Yao Ming fouled out with 3:01 left, fouling a driving Beno Udrih. He kept talking to a referee to get a technical, then lost his cool and got ejected. One of the Kings' announcers got a text message from a viewer in China and said that they couldn't believe he got ejected, and the place he was at turned the TV off. Not something you'd expect from a guy who scored the first 9 points for the Rockets.
Rick Aldelman returned to Sacramento as a head coach for the first time in over a year. Both teams just came off of to the Golden State Warriors. Yao was unstoppable for the first few minutes of the game scoring the teams' 16/29 points in the 1st
quarter, but Ron Artest kept the Kings in the game early with 2 early fast breaks dunks and 11 points in the quarter. Mike James lit up the 2nd quarter early with 7 points. The Kings were still in it with Artest and John Salmons leading the way scoring 14/23 points in the 2nd quarter points. The Kings did a good job with Artest containing Tracy McGrady, only scoring 12 points. Kevin Martin was also quiet with 5 points, but that would change into the second half 49-50.
In the 3rd quarter, Martin and McGrady got hot switching shot after shot. Martin scored 14 points while McGrady had 15 points. Leading into the 4th quarter 79-74, Beno Udrih started to get into the late action, finishing with 15 points, and 5 rebounds and assists each. Kevin Martin finished with a team high 26 points and 4 rebounds. Ron Artest, who guarded McGrady most of the way also finished with 26 points and 6 rebounds Kings rookie center Spencer Hawes had his biggest assignment yet guarding Yao. Although his offensive game was off with 2 points, he had a defensive breakout game with a career high 10 rebounds, 5 of them offensive, and 2 blocked shots. What was impressive about those rebounds is that they were in traffic under the rim. Rockets' rookie forward Luis scola only had 4 rebounds.
Yao wasn't finished though, he finished with 29 points, including all 13 free throws, and a game high 11 rebounds. However with 3:01 left, that's when Yao fouled out and all of Arco erupted. Yao also erupted, getting ejected. I've never seen Yao get ejected before in an NBA game or any game with a technical, so it might be a first. T-Mac was taking on the game like he usually does in the 4th quarter, but with 31 seconds left, coach Rick Aldelman threw up the white flag. T-Mac finished with 40 points and 5 rebounds and assists each (hooray for my fantasy team). The final score, 107-99.
The Kings' last game against the Warriors had 20 turnovers. This game, they only had 5. Mikki Moore didn't produce much this game, but he guarded Yao early on. Even though he had 4 points and 2 boards, having his defensive presence and his effort in the game added some pressure to the Rockets. Brad Miller had 12 points and 7 rebounds and John Salmons had 13 points and 4 rebounds and assists each. Both were big contributions in keeping the Kings in this game.
Rick Aldelman and the Rockets tried to take Miller out of the game early, putting him on smaller players when he was on offense like Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier. Battier was locked down, only scoring 4 points and 4 rebounds, but had a game high 3 blocked shots on the night. Rafer Alston, A.K.A. Skip to my Lou, had only 5 points but had a game high 8 assists. It was a meaningful return to Arco Arena for Bonzi Wells. He returned to Arco for the first time with coach Aldelman, who he played under in Sacramento in 2005-06. Wells finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds. The Rockets fall to 0.500.
The Kings had another great home game establishing Arco not as a road team's worst nightmare (that belongs to the Spurs (9-0) and Celtics (8-0) home records), but early on they're in the top 10 terms of home records. So if you're skeptikal of watching a Kings game, watch them play at home. Their 3 losses have been within 2 points with the Cavs and Suns and 7 points with the Warriors. All of their wins have been within 8 points, except with the Spurs who they beat by 13 points. Their 2 game homestand continues on Tuesday against the Jazz and ends on Friday against the Clippers on Friday on Throwback Night, which I'm still planning to attend. The Kings keep rolling at home.
Original Story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?game....
Rick Aldelman returned to Sacramento as a head coach for the first time in over a year. Both teams just came off of to the Golden State Warriors. Yao was unstoppable for the first few minutes of the game scoring the teams' 16/29 points in the 1st
quarter, but Ron Artest kept the Kings in the game early with 2 early fast breaks dunks and 11 points in the quarter. Mike James lit up the 2nd quarter early with 7 points. The Kings were still in it with Artest and John Salmons leading the way scoring 14/23 points in the 2nd quarter points. The Kings did a good job with Artest containing Tracy McGrady, only scoring 12 points. Kevin Martin was also quiet with 5 points, but that would change into the second half 49-50.
In the 3rd quarter, Martin and McGrady got hot switching shot after shot. Martin scored 14 points while McGrady had 15 points. Leading into the 4th quarter 79-74, Beno Udrih started to get into the late action, finishing with 15 points, and 5 rebounds and assists each. Kevin Martin finished with a team high 26 points and 4 rebounds. Ron Artest, who guarded McGrady most of the way also finished with 26 points and 6 rebounds Kings rookie center Spencer Hawes had his biggest assignment yet guarding Yao. Although his offensive game was off with 2 points, he had a defensive breakout game with a career high 10 rebounds, 5 of them offensive, and 2 blocked shots. What was impressive about those rebounds is that they were in traffic under the rim. Rockets' rookie forward Luis scola only had 4 rebounds.
Yao wasn't finished though, he finished with 29 points, including all 13 free throws, and a game high 11 rebounds. However with 3:01 left, that's when Yao fouled out and all of Arco erupted. Yao also erupted, getting ejected. I've never seen Yao get ejected before in an NBA game or any game with a technical, so it might be a first. T-Mac was taking on the game like he usually does in the 4th quarter, but with 31 seconds left, coach Rick Aldelman threw up the white flag. T-Mac finished with 40 points and 5 rebounds and assists each (hooray for my fantasy team). The final score, 107-99.
The Kings' last game against the Warriors had 20 turnovers. This game, they only had 5. Mikki Moore didn't produce much this game, but he guarded Yao early on. Even though he had 4 points and 2 boards, having his defensive presence and his effort in the game added some pressure to the Rockets. Brad Miller had 12 points and 7 rebounds and John Salmons had 13 points and 4 rebounds and assists each. Both were big contributions in keeping the Kings in this game.
Rick Aldelman and the Rockets tried to take Miller out of the game early, putting him on smaller players when he was on offense like Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier. Battier was locked down, only scoring 4 points and 4 rebounds, but had a game high 3 blocked shots on the night. Rafer Alston, A.K.A. Skip to my Lou, had only 5 points but had a game high 8 assists. It was a meaningful return to Arco Arena for Bonzi Wells. He returned to Arco for the first time with coach Aldelman, who he played under in Sacramento in 2005-06. Wells finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds. The Rockets fall to 0.500.
The Kings had another great home game establishing Arco not as a road team's worst nightmare (that belongs to the Spurs (9-0) and Celtics (8-0) home records), but early on they're in the top 10 terms of home records. So if you're skeptikal of watching a Kings game, watch them play at home. Their 3 losses have been within 2 points with the Cavs and Suns and 7 points with the Warriors. All of their wins have been within 8 points, except with the Spurs who they beat by 13 points. Their 2 game homestand continues on Tuesday against the Jazz and ends on Friday against the Clippers on Friday on Throwback Night, which I'm still planning to attend. The Kings keep rolling at home.
Original Story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?game....
