Sacramento Kings Season Recap

It was supposed to be a rebuilding season. They were supposed to struggle and accept that they are at the bottom of the league. When people named teams like Minnesota, Memphis or Charlotte, Sacramento was right there with them. They were supposed to win 33 games with a rookie coach and staff with a bunch of nobodys on the team. Every time they played, they were supposed to roll over and quit. They didn't.

No matter how downlooked they are, or what their record is, the Kings surpassed a lot of expectations from experts and just about everyone. The way the Western Conference played this year, the injuries that decimated the team over significant periods of time, they weren't even supposed to have 30 wins this year. Teams came in with Sacramento on their schedules and checkmarked them as a win. Let's just say 46% of them were wrong, including a lot of playoff teams.

PRE-SEASON

After a depressing 06-07 season, former head coach Eric Musselman was fired when he continued his playoff drought and led Sacramento to missing the playoffs for the first time in 9 years. After interviewing many coaches, the organization chose Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy was house shopping in Sac until he heard the Orlando Magic coaching job was open and took off without notice. Larry Brown expressed interest in the coaching vacancy in town, but the Kings chose the former King Reggie Theus. That left a lot of fans wondering why Theus was picked over a veteran coach like Brown. They were also the last to pick a head coach in the league that summer.

After that, the Kings fired the whole coaching staff except for the trainer Pete Youngman. Kenny Natt, Chuck Person, Rex Kalmian, Jason Hamm, Randy Brown and Bubba Burrage, all rookies on staff. In the draft, the Kings only had one pick at #10, using it to grab center Spencer Hawes, with Joakim Noah being the first option if he wasn't drafted earlier. Although he played well in the Las Vegas Summer League, Hawes had to undergo surgery on his knee, his fourth since he was 14 years old, which brought a lot of controversey to the 19 year-old. They signed free agent rookie and point guard Mustafa Shakur after the draft when Ronnie Price left the team for the Utah Jazz.

The Kings also dipped into free agency, signing for New Jersey Net Mikki Moore, who had a breakout season. He was seen as athletic and hopefully be the big man the Kings were looking for. Brad Miller had re-dedicated himself to basketball, after averaging career lows. What was even better is that shooting guard Kevin Martin, after his breakout year, signed a 5 year $55 million contract, solidifying him as a cornerstone for rebuilding.

As the pre-season games began, Sacramento added Orien Greene and Darryl Watkins to their regular rosters. The Kings went 3-5 in the pre-season, with close losses to the Mavs, Clippers and Lakers. The Kings lost veteran point guard Mike Bibby and was sidelined for 36 games before returning. The Kings had no real back-up point gaurd, and Artest was to be suspended for 7 games and add a Justin Williams sex scandal, which there was no case to be found. With Greene a tweener and Shakur a bad draft pick and waived, the Kings looked to free agency once more and signed injured point guard Beno Udrih. The left-hander was traded from San Antonio and waived by Minnesota, and he was looking for an opportunity to grow, but his shooting hand was broken and he'd wait for 4 games to play.

REGULAR SEASON

The Kings started on the road 0-3, blowouts from the Hornets, Spurs and Mavs. It looked like a dismal season as Arco Arena's sellout streak ended against Seattle. Not only that, the Kings were down 20 points in only the 2nd quarter of that game. Then it happened, a miracle comeback that would end on the greatest note. Francisco Garcia hit the game-winning 3 pointer completing the comeback, setting the tone for the whole season.

After a close loss to the Cavs, Udrih and Hawes made their debuts on the same night against the T'Wolves. Their first play, Udrih got an assist from a Hawes lay-up, which symbolized what came in the future. After that the Kings got on track with some wins, including a 2OT victory against the Knicks with Martin scoring 43 points and defeating the Pistons for their first upset of the year. With no need for Greene or Watkins, they're waived.

Despite losing back-to-back to the Suns, Garcia shined again scoring a career high 31 points and established himself as a scorer on the team. Udrih starred in the first month for the Kings, desperate for a point guard. When his former team, the defending champion Spurs, came into town, he dropped a career high 27 points to help the Kings dominate them throughout the game.

The Kings gave their fans something to cheer about throughout the season. When the Rockets' came into town, not only did they withstand Tracy McGrady's 40 point outing, they got Yao Ming so frustrated that after he fouled out, he was ejected from the game for the first time ever. Unfortunately, there was a lot to feel down on too, when leading scorer Martin was injured and shelved for 17 games in a win over the Jazz. This would give John Salmons a great chance to show himself. Salmons had started in Artest's place and averaged 20.7 PPG, but was dismal when he came off of the bench. He was even fined when he walked out of a team meeting. He'd soon start in Martin's place and excel again.

Sacramento had a horrible road record of 0-9, and they were the last team to get a road win, where they did at Philadelphia led by Moore's career high tying 24 points. 0-4 against playoff teams are understandable with the way they started, but 0-9 was an embarassment. By then, the Kings signed swingman Dhantay Jones to fill in the void with Martin out. It would help too when Artest underwent surgery and missed 14 more games. Not only that, he missed 1 game to see visit Diamond, his ailing daughter, who recently had a recurrence of kidney cancer.

Garcia played well geting the start in place for Artest and grew from his experience. Earlier before, he hit his second game winner against the Nets in front family and friends visiting from Brooklyn. Salmons helped the Kings rout the Knicks for most of the game scoring a career high 32 points. The Kings also held the Magic down for a win. Garcia would continue his clutch play as he spurred a come from behind win as he hit another clutch 3 pointer, this time against the Grizzlies.

Despite having a 14-20 record, the best was yet to come. Martin came back earlier than his set date. Although they lost to Indiana, Martin missed only 4/25 shots, and shot 14/16 off of the bench against Dallas for 39 points, tying a then NBA season high for points off of the bench with Ben Gordon. But the real hero was Salmons, who hit the game winning lay-up over Dirk Nowitzki for a thrilling finish against a team who was giving their all.

In a loss to Toronto, Bibby and Artest returned and for the first time, the orignial starting line-up of Miller, Moore, Artest, Martin and Bibby took the floor. They went on to Detroit where Bibby iced the game to help sweep the Pistons. The Kings headed home to play the Nets to rout them by 34 points and dropped 15 three pointers in the game. Martin scrambled to hit a buzzer beater to beat the Sonics in Seattle for a highlight of his year. It'd just keep getting better for the Kings

Miller came out to get a 22 point and a career high 21 rebound game against the Bobcats and a 22 point 20 rebound performance against the Hornets to help the Kings go on a tear and earned Player of the Week honors. It was the first time he ever reached 20 rebounds in his career and he was playing the best basketball of career this month. Then he cut his hand washing the dishes.

Rather than let the rookie Hawes start, Salmons got to start in a loss to Seattle at home. The very next game they got back on track when Quincy Douby shined in the 4th quarter against the Jazz, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the 4th quarter for a victory. The Kings had a winning record in a month for the first time in January, but they went on an 0-3 skid before the playoffs. Justin Williams had his best game of the season grabbing 11 rebounds to lead a comeback at Houston before they lost to Steve Novak's game winner.

Then the trade came. During the All-Star Break Mike Bibby was traded to Atlanta for Anthony Johnson, 2006 5th pick Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright and Tyronn Lue. The Kings waived, Williams and Jones and Lue was bought out and signed with the Mavs. All but Williams had an expiring contract to build on for the future. Some figured Artest was next, but it never happened. After wins at Portland, against Bibby in Atlanta and in OT at Chalotte, the Kings went on an 0-4 slide, including an embarassing loss against the Heat. When the Heat came to town, the Heat went up by 23 in the 2nd quarter, and it looked like the same result. The Kings fought back and took the lead by 1 point in the 3rd quarter and won the game in an unlikely comeback.

They played the Lakers for the first time at the beginning of March and although they contained Kobe Bryant for the first 3 quarters, he scored 17 of his 34 points in the 4th quarter for the win. That sent them on a mini-skid, like they've gone through all season. Martin scored a career high 48 points againt the T'Wolves in a loss. The game after, Hawes had a breakout game in L.A. when he led the Kings past the Lakers, including a huge dunk from deep in the paint. They also forced Bryant to miss the last shot that could have won the game, and it went down as one of the best games of the year for them.

Johnson had 13 points and 13 assists starting for the injured Udrih, and led the Kings to a 17 point victory against their regional rivals the Golden State Warriors. Hawes had his first NBA start when Miller couldn't play in Memphis and got career highs of 19 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Houston came in for their last visit and T-Mac couldn't hit the game winner. Garcia was clutch again with a dunk on Shane Battier to help pull off a 1 point victory and were labled spoilers. The Kings bounced back from the Grizzlies when they visited Arco and beat them in OT with Martin's clutch free throws.

In a win against the Clippers, Artest and Miller were hurt. Miller would miss the rest of the season, allowing Hawes to start for the rest of the way. Artest would only play for 2 of the last 7 games against the Lakers and Hornets, both at home. The Kings jeopardized the Nuggets chances of making the playoffs by edging 118-115, playing without Artest, Miller and Udrih and a sick Kevin Martin. They scored a season high 132 points but allowed 140 to the Warriors.

The Kings won their last 2 games against Portland and New Orleans who held the top seed in the West. Artest came up big, hitting 4 three points in his last quarter of play for the year to get the win 94-91. The Kings were shorthanded for the rest of the year when Martin went down to injury and they lost to the Spurs 101-98, but were shown respect from the Spurs. They went to L.A. the day after to get beat by the Lakers to close out their season 38-44. In that game, however, Quincy Douby scored a career high 32 points close out the season on a positive note for the team.

Instead of winning 5 of their last 17 games last year, they won 9 of them. We've seen bright spots from about every player. Martin continued to upgrade his play, Artest is getting better offensively, Garcia became the go-to guy, Salmons showed everyone that he can score, Hawes showed veteran post moves and shining potential, Miller showed how well he can still play, Beno showed that he can start in the NBA, Douby showed he can score and Williams showed strentgh in the end.

The Kings went through a lot of line-ups, due to the injuries and trades.

PG, SG, SF, PF, C

Intended Starting Line-Up: Udrih, Martin, Artest, Moore, Miller

All Line-Ups

1. Greene, Martin, Salmons, Kenny Thomas, Miller
2. Garcia, Martin, Salmons, Moore, Miller
3. Udrih, Martin, Salmons, Moore, Miller
4. Udrih, Martin, Artest, Moore, Miller
5. Udrih, Salmons, Artest, Moore, Miller
6. Udrih, Salmons, Garcia, Moore, Miller
7. Udrih, Martin, Salmons, Moore, Miller
8. Bibby, Martin, Artest, Moore, Miller
9. Bibby, Martin, Salmons, Artest, Moore
10. Udrih, Martin, Artest, Moore, Hawes
11. Johsnson, Martin, Artest, Moore, Miller
12. Johnson, Martin, Salmons, Moore, Hawes
    

That's a lot of changed line-ups!

Players That Stayed: Anthony Johnson, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright

Players That Left: Justin Williams, Dhantay Jones, Mike Bibby, Orien Greene, Darryl Watkins.

Injuries, a 7 game suspension, and his daugter's illness sidelined Artest for 25 games. Martin missed 21 games to injury, while Udrih missed 16 games and Miller missed 10 games. Bibby missed 36 games before being traded. The Kings' bench ran thin for much of the year, and it's surprising that they got 38 wins. They could have just rolled over like everyone expected, but where's the fun in that?

If the Kings just rolled over, they wouldn't have found out how good some of their players are, which is something you're supposed to do while rebuilding. If you look at the standings, there's a huge 14.5 game gap between them and the 12th place Clippers. Because they were in the competitive West, they won games without being pushed down in the draft. They separtated their record from the poor teams.

After this season, the Kings have a brighter future than seen before. As they go into the off-season questions surround the team, like will Artest opt out? Will Thomas opt out (please opt out)? Will Udrih re-sign with the Kings and who will the Kings draft at the #12 slot? It's all a mystery right now, but there should be more excitement in the future.

Right now, the Kings are one solid power forward away from making the playoffs. Every position is ther except the power forward, unless Shelden has a breakout year. With young power forwards coming out in 2009 like Elton Brand, Danny Granger, Drew Gooden, Linas Kleiza, Jason Maxiell, Carl Landry, Hakim Warrick, and Charlie Villanueva, there's a good chance that the Kings can land one of them. Brand, Granger, Villanueva and Gooden might be the top choices. Brand might opt out this summer but has a lot of money to pass up on. A lot of these players have either qualifying offers or player options or their contract just expires.

Rebuilding might take quicker than many thought, so it won't be 1000 years of darkness over Sactown. Even if they don't make the playoffs again next year, they'll make it better than this year. Here's to the future!

Kings Take Edge Hornets 94-91

Former King turned King Killer Peja Stojakovic almost did it again. I was at the pre-season game in 2006 when he sank 2 free throws to seal the game in his return to Sactown. This time, the man we traded for would be the savior of the game from long range as Ron Artest would be clutch. And with John Salmons getting the start in place of the injured Kevin Martin, only quality play could come from him.

1ST QUARTER

Although the Hornets stuck first, the Kings took a 10-3 lead before the Hornets tied it at 12 points. Spencer Hawes and Salmons were carrying the team for the first quarter, combining for 15 points, but All-Star David West would be a consistent problem for the team. More than Chris Paul. West had 10 points to start, but the Kings trailed 26-27.

2ND QUARTER

Bonzi Wells came back to Sacramento with the Hornets for the first time since being traded from Houston. Although West continued to dominate the Kings with 18 points in the half, the Kings reserve power forward and 5th pick in the 2006 draft Shelden Williams would give a big push with 7 points in the quarter. Francisco Garcia would also score 7 points off of the bench to pitch in. The Hornets weren't far behind with Chris Paul dishing out 6 assists in the half and Stojakovic finishing with 10 points at halftime. The Kings regained the lead and had a 52-49 lead.

3RD QUARTER

Up to now, Paul only made 3 free throws, but he got his first field goal in the second half. West would continue to power the Hornets to a 56-64 lead on a 13-2 run. By then, Artest had enough and decided to take over. Late in the quarter, Artest drove in the lane for a huge dunk. Salmons hit a jump shot after that. It would bring the Kings close with the score 68-73.

4TH QUARTER

The Kings sparked at the very beginning with a 12-2 run to take the lead. Artest, who'd been cold from long range, hit 2 straight 3 pointers. Garcia hit an off-balance 3 pointer in front of the Hornets' bench. After that, Paul started to score, getting 6-14 points in the quarter. After Paul's last shot, Artest hit one final 3 pointer and ran down the baseline, even hitting Xzibit with a high five.

The game wasn't over yet when Garcia fouled Morris Peterson in 3 point range. Peterson made all of his free throws. Then the kings got called for a 5 second violation. Then Peja made a desperation 3 pointer. After the Salmons made a 2 free throws, Peja was given the ball and shot it with 4 seconds. Halfway down, but rimmed out. The ball bounced out of bounds towards the Kings bench as time expired and the Kings got the win, 94-91.

HIGHLIGHTS

* = Team High
** = Game High

(R) = Rookie

KINGS

Artest: 22 pts*, 8 reb, 4 ast*, 3 stl*, blk

Salmons: 18 pts, 11 reb*, 3 ast

Garcia: 16 pts, 5 reb, 3 blk**, 3 stl*, 2 ast (bench)
Hawes (R): 11 pts, 5 reb (2 off.) 3 ast, blk

Williams: 9 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast (bench)

Beno Udrih: 9 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast

Mikki Moore: 4 pts, 6 reb, ast

Quincy Douby: 5 pts, 2 ast, stl, reb (bench)

HORNETS

West: 30 pts, 15 reb, 3 ast, stl

Paul: 14 pts, 12 ast, 6 reb, 6 stl

Tyson Chandler: 13 pts, 13 reb, blk, stl, ast

Stojakovic: 18 pts. 4 reb (2 off.), stl, ast

Peterson: 8 pts, 3 reb (2 off.)

Wells: 2 pts, 2 reb (bench)

Julian Wright (R): 2 pts, reb (bench)

Jannero Pargo: 4 pts

Hilton Armstrong: 0 pts, reb, ast

Mike James: 0 pts, reb

What a great win for the Kings, especially playing without Kevin Martin and having Brad Miller out for the season. Since beating the Spurs back in November 26, the Kings are .500 (33-33). They've been through so much adversity this year that it's amazing that they're 38-42. People thought that they would land around 33 wins again, and the injuries were to assusre it. Beating the Hornets twice while in the #1 seed, that's impressive. They've really taken their role as spoiler and rearranged the Western Conference. First Houston, then Denver, and now New Orleans. They're doing their part.

The Hornets lost the #1 seed to the Lakers after they beat the Spurs today, but it looks like they can still keep homecourt adavantage if they win 1 more game. They really tried to win, but Sacramento was the better team.

Now the Kings have to face their last of their many back-to backs with a home-road series to play the Spurs for their final home game, then play the Lakers for one last time this season in L.A.

Kings Beat Blazers for 3-1 Season Series, 103-86

KINGS' BRAD MILLER HEADBAND NIGHT (NO PHOTOSHOP)

The Kings owe this win to Beno Udrih's 1st quarter and John Salmons' huge 2nd half. Otherwise this game could have been a bigger struggle. Up by as much as 20 points in the 2nd quarter, the Kings almost blew their huge lead when the Blazers came within 4 points. Even though it looked tough, the Kings eventually pulled off their 3rd straight win against Portland to take the season series 3-1.

Before I get to the game, let me get to where the headbands come in. Most of the Kings wore headbands in honor of Brad Miller, who's out for the rest of the season. He was thought to have a lower leg strain when he blew a wide open dunk against the Clippers, which I saw when I was there. It turned out to be a stress fracture, and he had a bone chip in his elbow. Miller had successful surgery the day before to remove the bone chip.

Kevin Martin, who normally doesn't wear a headband, was the first to volunteer to wear one. "Kevin was the first to say he would wear it and everyone else jumped on after that,'' said Salmons, who always wears one. "I was thinking if you miss a couple of shots don't blame the headband on me.''

Even Kings' coach Reggie Theus had a little fun with it, even though he didn't wear one. “Cisco was asking me why I left him on the bench for so long in the first half," Theus said with a smile. "It was because I didn’t recognize him."

He also left a hint that what I call "Headband Night" might come back. “We’d have to have a lot more wins for me to do that," Theus said laughing.

Beno Udrih had other plans with the headband(s). "I never wear it before so I'm not going to do that,'' he said afterward in the locker room. "Look, I have three headbands in my locker because they kept throwing them at me, saying 'come on wear one, wear one. I support Brad, but I’ve never worn one before and I don’t have a bald head like the other guys.''

In fact, earlier in the season, Miller stopped wearing his headband and had some of the best games of his career. The only other King not to wear a headband was Shelden Williams. The last time I remember a whole team wore headbands was the Phoenix Suns this season during Heritage Week against Seattle. They were losing to the Sonics, so they took them off and won the game. All except D.J. Strawberry.

1ST QUARTER

The Blazers got of to a 4-0 start, but Udrih helped the 8-6 lead, making 6 staight points. After that, it was all Sacramento. Martin had a dunk to push the momentum the Kings way while Udrih went 5-5 from the field for 10 points and sparked a 12-2 run. He didn't make a shot after the quarter ended and finished with 11 points on 5-8 shooting. Rookie center Spencer Hawes was making his shots with 6 points early in his 4th career start. Enter Francisco Garcia in place of Shelden Williams. The first thing Cisco does is dish out an alley-oop to K-Mart. At the end of an exciting quarter, the Kings led 29-18.

2ND QUARTER

You can tell the Blazers are in trouble when Raef LaFrentz steps out on the court. He's played 7 games before, since the beginning of March. Quincy Douby came out with his headband and made 2 straight 3 pointers. Maybe he should keep his headband on. Not only that, Cisco made one right after that. It's gotta be the headbands. That started a 17-4 going into the quarter, putting the Kings up 42-22. K-Mart had another big dunk off of Hawes' high post passing. Despite everything was going well for the Kings, the Blazers went on an 11-4 run to close out the quarter, trailing 51-41.

3RD QUARTER

Kings fans were starting to get concerned. That 11-4 run turned into a 17-6 run spilling into the 2nd half. LaMarcus Aldridge was starting to light up the Kings and led the team to trail 57-53. He had 12 points in the quarter. In comes NBA TV's favorite bench player John Salmons, who actually started in place of the injured Ron Artest. Nicknamed "Super-Sub" by one of the broadcasters there, Salmons scored 10 points in the quarter to help revive the Kings and keep them out of trouble by scoring and playing great defense. Thanks to Salmons, the Kings led with a comfortable 78-62 score.

4TH QUARTER

The Kings got some bad news when K-Mart left to the locker room. He had a strained knee and wouldn't play for the rest of the night. With their leading scorer out for the game, Hawes, Douby, Salmons, Garcia, Moore and their headbands would have to fend off the Blazers looking to stay above .500. They alreday closed in on them once, they wouldn't let them do it again.

Douby would start where he left off by scoring the first basket. Travis Outlaw would answer back with two straight jumpers. After 2 minutes of either team scoring, Channing Frye broke through with a jumper of his own. After that, Salmons took over. He scored 7 straight points, including gettting fouled on 2 drives and making both shots and free throws. Garcia made 6 straight points after that and after a Mikki Moore jump shot, Douby capped it off with a 3 pointer. Josh McRoberts appeared at the end, but the Kings run away with a victory 103-86.

HIGHLIGHTS

* = Team High

** = Game High

KINGS

Salmons: 18 pts*, 6 reb, 4 ast*, 2 stl* (all pts in 2nd half)

Martin: 16 pts, 7 reb*, 3 ast, blk*, stl (DNP 4th qtr, knee strain)

Hawes: 15 pts, 7 reb*, 3 ast, stl

Garcia: 16 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, stl (bench)

Douby: 13 pts, 2 reb, 2 stl* (bench)

Moore: 10 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, blk*

Udrih: 11 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast (1st start since back injury)

Williams: 4 pts, 7 reb*, blk*, ast (bench)

BLAZERS

Aldridge: 24 pts**, 15 reb** (5 off.**) 3 blk**, 3 stl**

Frye: 15 pts, 14 reb, ast

Outlaw: 18 pts, 2 reb, ast (bench)

Jarret Jack: 10 pts, 4 reb, 7 ast** (bench)

Brandon Roy: 12 pts, 4 ast, 2 stl, reb

Blake: 2 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast, blk, stl

LaFrentz: 2 pts, 2 reb, blk (bench)

Sergio Rodriguez: 2 pts, ast (bench)

McRoberts: 0 pts, 2 reb, 2 min (bench)

Von Wafer: 1 pt, 1 reb, 2 min (bench)

It's a great win for the Kings as spoilers. They might have spoiled Portland's chance to finish with a winning record. Eight players played and all but Williams finished in double figures in scoring, but he had a team high in rebounds. It's unknown if Martin will be ready for tongiht's game against the New Orleans Hornets, the second night of a home back-to-back. The Hornets just came of to the Lakers and it'll be a road back-to-back for them The Kings are already short-handed with Miller out and Artest questionable every game for the rest of the season. They played well without them in the 4th quarter, and they played well with the whole team last time against the Hornets.

The thing I like about this win is that the Kings used balance. No player stood out for the rest with the exception of Salmons scoring all 18 points in the 2nd half. In the end, no one player really stands out, like what the Pistons did all year. Their leading scorer, Rip Hamilton, averages only 17 PPG. It's balance that can help a team win games.

For the Blazers, the 17point loss to the Kings goes right up with the 21 point loss at San Antonio, 20 point loss at New Orleans and their 17 point loss in Denver. The Kings gave the Blazers their worst home loss at the time, beating them by 11 points Feb. 19. The Suns came in March 4th and beat the Blazers at home by 13 points. They're 39-40 and under .500 for the first time since Dec. 14. The Blazers haven't had a winning record in 5 years and play against the Mavs tonight on the road-home back-to-back. Roy, who didn't take a shot in the first half said, "I want to have a winning record, if we get above .500 it's more for your own pride."

Not only Roy was cold, James Jones went 0-6 and didn't tally a point. Roy didn't even have to deal with Artest killing him on the floor, but still played a below average game.

The Kings had a great win, and look to take the top seeded Hornets, who are 1/2 a game ahead of the Lakers.

Best of the East

Boston, Detroit, Orlando and Cleavland. All of them dominated the Eastern Conference, but their were a lot of great individual performances too. Atlanta clinched their first playoff spot since 1999, Philadelphia surged late in the season for their first playoff spot since Allen Iverson left and Washington relied on their other All-Stars Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison despite Gilbert Arenas missing most of the season. Even though the West had dominance, there were stories in the East too.

All Atlantic Division Team

Kevin Garnett

C- Samuel Dalembert PHI 10.7-10.4-.5-2.4
PF- Kevin Garnett BOS 18.9-9.3-3.5
SF- Andre Iguodala PHI 19.9-5.4-4.8-2.1 SPG
SG- Vince Carter NJN 21.6-6.1-5

PG- Jose Claderon TOR 11.5-2.9-8.3

Paul Pierce BOS 19.9-5.2-4.6
Chris Bosh TOR 22.5-8.8-2.5
Richard Jefferson NJN 22.5-4.2-3
Zach Randolph NYK 17.6-10.3-2

Andre Miller PHI 17.1-4-6.8
Ray Allen BOS 17.7-3.7-3.1
Jamal Crawford NYK 20.7-2.6-5

All Central Division Team

LeBron James

C- Andew Bogut MIL 14.2-9.8-2.6-1.8 BPG
PF- Danny Granger IND 19.1-6.1-2.1
SF- LeBron James CLE 30.3-7.9-7.2-1.9 SPG
SG- Michael Redd MIL 23.5-4.4-3.5
PG- Chauncey Billups DET 17.2-2.8-6.9
Drew Gooden CHI-CLE14.3-9.3-1.7
Zydrunas Ilgauskas CLE 14-9.3-1.4
Danny Granger IND 19.1-6.1-2.1
Mike Dunleavy IND 18.7-5.2-3.4
Mo Williams MIL 17.2-3.5-6.3
Richard Hamilton DET 17.6-3.3-4.2
Ben Gordon CHI 18.9-3.1-3

All Southeast Division Team

Dwight Howard

C- Dwight Howard ORL 20.9-14.4-1.4-2.2
PF- Antawn Jamison WAS 21.5-10.2-1.5
SF- Josh Smith ATL 17.3-8.4-3.4-1.5-2.8
SG- Dwyane Wade MIA 24.6-4.2-6.9-1.7 SPG
PG- Raymond Felton CHA 14.3-2.9-7.3
Caron Butler WAS 20.3-6.7-4.9-2.21 SPG
Joe Johnson ATL 22.1-4.6-5.8
Jason Richardson CHA 21.5-5.3-3.2
Shawn Marion MIA-PHX 14.3-11.2-2.5
Hedo Turkoglu ORL 19.6-5.8-4.9
Gerald Wallace CHA 19.4-6-3.5
Rashard Lewis ORL 18.3-5.4-2.4

Rookie of the Eastern Conference

Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks
10.2 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.9 BPG

Best Defensive Player

Josh Smith
8.3 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 2.3 BPG

Most Improved

Hedo Turkoglu

Last Season: 13.3 PPG, 4 RPG, 3.2 APG
This Season: 19.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG 5 APG

Best of the West

These are the best players in the Western Conference, AKA The Wild Wild West. The West boasts 2 MVP canidates in Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. When it comes to who's MVP, it might come down to who's in first place at the end of the year.

Below are the All Division teams for the Pacific, Northwest and Southwest divisions. Each has the best player at each position at the top, followed by the 7-man bench. The stat line is the following: points per game-rebounds per game-assists per game. Some might have steals per game or blocks per game, or in Andrei Kirilenko's situation, both.

After you see the division teams, see who are the best players in the conference at the end.

All Pacific Division Team

KOBE BRYANT

C- Pau Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies-Los Angeles Lakers) 18.8-7.7-3.7, 1.9 BPG (Season)
PF- Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns) 25.2-9.3-1.4-2.14 BPG
SF- Ron Artest (Sacramento Kings) 20.5-5.7-3.5-2.32 SPG
SG- Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)28.6-6.4-5.4
PG- Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns) 17.4-3.4-11.2
Baron Davis (Golden State Warriors) 21.9-4.6-7.6-2.39 SPG
Chris Kaman (Los Angeles Clippers) 15.7-12.7-1.9-2.77 BPG
Corey Maggette (Los Angeles Clippers)22.2-5.6-2.7
Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) 14.2-10.5-3.6
Stephen Jackson (Golden State Warriors) 20.1-4.5-4.1
Kevin Martin (Sacramento Kings) 23.7-4.4-2.1
Monta Ellis (Golden State Warriors) 20.1-4.9-3.7

All Northwest Division Team

CARMELO ANTHONY

C- Marcus Camby (Denver Nuggets) 9.3-13.3-3.3-3.65 BPG
PF- Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz) 21.6-10.6-2.8
SF- Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) 25.9-7.5-3.5
SG- Allen Iverson (Denver Nuggets) 26.3-2.9-7.2
PG- Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) 19.2-3-10.5
Al Jefferson (Minnesota Timberwolves) 20.9-11.2-1.4
Andrei Kirilenko (Utah Jazz) 11.1-4.8-4.1-1.16-1.52
Brandon Roy (Portland Trailblazers) 19.3-4.9-5.7
LaMarcus Aldridge (Potland Trailblazers) 17.7-7.4-1.6
Kevin Durant (Seattle Supersonics) 20-4.2-2.3
Mehmet Okur (Utah Jazz) 14.4-7.4-2
Nick Collison (Seattle Supersonics) 9.7-9.2-1.5

All Southwest Division Team

CHRIS PAUL

C- Yao Ming (Houston Rockets) 22-10.8-2.3-2 BPG
PF- Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) 19.5-11.5-2.9-2 BPG

SF- Josh Howard (Dallas Mavericks) 20.3-7.1-2.2
SG- Tracy McGrady (Houston Rockets) 21.9-5.2-5.8
PG- Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets) 21.5-4-11.5-2.7 SPG
Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) 23.6-8.7-3.5
David West (New Orleans Hornets) 20.4-9-2.3
Manu Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs) 19.8-4.5-4.8
Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets-Dallas Mavericks) 9.8-6.4-9.6-2.46 SPG
Tyson Chandler (New Orleans Hornets)11.8-11.9-1.1
Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs) 18.3-3.2-5.8
Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies) 20.2-6.1-1.9

All Western Conference Team

C- Yao Ming (Houston Rockets)
PF- Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns)
SF- Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets)
SG- Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
PG- Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)
Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns)
Baron Davis (Golden State Warriors)
Chris Kaman (Los Angeles Clippers)
Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz)
Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks

Tracy McGrady (Houston Rockets)

Rookie of the Western Conference

SG- Kevin Durant (Seattle Supersonics) 20-4.2-2.3

Best Defensive Player

C- Marcus Camby (Denver Nuggets) 9.3-13.3-3.3-3.65 BPG

Most Improved Player

C- Chris Kaman (Los Angeles Clippers)

Last Season: 10.1-7.8-1.1-1.5 BPG

This Season: 15.7-12.7-1.9-2.77 BPG

Depleted Kings Stun Nuggets 118-115

No Ron Artest. No Brad Miller. No Beno Udrih for 8 out of 9 games. The Kings were desperately shorthanded against the Denver Nuggets, a high scoring, high altitude team running on a 9-game home winning streak, looking to clinch a playoff spot in the stacked Western Conference. It wouldn't even matter that they were missing starting power forward Kenyon Martin, due to suspension. The Kings had one of their most difficult challenges yet ahead of them, and it would take their best effort without 3 of their starters.



1ST QUARTER



Rookie Spencer Hawes would get his second start at center, his first at Memphis. John Salmons would also get his first start in a while too. He posted his first and only triple double in former Philly teammate Allen Iverson's Denver debut. He came pretty close to another one. The Kings jumped out to an 11-6 lead, all before the Nuggets jumped on a 16-0 run. The Kings couldn't do anything to stop Linas Kleiza, who hit the buzzer beating shot in Sacramento in December after trailing for most of that game. He was explosive with 14 points in the quarter. Carmelo Anthony also had 10 points. The Kings struggled with missed shots and turnovers, and it looked like they would have a long night as they trailed 25-34.

2ND QUARTER

The scoring continued for Denver, but the Kings fought back to eventually take the lead at 46-45. The Kings offense was soaring. They had 19 assists on 24 shots. Kevin Martin, playing with the flu, had 17 points while Francisco Garcia had 14 points. Point guard Anthony Johnson even got a rare dunk. The Nuggets staryed in the game as they trailed 59-56 at halftime.

Nuggets' head coach George Karl was worried about the game. He said, "I told 'Melo during the first half when they came back and took the lead and the momentum was going their way, I told him I didn't feel good about this game."

3RD QUARTER

The Kings kept up the attack to put up 88 points in the and it looked like they would be on their way to a well earned win if they kept up the attack, led by Martin's 26 points and Garcia's 20 points. Allen Iverson was quiet offensively for the night with only 10 points, but he was on the prowl defensively trying to force turnovers. Melo had 26 points but this would be nowhere near his total as he would lead the Nuggets rally as they were down 88-79.

4TH QUARTER

The Kings jumped to a 10 point lead early in the quarter. By then, Melo had enough of losing and started to light it up. He scored 21 out of second career best 47 points in the 4th quarter, his second 40 point game of the year (last time 49). He scored 21 of the last 25 Nuggets points and 15 of the last Nuggets points. The Kings however never let go of the lead as free throws would be the only thing that would keep them in the game. The last 8 points were all free throws, with Martin and Garcia going 8/8, 4 free throws each. J.R. Smith went for the game-tying 3 pointer at the buzzer, but Mikki Moore put a hand in his face and the Kings upset another playoff hopeful.

HIGHLIGHTS
Team High = *
Game High = **

KINGS
Martin: 36 pts*, 4 reb, 3 stl, 2 ast, 6 TO
Garcia: 29 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast, stl, 5 TO** (bench)
Moore: 23 pts, 10 reb*, blk*, ast
Salmons: 9 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast, 5 stl**
Hawes: 8 pts, 9 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl
Johnson: 5 pts, 8 ast*, reb, 4 TO
Shelden Williams: 8 pts, 5 reb (bench)
Quincy Douby: 0 pts, 4 reb (3 off.*), 2 ast (bench)
Injured: Beno Udrih PG, Ron Artest SF, Brad Miller C

NUGGETS
Anthony: 47 pts**, 11 reb (5 off.), 3 stl*, 2 ast
Kleiza: 28 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 4 TO*
Marcus Camby: 4 pts, 14 reb**, 11 ast**, blk, 4 TO*
Eduardo Najera: 8 pts, 9 reb (5 off.**), 2 blk**, 2 stl, ast (bench)
Iverson: 13 pts, 6 ast, 2 reb, blk, stl
Smith: 13 pts, 3 ast, 2 reb, 4 TO* (bench)
Anthony Carter: 2 pts, 5 ast, 2 reb (1 off.)
Suspended: Kenyon Martin

For a team decimated by injuries, again, the Kings feel a mile high after pulling off another upset against a team pushing for a playoff spot, the first being Houston. They finally got vengance against a team they played well with before. It's nothing new for the Kings though, playing the role of spoiler. The list of teams that the Kings have beaten that are looking for a playoff spot in the West, every team except for the Suns. If they have 36 wins, hurt by injuries all year. It makes me wonder how many wins they might have if Bibby didn't miss 35 games, Artest didn't miss 20 games before missing this one and leading scorer Martin didn't miss 19 games. At this point, it doesn't matter. It actually makes them better for next year.

Without Bibby getting hurt, Udrih never would have had his breakout year. Without Artest and Martin missing time, Salmons and Garcia wouldn't have had their breakouts as well. Although Salmons has faded away from how he performed as a starter, Garcia has proven to be the go to guy off of the bench and a clutch player after hitting 3 game winners.

The Nuggets are beating themselves up with Iverson saying, "I'm definitely concerned if we're going to play like this. We've got to play better teams than them down the stretch. I'm confident, but, yeah, I'm concerned."

They'll have to be concerned. They have 4 away games, including the Warriors and Jazz and a home game against the cooling Rockets. The loss helps the Spurs clinch a playoff spot and gives the Warriors a chance to re-take the 8th spot against the Hornets. There were major consequences to losing this game, and now they're feeling the pressure.

Artest, Martin Fuel Kings Past Rockets 99-98

It was an exciting game from start to finish, with the Kings coming out on top. The loss to the Houston Rockets meant that they would stay in 6th place instead of tying the Los Angeles Lakers for 3rd place in the ultra compemtive Western Conference. The win didn't come easy though, because for the second straight game the Kings had to play with another starter getting ejected in the third quarter.







1ST QUARTER

The game started off white hot when the Kings made 5 straight shots with the rockets making 4 of 6. Tracy McGrady was letting Ron artest know that he was not letting him shut him down this time. The first meeting between the two, T-Mac dropped 40 points in a losing effort at Sactown. The second and third time, T-Mac was held to an average of 13 PPG. Despite great defense from John Salmons and Artest, both games were wins for the Rockets in Houston. This night T-Mac would take every jump shot he could instead of putting the ball on the floor.

Dikembe Mutombo was called for a technical when he did his famous finger wag. A call that really shouldn't have been called. On the other side, the Kings were dealing with rookie center Spencer Hawes nursing an ankle he thinks is ready to get back on the court. This gave 2nd year power forward Shelden Williams the opportunity to get more minutes. Kevin Martin was having a great start with 9 points to start in front of Brad Miller and Artest's 6 points each. At the end of the quarter, T-Mac's 13 points would give Houston the lead 28-29.

2ND QUARTER

Former King Bobby Jackson made his way into a low scoring quarter, and it seemed that nothing could go right for the Rockets who only made 17 points, making 8/20 FGs to go with 5 TOs. Meanwhile, the Kings shot only 9/20 for 21 points, staying on top of the Rockets with their defense. Things would only go south for the Kings in the next quarter as they led 49-46.

3RD QUARTER

T-Mac went off for the first 8 points for Houston and finished with 10 of the first 12 points and 14 points in the quarter. If that wasn't bad enough for the Kings, starting center Brad Miller complained about getting fouled with no call, which eventually led into getting ejected. He later apologized for getting ejected on the Kings' postgame radio show. That left the Kings shorthanded with no real back-up center except for the seldom used Lorenzen Wright, acquired from the Hawks in the Bibby trade.

The Kings lost all of their momentum as the Rockets went on a 7-0 run which finished as a 10-2 run. Mikki Moore's dunk changed the pace and sparked a 8-3 run for the Kings. Artest capped off the quarter to hit a fade away jumper with 0.01 left on the clock to give the Kings the lead 77-76.

4TH QUARTER

For the first 5:35 of the quarter, no field goals were made between either team. The only points that were scored during that time was 2 free throws each by McGrady, Luis Scola, Martin and Williams. Rafer Alston broke the silence with only the second 3 pointer of the game for the Rockets. Martin made the first FG of the quarter for the Kings followed by a huge Artest 3 pointer to tie the game at 89. T-Mac and Scola made both of their free throws again but what would happen next gave the Kings the fight to keep on playing.

Artest would get his 5th steal, causing McGrady to have his 5th TO. Martin got the ball and passed it to a wide open Francisco Garcia up court for a poster on Shane Battier. Pause it at 41 seconds and you got the poster. http://youtube.com/watch?v=XihKmPw8WF0

The game wasn't over yet. Battier banked a desperation 3 pointer from the top of the key to avoid a shot clock violation to put the Rockets up by 2 points. Artest answered back with another clutch 3. Martin drained 2 free throws and the Kings won a jump ball between Moore and Alston. The Kings were on their way to a victory when Artest tried to give a bad lob to Moore on the inside. Scola stole the ball and gave it to T-Mac. Garcia and Williams jumped in front of him at the same time. His shot was 1 inch short of winning the game, but it missed and the Kings won 99-98.

HIGHLIGHTS

Team High=*

Game High=**

Season High=+

KINGS

Artest: 30 pts*, 4 reb (2 off.), 5 stl**, 3 ast*, 4 TO*

Martin: 27 pts, 3 ast*

Miller: 10 pts, 7 reb*, 3 ast*, blk*, (ejected mid 3rd qtr)

Moore: 11 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, blk*

Williams: 8 pts, 6 reb, 2 stl (bench)

Garcia: 8 pts, 4 reb, stl, ast (bench)

Salmons: 2 pts, 4 reb, blk* (bench)

Anthony Johnson: 3 pts, 3 ast*, stl

Quincy Douby: Block* on Alston, forced TO on shot clock violation) (bench)

ROCKETS

McGrady: 32 pts**, 7 reb, 4 ast, stl, 5 TO**

Scola: 20 pts (10-10 FT**), 8 reb, 2 ast, stl

Battier: 9 pts, 9 reb** (6 off.**) 4 blk**, 4 stl*, 2 ast

Alston: 16 pts, 8 ast**, 4 reb

Mutombo: 11 pts+, 7 reb (3 off.), 2 blk

Jackson: 6 pts, 2 reb, ast (bench)

Chuck Hayes: 2 pts, 5 reb (4 off.), 2 blk, 2 stl (bench)

Carl Landry: 0 pts, 6 reb, 2 stl, 2 ast, blk (bench)

The one thing the Kings are going to look back at is rebounds, offensive rebounds. The Rockets had 21 offensive rebounds, the exact number the Kings got outrebounded by, 28-49. Offensive rebounds lead to second chance points and lucky for the Kings, they got away with a win. They found a role to play after denying the Rockets their 50th win and tied for 3rd place and a chance for homecourt advantage in the Western Conference. Their role is the spoiler.

Kings Head Coach Reggie Theus said, "I’m very satisfied because it’s nice that we can play a role in the Western Conference. The guys understand that we have a role to play, and if our role is to mess it up, then that’s what we do. It gives us something to play for and it’s a big win for us down the stretch here.”

He also said that this was the Kings playoffs. It might as well because 6 of their laszt 8 games of the season are against playoff teams including Nuggets, Warriors, Hornets, Spurs and the Lakers twice. As for the Rockets, since their epic 22-win streak was snapped, they've gone 3-5. So win #50 will have to wait.