Sacramento Kings: Nixing the Knicks

By Ryan Rodriguez

Well, last night I got to watch the two teams I watch overwhelmingly more than anyone else in the league – the Sacramento Kings and the New York Knicks. It was my favourite team vs my favourite player (Carmelo Anthony), and it was great to see the Kings gut out an overtime win 106-101 on the second night of a back-to-back.

After the previous night’s horribly lackadaisical showing, the Kings had me nervous that this night was going to be more of the same, as they got down 11 at the end of the first quarter under a barrage of points by Carmelo. But then something crazy happened and the bench, I repeat, the bench led the charge in the second quarter that piked the Kings’ interest and overall activity in the game, which eventually led to their victory.

The bench can almost exclusively read Jimmer Fredette, though Derrick Williams contributed quite a bit too, including a baseline jumper to keep the Kings lead at six in OT, as the stormin’ Mormon was en fuego the entire night. He started off quickly in the second, hitting two shots in the paint, but instead of tailing off like he usually does, he kept the fireballs shooting out of his a*^ for the next seven minutes of the quarter and dropped 15 points and 2 assists.

It was an impressive display, highlighted by his 28-footer that brought viewers back to his days at BYU, where he would go into a zone and simply couldn’t be stopped. Though the Kings ended the quarter down six, I was now pretty confident they would not fade into the New York night as they prepared mentally for the All Star break.

Re-entering the game in fourth, Jimmer picked up basically where he left off, draining his first three of the quarter. He didn’t hit again until late in the fourth, but he also didn’t shoot until then and that is what made him so valuable last night. He maximized his opportunities since playing with Isaiah forced him off the ball and into more of a shooting guard role (I don’t comment on his D because we all know where he stands there).

When the opportunity arose for him to knock down a three again, he did it twice, first off an assist from IT and then, after catching the ball in the corner, he created some space off the dribble and splashed down a three to bring the Kings within two. At this point, his box score production was finished, but just having him out on the court to end the game with IT, JT, Derrick, and Rudy helped space the floor and let Rudy go one-on-one to hit the game-tying bucket to force overtime.

Overall, Jimmer finished with a career high 24 points (9-14) and 2 assissts, with a +/- of +17 in a truly great game for him.

Notes

Rudy was pretty inefficient last night, and that really was driving me up the wall as he just forced shot after shot with little chance for success. He was everything I feared when the team traded for him but, in the end, he was able to contribute to the win by hitting the aforementioned shot to force OT, playing great D on Carmelo at the end of the fourth, and then hitting a huge three on the first possession of OT to put the Kings ahead for good.
Isaiah might be the happiest King to see the All Star break, as he has struggled the last few games with his shooting and might need a little rest to recharge his batteries and get back on track. What was good last night was his playmaking as he dropped seven assists against just one turnover. This, more than the scoring, will be interesting to track through the rest of the season as the Kings decide how much they want to offer IT in the summer.
I have to mention Derrick Williams here, because he helped tag team a serviceable power forward rotation with Jason Thompson. I am usually hard on both of these guys, as they disappear from games so much, but last night they affected the game in the exact way they need to. Thrilly D had an efficient 14 points off the bench, while JT banged on the boards, collecting 10 of them. I really want to see some more consistent solid play from these guys, nothing spectacular, just bringing something to every game.
Defence, defence, defence. I know the Kings only gave up 45% shooting for the game, but they did not look good to me on defence. There were way too many breakdowns that lead to open layups, sometimes with only a Knick standing in the paint. They also repeatedly let Amare take open mid-range jumpers on them, an inexcusable thing when you remember that Amare no longer has any athleticism to get by people. I know I just praised the power forwards, but defensive awareness is one aspect where they definitely need to improve, as does the whole team.
I have nothing new on Boogie’s strained left hip flexor he suffered late in the fourth quarter, but I hope all the rest he needs is the All Star break. However, it was great to see the team close the game without him and finally come out with a win in a close game.

Next game is next Wednesday vs the Golden State Warriors in Sacramento.