Kings Showing True Fight in Western Conference and Other Saturday NBA Takeaways
Just when it looked like the Sacramento Kings (6-4) were falling back to earth, Mike Malone's club showed tremendous resolve, downing the San Antonio Spurs 94-91 Saturday night.
Following three straight losses against Western Conference opponents, it was fair to wonder if the Kings' 5-1 start was fool's gold. However, the Kings' resilience was on full display against the defending champions thanks to a stellar defensive outing.
After surrendering at least 100 points in six straight games, the Kings clamped down against a Spurs (5-4) team that is renowned for debilitating opponents with precise ball movement and tactical wizardry, limiting San Antonio to 42.5 percent shooting from the field and 29.2 percent shooting from three.
And it's about time the Kings flashed defensive promise, because Malone has been stressing excellence on the other end of the floor as a means of climbing up the Western Conference standings since his promotion to head coach last season.
"I think really we’re just buying in on the defensive end," Kings point guard Ray McCallum told reporters, according to Bleacher Report's Sim Risso. "Coach Malone’s a defensive-minded coach, and that’s the area he stresses every day. We’re going out there defending at a high level."
On Saturday, a committed defensive unit continually locked the Spurs up in one-on-one situations, particularly in crunch time.
Darren Collison's effort on Tony Parker with a shade over 90 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter was one shining example, as exhibited in this clip from CBS Sports' Matt Moore.
However, the Kings wouldn't have found themselves in a position to defend with a one-point lead had it not been for the fearless performance of DeMarcus Cousins, as ESPN's J.A. Adande noted:
Matched up against Tim Duncan, Cousins emerged as the star of the show, totaling 25 points (10-of-19 shooting) and 10 rebounds, while the future Hall of Famer managed just 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting and eight boards.
Cousins' performance was particularly necessary when you consider just how shaky Sacramento's offense was elsewhere.
According to Basketball-Reference.com (h/t ESPN Insider's Kevin Pelton), the Kings became the first team in nearly two years to win without making a three-pointer (0-of-12). In fact, 62 percent of Sacramento's points (58 total) came in the paint on a night when the Kings shot 43 percent from the field.
It was also the first time the team won a game without making a three since moving to Sacramento, according to the team's official Twitter account:
Through 10 games, Cousins has emerged as the lifeblood of the Kings attack, averaging 22.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals while shooting 50 percent from the field. Unsurprisingly, the Kings are a team-best plus-13.5 points per 100 possessions with Cousins on the floor, according to NBA.com.
Even if it's not always pretty, the Kings are finding ways to stay competitive with the Western Conference's most fearsome teams. And for a franchise that had previously been criticized for lacking direction and reeking of immaturity, the Kings are quickly learning how to piece together snippets of collective brilliance thanks to a scrappy, fundamental approach.
With a showdown against a budding New Orleans Pelicans team on the horizon (Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET), the Kings will need to summon another gritty performance in order to reinforce the notion that they're not to be taken lightly.
Around the Association
Cleveland Shreds Atlanta on Record-Setting Night
The Cleveland Cavaliers drained a franchise-record 19 three-pointers en route to crushing the Atlanta Hawks, 127-94, on the second night of a back-to-back.
During a 41-point first-quarter outburst, the Cavaliers drilled nine straight threes, setting a new NBA record in the process, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin:
LeBron James led the way with 32 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 29 minutes. Cleveland shot 54.4 percent from the field and 61.3 percent from three and assisted on 80 percent of its field goals.
According to the Cavaliers, Saturday marked the first time in 17 years that five Cleveland players tallied at least five dimes in a single game:
Cleveland also displayed surprising defensive competency, continually running Atlanta's vaunted three-point shooters off the line. As a team, the Hawks shot 13.6 percent (3-of-22) from beyond the arc as Kyle Korver was held scoreless in 14 minutes.
Indy Caps off Strong Week, Tops Chicago
The Indiana Pacers wrapped up their best week of the season to date with a 99-90 road win over the Chicago Bulls.
Indiana is now 3-1 in its past four games after notching wins over the Miami Heat and Utah Jazz.
Chicago was without the services of Derrick Rose (hamstring) for the fifth time this season and shot just 42.2 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three as a result.
However, Jimmy Butler shined in the loss, scoring a career-high 32 points on 10-of-17 shooting (11-of-14 from the line). According to the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson, Butler has picked up the slack as a scorer this season:
The Pacers were led by 21 points apiece from Luis Scola, Solomon Hill and A.J. Price as Frank Vogel's club shot 48.1 percent from the field.
DeRozan, Raptors Bounce Back
After scoring a combined 26 points on 7-of-32 shooting over his last two games, DeMar DeRozan dropped 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting in the Toronto Raptors' 111-93 win against the Utah Jazz.
Jonas Valanciunas was steady as well, notching 17 points and 14 rebounds two nights after the Raptors lost to the Chicago Bulls on a national stage.
While all five Jazz starters finished in double figures (Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors scored 18 points apiece), Gordon Hayward managed just 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting one night after torching the New York Knicks.
The highlight of the game came courtesy of Terrence Ross, who seemingly levitated and got ridiculous extension in order to throw down an alley-oop from Kyle Lowry:
Mavericks Top 120 for Second Straight Game
One game removed from embarrassing the Philadelphia 76ers, the Dallas Mavericks dropped 131 points in a 14-point rout over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Dallas scored 76 paint points in the team's third straight win, which matched the franchise record set 12 years ago, according to MavStats on Twitter:
Eight Mavericks scored in double figures as Monta Ellis led the way with 30 points on 11-of-21 shooting (3-of-7 from three).
Without Ricky Rubio and Thaddeus Young, the Timberwolves surrendered more than 130 points for the second consecutive game. Here's what their opponents' shot chart looks like over the past eight quarters, courtesy of CBS Sports:
That said, Kevin Martin was exceptional in the loss, dropping a game-high 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting (4-of-6 from three).
Randolph Powers Memphis Past Detroit
Despite shooting 37.2 percent from the field, the Memphis Grizzlies improved to 9-1 (5-0 at home) behind 17 points and 22 rebounds (13 offensive) from Zach Randolph in a 95-88 win over the Detroit Pistons. His 13 offensive rebounds were a single-game franchise record, per the Grizzlies' Ross Wooden:
According to Basketball-Reference, only six teams shot worse than 38 percent from the field in winning efforts last season.
Marc Gasol added a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds, while Mike Conley tallied 18 points and four assists on 50 percent shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from the line.
Kyle Singler paced the Pistons with 21 points (5-of-7 from three) off the bench as Detroit's starters shot a combined 38.6 percent from the field.
Per Wooden and Grizzlies PA announcer Rick Trotter, Memphis tied its best 10-game start in franchise history and has now won 19 straight regular-season home games:
"10 straight wins against the Detroit Pistons! 19 straight regular season home wins for these Grizzlies! #GoGrizzlies
— Rick Trotter (@RickTrotter) November 16, 2014"
Lance Changes the Flop Game
In the Charlotte Hornets' 112-87 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Lance Stephenson collided with Harrison Barnes and promptly slapped himself in the face, successfully drawing a foul in the process.
Now we've seen it all.
