It was the night of the underdog. Knicks beat the Jazz, T'Wolves beat the Hornets, Wizards beat the Magic, and the Warriors beat the Suns. But this game, former Spur Beno Udrih headlined a great win facing his former team for the first time. They shouldn't have traded him just yet.
I started following the game after halftime. It was 52-48 with the Kings leading and the Spurs were riding on a 10-0 run through the break. Everybody knows that the Spurs will make a run on you, no matter how many points they're down by. That explains why they have 4 championships. Kevin Martin who was quiet in the first half scored 8 points in the 3rd quarter, but he only finished with 10 points. While his scoring avearge drops to 24, his rebound average goes up to 5. He needs to learn to balance both. Mikki Moore was hot throughout the game. He had 13 points on 6/6 shooting, finished with 17 points on 8/9 shooting, and had 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Kings' rookie center Spencer Hawes showcased his skill against Tim Duncan with 7 points and 3 rebounds.But the 3rd quarter wasn't over yet as Spurs rookie Darius Washington sparked the Spurs run into the 4th quarter with a long buzzer beating 3 pointer to end the quarter.
All of a sudden the Spurs bench started to contribute. Michael Finley who started but rode the bench scoreless, had 9 points, all 3 pointers in the 4th quarter. Manu Ginobili came off with the same point total, along with game high of 7 assists. Brent Barry, Matt Bonner and Ime Udoka all contributors off the bench. Tony Parker, whose wife Eva Longoria attended the game, had 12 points 7 assists and 7 rebounds. Eva is one of the loudest Spurs fans you will hear. She's temporarily on vacation with the writers' strike going on right now in Hollywood, so why not travel with your husband? Anyway, the Spurs were coming back like they usually do to win the game, jumping on the Kings missed opportunities early in the 4th quarter, but that would all change.
Beno Udrih would lead the Kings to the victory scoring a career high 27 points, 4 rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot. This occasionally offensive-minded point guard may not be one of the best in the NBA, but on a good night, he'll play like one. Center Brad Miller, who has the game of a power forward, played like a point guard getting 17 points, 10 rebounds, a game high 7 assists and 2 blocked shots. One assist went behind the back for a John Salmons lay-up. The 4th quarter highlight reel kept on rolling with Ron Artest, scoring 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. One impressive move was when the shot clock was going down to 2 and the whole crowd told Artest to shoot, and his short turnaround jumper beat the buzzer to help put the game out of reach. Another highlight was his assist to Moore where he drove in passed it behind his back and Moore caught it, jumped in the air, and slammed over Tim Duncan. Duncan struggled through the night getting a team high 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a block.
No one should take this victory for granted because this is by far the best win they've had, and it might be the best win that they'll have of the season. The Kings played against the 2007 champions in the middle of a Spurs 5 game winning streak looking to beat the Kings for the 8th time in a row. Instead, they got their first win against the Spurs since Game 4 of the 2005 playoffs. Kings' rookie coach Reggie Theus gets props for this one, organizing the Kings into a very effective zone defensive to stop one of the best teams in the league. Slowly but surely, he's growing to be a good NBA coach. The Kings are now 5-2 at home and have established Arco as still one of the toughest places to play on the road. Both losses were withing 2 points. But the Kings are 0-7 on the road, but if they can learn from this game and bring that intensity on the road, they might make a run at some teams. They've won games against lthe Sonics, T'Wolves, Knicks, and Pistons by 10 points or less and lost to the Cavs, Suns, T'Wolves and Blazers by 6 points or less.
This game could be used by many teams for film not to find out how to stop the Sacramento Kings, but how to stop the San Antonio Spurs.
Original Story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?game....
I started following the game after halftime. It was 52-48 with the Kings leading and the Spurs were riding on a 10-0 run through the break. Everybody knows that the Spurs will make a run on you, no matter how many points they're down by. That explains why they have 4 championships. Kevin Martin who was quiet in the first half scored 8 points in the 3rd quarter, but he only finished with 10 points. While his scoring avearge drops to 24, his rebound average goes up to 5. He needs to learn to balance both. Mikki Moore was hot throughout the game. He had 13 points on 6/6 shooting, finished with 17 points on 8/9 shooting, and had 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Kings' rookie center Spencer Hawes showcased his skill against Tim Duncan with 7 points and 3 rebounds.But the 3rd quarter wasn't over yet as Spurs rookie Darius Washington sparked the Spurs run into the 4th quarter with a long buzzer beating 3 pointer to end the quarter.
All of a sudden the Spurs bench started to contribute. Michael Finley who started but rode the bench scoreless, had 9 points, all 3 pointers in the 4th quarter. Manu Ginobili came off with the same point total, along with game high of 7 assists. Brent Barry, Matt Bonner and Ime Udoka all contributors off the bench. Tony Parker, whose wife Eva Longoria attended the game, had 12 points 7 assists and 7 rebounds. Eva is one of the loudest Spurs fans you will hear. She's temporarily on vacation with the writers' strike going on right now in Hollywood, so why not travel with your husband? Anyway, the Spurs were coming back like they usually do to win the game, jumping on the Kings missed opportunities early in the 4th quarter, but that would all change.
Beno Udrih would lead the Kings to the victory scoring a career high 27 points, 4 rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot. This occasionally offensive-minded point guard may not be one of the best in the NBA, but on a good night, he'll play like one. Center Brad Miller, who has the game of a power forward, played like a point guard getting 17 points, 10 rebounds, a game high 7 assists and 2 blocked shots. One assist went behind the back for a John Salmons lay-up. The 4th quarter highlight reel kept on rolling with Ron Artest, scoring 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. One impressive move was when the shot clock was going down to 2 and the whole crowd told Artest to shoot, and his short turnaround jumper beat the buzzer to help put the game out of reach. Another highlight was his assist to Moore where he drove in passed it behind his back and Moore caught it, jumped in the air, and slammed over Tim Duncan. Duncan struggled through the night getting a team high 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a block.
No one should take this victory for granted because this is by far the best win they've had, and it might be the best win that they'll have of the season. The Kings played against the 2007 champions in the middle of a Spurs 5 game winning streak looking to beat the Kings for the 8th time in a row. Instead, they got their first win against the Spurs since Game 4 of the 2005 playoffs. Kings' rookie coach Reggie Theus gets props for this one, organizing the Kings into a very effective zone defensive to stop one of the best teams in the league. Slowly but surely, he's growing to be a good NBA coach. The Kings are now 5-2 at home and have established Arco as still one of the toughest places to play on the road. Both losses were withing 2 points. But the Kings are 0-7 on the road, but if they can learn from this game and bring that intensity on the road, they might make a run at some teams. They've won games against lthe Sonics, T'Wolves, Knicks, and Pistons by 10 points or less and lost to the Cavs, Suns, T'Wolves and Blazers by 6 points or less.
This game could be used by many teams for film not to find out how to stop the Sacramento Kings, but how to stop the San Antonio Spurs.
Original Story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?game....
