provided players and coaches a chance to rest and get reenergized for the final 30-game stretch of the regular season.

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