Sacramento Kings: Power Ball

Boogie Cousins had 31 points and 19 rebounds.

With the Kings shorthanded as they awaited trade reinforcements, or whatever you want to call them (bodies would do), they administered a beatdown of a decent Dallas Mavericks team. The 112-97 victory was interesting in the first half, but the Kings turned up the offense a notch in the second half and ran away with the game in the third quarter. The Kings seemed to be on the blowout train in the first half, as they built a 16- point lead in the first quarter when Ben McLemore hit a 3 to make it 28-12. However, due to atrocious bench play and bad defense by the Kings, the Mavs battled all the way back to take a 43-40 lead halfway through the second quarter. Thankfully, the Kings flipped the switch again, put the starters in, and ran the Mavs off the court.

The second-quarter charge was led by Boogie Cousins, who re-entered the game with 7 minutes left in the half, and proceeded to drop eight straight post points on the helpless Mavs bigs. This rolled into a dominating performance over the second and third quarters as big Boog finished with 32 points (10-17 shooting) and 19 boards where the big man showed the kind of effort and attitude throughout the game that is becoming more common. It almost looked as if Cousins was pissed off that the subs lost the lead and made it his personal goal to impose the giant physical advantages he had on the game. He even moved the ball well out of the post, hitting shooters and cutters alike for open looks, tallying 3 assists and legitimately missing out on 4 others.

The big man’s game was complemented nicely by Derrick Williams and new (also old) starter Isaiah Thomas. These guys put on an offensive show in their own right as Williams dropped in 31 points (12-16) while adding 5 steals, and IT had 24 points with 12 assists and only 2 turnovers. Williams has been a little hit or miss since the trade, but tonight he showed his entire offensive game, knocking down jumpshots, taking smaller guys into the post, and flying through the air for massive dunks. His passing will never be something to write home about, but as long as he doesn’t work as a ball stopper, he has the potential to be an interesting offensive player. IT must have been overjoyed to get his first start this season because he came out stroking, pouring in 10 points in the opening stanza. However, by far the best part of his game was the career high-12 assists he put up as he consistently got everyone involved. He still had a couple shots where he got a little carried away, but he really struck the correct balance between shooting and playmaking that will be imperative going forward with all the shot takers the Kings will have.

The defense was still suspect in my eyes. Too many lapse and slow, poor rotations that allowed the Mavs to get open looks that they just did not knock down. Breakdowns by penetration were still too prevalent as Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis were able to get into the lane and force the Kings poor rotations to be a problem. The team also allowed Bernard James to look like an all- star for a four minute stretch in the second quarter that was disconcerting, but should be fixed when Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy come into town and provide some muscle as back up bigs. It sure does feel good though to focus on these things, knowing the team avoided the potential letdown of a huge lead that looked for sure in the second quarter.

Notes

For how good Boogie looked scoring and rebounding, he turned the ball over a bunch. Watching someone get 9 turnovers in a game is pretty funny because it seems like they are turning the ball over all the time. A couple came when Boogie thought it would be a good idea to lead the break, only for it to end in a bad pass or a steal. Get the ball to the guards please.
IT had a sweet off the back board alley oop to Derrick Williams after Williams stole the ball and passed it up ahead. He finished with a 180 degree dunk.
Ben played pretty bad offensively. He couldn’t get a shot to go in as he was only 1-7. He was still out there hustling and playing very hard, but he didn’t put up a good overall performance.
Same goes for Jimmer Fredette who looked overmatched in the second quarter as the Mavs erased the Kings 10-point lead. On offense he looked very tentative, while on defense he was brutalized by Monta Ellis in the post. The team will need better games from him going forward. Assertive offense and below average, not atrocious, defense.
The team is looking more and more like they are having fun playing with each other. Little things like running to help a fallen teammate up, cheering on the sideline, or bigs running down hard and posting up on fastbreaks because they know they will get reward are all signs of a team that is growing in chemistry. This is a much welcomed sight from the last few years.