After getting dominated by Oden against the Blazers, Hawes took out his frustration and dominated the big men of the Thunder with a big game.
After getting hammered by teammates Beno Udrih and Mikki Moore and head coach Reggie Theus in the Sacramento Bee, after one bad pre-season game against Greg Oden and the Portland Trail Blazers, Spencer Hawes redeemed himself and re-established his post game. Not only that, Bobby Brown shined in his impressive home debut and Oklahoma City native Shelden Williams showed us, and his fianceé Candace Parker in the front row, why he was nicknamed "The Landlord."
In what seemed to be a game that was over, the Kings would have to hang on to their lead as the Thunder, playing without ROY Kevin Durant came rolling back. And Oklahoma City's road unis look like a D-League design.
1ST QUARTER
Kevin Martin sported his new mohawk after rookie teammate Donté Greene bet him $100 that he wouldn't get a mohawk like his. Greene lost. Martin came out strong scoring the first 4 points for the Kings in the debut of their new home uniforms. John Salmons got off to a strong start with 7 points. They kept the Thunder at bay with a 26-18 lead at the end of the quarter.
2ND QUARTER
The Kings got somewhat of a scare when Jeff Green led the Thunder with his 5 points at the beginning of his to cut the lead to 32-28 By then, Hawes already started what would be a big quarter. He re-established not only his jump shots, but also his post-scoring which makes him different from being "the next Brad Miller," but instead "the next Vlade Divac." He scored 12 points in the quarter and basically regained the faith of his teammates, coaches and fans who doubted him.
Bobby Brown also got his game going with 6 points in the quarter and Damien Wilkins, son of Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, led the Thunder with 9 points, but that was only the beginning for them as the Kings took a 55-39 lead at the half.
3RD QUARTER
The Kings held a 19 point lead when Salmons hit a 3 pointer to start off the quarter. After Garcia came in for Martin, things went downhill for the Kings. The Thunder, with a balanced attack through 7 players outscored the Kings 25-14 in the quarter. No one player stood out from the pack. Even with Garcia on the floor, he didn't get nearly enough touches to make a difference. Only one shot attempt the whole quarter. Bobby Jackson, who is usually a spark plug for any team who needs to get it going, just couldn't get it going. After the Thunder's 14-3 run, the Kings found their lead cut to 5 points, leading 69-65 through 3 quarters.
4TH QUARTER
The Kings looked like they were going to give up the lead like they did to the Blazers in the game before. After Johan Petro scored, Green scored 5 straight points for the Thunder cutting the lead down to 72-71. After a missed jump shot from rookie Jason Thompson, Garcia found himself a rebound wide open behind the 3 point line. He nailed it, showing he can still make a three pointer when the team needs it the most. After that, both teams started playing sloppy.
It was up to Brown to come in and be the difference maker of the game. The way he did it, it looked like he was Mike Bibby. After missing his first shot, Brown hit 4 straight shots, including two 3 pointers and 2 free throws, scoring 12 of his game-high 22 points in the quarter. Hawes hit a rare, but clutch 3 pointer earlier in the quarter and sealed the game with a dunk, finishing with 21 points, a career high on an NBA court. The Kings put away the Thunder in a 94-85 wire-to-wire win.
HIGLIGHTS
*= Team High, **= Game High
(R)= Rookie, (S)= Sophomore
KINGS
Brown (R): 22 pts** (64% FG**), 2 reb, 4 ast*, 2 stl**, 4 TOs**
Hawes (S): 21 pts (58.8% FG), 7 reb, stl (bench)
Salmons: 16 pts (62.5% FG), 4 reb, 3 ast, blk
Williams: 7 pts (7-10 FTs), 11 reb**, 2 blk**, 3 TOs (bench)
Jason Thompson (R): 5 pts, 6 reb (bench)
Martin: 8 pts, 3 ast, blk, 13 min
Garcia: 8 pts, 4 reb (bench)
Jackson: 3 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, stl (bench)
DNP: Beno Udrih (injured), Quincy Douby (injured)
THUNDER
Green (S): 19 pts*, 7 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl**, blk*
Wilkins: 14 pts, 6 reb, blk*
Johan Petro: 8 pts, 10 reb*, 2 stl**
Nick Collison: 8 pts, 6 reb, stl, blk*
Earl Watson: 4 pts, 4 reb, 7 ast
Westbrook (R): 8 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, stl, 3 TOs*
Desmond Mason: 10 pts, 4 reb
Joe Smith: 4 pts, 5 reb, blk*
DNP: Kevin Durant (rest)
The Kings (1-1) were dangerously close to collapsing again, but Brown was the reason they won. He shot 4/4 after missing his first shot of the last quarter. Even with Hawes going off in the 2nd quarter and clutch in the last quarter, Brown was the real hero of the game. He was very athletic getting to the basket and put a lock on Watson when it came to scoring. The only real problem of his game that he had was turnovers. Being that this was his first start at the NBA level filling in for the injured Udrih, Brown showed that he may have a future in the NBA.
Hawes showed his maturity level by coming back with a big game. It was a statement game to remind people why he was the #10 pick in the NBA in 2007. Green was the best player of the team that night scoring 9 of his 19 points in the last quarter. The Thunder (0-2) came back like a storm surge, but the Kings held on despite being only one point away from blowing a 19 point lead. I called a radio show when Martin was a guest and took questions on air. I asked him how he could get his assists up. He responded by saying when he gets more touches he'll be able to distribute the ball more. He was right. He had 3 assists in 13 minutes.
The Kings have the triangle offense working, but once they shut it off, their game goes too. If they can find a way to keep it on for a full 48 minutes, they can score over 100 a game. They did last year. They were outrebounded and outdistibuted and their interior defense was still bad. They still need to find a way to improve in those areas. Otherwise, the team is on the right track offensively.
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