Kings Lose to Blazers 112-98

It's been a while the last time I went to a game, but I couldn't pass it up when it was right on my 20th birthday. It was a game of highs and lows as the Kings took on the Portland Trail Blazers for the last time in the pre-season.

1ST QUARTER

My first look at Greg Oden. A 7'0, 285 pound manbeast that you have to see to believe. He won the opening tip against Spencer Hawes. The Blazers got off to a hot 9-2 run led by Steve Blake's 5 points. The Kings had a sluggish start when Hawes picked up 3 fouls and committed 2 TOs in less than 6 minutes to bring soon to be suspended Brad Miller into the game. LaMarcus Aldridge was impressive from the start, scoring 8 points in the period. Kevin Martin, who would be the star of the night got an alley-oop lay-up from the starting point guard Bobby Brown.

The Kings tried to get their rythym going with John Salmons and Mikki Moore scoring 4 points each and Bobby Jackson hit a buzzer beating lay-up at the end of the quarter, but after review it was no basket as the Blazers led 27-19.

2ND QUARTER

The Blazers took off again Channing Frye and Rudy Fernandez hitting two straight 3-pointers. Kenny Thomas looks like he'll be getting regular rotation minutes with the regular season nearing. He scored his only 4 points in the quarter. Martin had the highlight of the night crossing over Fernandez and dunking over Oden and Aldridge sending excitement around the whole arena. Fernandez would go on to make two straight 3-pointers later in the quarter, but the Kings were making a run, trailing 57-50 at the half.

3RD QUARTER

Martin would be on fire. He scored 13 of his 27 total points that he had up to that point. Through 5 games this pre-season he's shooting a scorching 60.9% from the field. Aldridge was hot too as he put up 8 of his 23 points. The Kings were down by as much as 11 points and were within 2 points of the Blazers, they failed to capitalize as the Blazers led 80-76, and it stayed that way.

4TH QUARTER

The Blazers took off running when Fernandez got a alley-oop reverse dunk from Sergio Rodriguez, and it was all downhill for the Kings after that. The Kings came within 3 points but the Blazers went on a 27-12 run to close out the game as the Kings dropped to 1-7 in a 112-98 loss while Portland closed out their pre-season 3-2. Salmons was the only help to the Martin with 27 points.

HIGHlLIGHTS

Team High=*

Game High=**

(R)= Rookie

KINGS

Martin: 34 pts** (10-13 FG), 2 stl, blk, 4 TOs*

Salmons: 27 pts (10-18 FG), 5 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl*, 2 TOs

(R) Jason Thompson: 6 pts, 6 reb, (4 off.)

Moore: 6 pts, 6 reb, stl

(R) Brown: 8 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, stl, 2 TOs

BLAZERS

Aldridge: 24 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl**, blk

Brandon Roy: 21 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, stl, 2 TO

(R) Oden: 13 pts, 9 reb** (6 off.**), 3 ast, stl, 2 blk, 5 TOs**

(R) Fernandez: 16 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, stl, blk, 2 TOs

Even without starting point guard Beno Udrih and 6th man Francisco Garcia due to injury, it was a pretty bad loss for the Kings because they had the chance to win. The same problems have been plaguing the Kings for two years now. Defending the perimeter, rebounding and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Blazers let loose with wide open three pointers shooting 12-25 from behind the arc. They outrebounded the Kings 41-29 and the Kings had 14 assists and 20 turnovers.

Sacramento will have trouble getting 35 wins this season if they don't change their habits. The run game was not there last night, which could have been a game changer. Every time the Kings gave-up the ball to another player, they just tried to penetrate. They also have no one underneath the basket to try to get an offensive rebound almost every time. They're going to disappoint fans who watch them every night playing like that every night. Until they learn how to play defense, fans have to remember they're still in rebuilding mode.

Martin, Gordon Hot, Clips Beat Kings, 116-112

The Sacramento Kings' starters looked real good in the first half, considering the fact that they started Francisco Garcia and rookie Jason Thompson while sitting regular starters John Salmons and Mikki Moore for the night. Their bench, on the other hand, showed a very poor defensive outing playing a majority of the second half.

Even with Baron Davis, Marcus Camby and Al Thornton out, the Los Angeles Clippers' bench, mainly rookie guards Eric Gordon and Mike Taylor, just flat out outscored them in what should have been a win for the Kings in the Spanos Center at University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.

1ST QUARTER

Kevin Martin was just unbelievable in his 22 minutes of play from start to finish. He led everyone in scoring with 14 points on 5-6 shooting. Garcia was showcasing his passing skills with 3 assists. The Clippers' big men Jelani McCoy and rookie DeAndre Jordan scored 6 points each with some impressive dunks down low as they led 30-28.

2ND QUARTER

Gordon was starting to get hot scoring 9 points in the quarter, but then, Martin was pouring it on. He made 9 unanswered points and scored 27 of his 29 points in the first half on 8-9 (88.9%) shooting. He finished with a schorching 9-11 (81.8%) shooting in less than 22 minutes. Another King impressed Kings fans who attended the game at UOP was, believe it or not, Kenny Thomas. The man who hasn't played a regular season game since January had two impressive three-point plays, getting fouled on both circus shots. He also had 3 assists in the quarter and a block that quarter.

With the starters in place everything was going the Kings' way as they held onto a 64-51 lead at the half.

3RD QUARTER

The first unit stayed in for half of the quarter with Garcia and Beno Udrih leading the way combining for 12 of the Kings' 24 points that period. Then, a turn for the worst happened. The second unit came in. Brad Miller was replaced by Spencer Hawes, Martin was replaced by Bobby Jackson, Udrih replaced by Bobby Brown, Garcia replaced by Donté Greene and Jason Thompson replaced by Shelden Williams. With a 17 point lead the Clippers seemed harmless with their key players out. They went on a 17-6 run at the end of the quarter led by former King Cuttino Mobley's 11 points in that run. Things would only go from bad to worse as the Kings led 88-80.

4TH QUARTER

This is where Gordon caught fire, hitting 4 three pointers in the period and 6 treys that night. Taylor, who was hot all night, had 8 points in the quarter and finished with 21 points. It's not like the Kings gave up, they couldn't defend the perimeter. They had 5 treys that quarter and 9-25. Without Martin's 2 three pointers, the Kings would have been 0-9 on the night. That and turnovers would lead to the bench's downfall. Even though they made a late substitution with Garcia, Sacramento was held scoreless the last 2:54 of the game, losing 116-112 from a stunning comeback led by rookie guards Gordon and Taylor.

HIGHLIGHTS

Team High=*
Game High=**
(R)= Rookie

KINGS
Martin: 29 pts* (9-11 FG), 2 reb, 4 ast, 3 TOs, 21 min
Udrih: 12 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast*, stl, 2 TOs, 24 min
Garcia: 15 pts, 3 ast, 3 stl**
Hawes: 13 pts, 7 reb*, 4 ast, 3 blk**, 6 TOs** (bench)
Miller: 8 pts, 7 reb*, 5 ast*, 19 min
Jackson: 13 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast, 2 TO (bench)
(R) Thompson: 6 pts, 5 reb, 18 min
Thomas: 6 pts (2-2 FG), 3 ast, blk (bench)

CLIPPERS
(R) Gordon: 33 pts**, 2 reb, 2 stl, 2 TOs
(R) Taylor: 21 pts, 4 reb, 9 ast**, 3 stl**, 3 TOs*
Paul Davis: 11 pts, 8 reb** (5 off.**), 3 ast, 3 stl**
Mobley: 17 pts, 2 ast
McCoy: 12 pts, 6 reb, stl, 2 TOs
(R) Jordan: 7 pts, 4 reb, 2 blk*

Now I know what the +/- is good for. The Kings' starters had double digits on the + side. Their bench countered it with double digits on the - side, destroying the 17 point lead the starters worked hard for and giving the Clippers an opportunity to win. Another reason why they lost, 3 point shooting and TOs. Without Martin, they never would have hit anything from downtown. Spencer Hawes accounted for 6 of the Kings 24 TOs. That's 25% of them. The Clippers hit 9-25 from downtown and only had 16 TOs.

It's not like the Kings weren't scoring all night. They shot 61.2% from the field compared to the Clippers 46.7%. They also had 31 assists. The Gordon got hot from downtown at the right time and the Kings couldn't respond the same way. Him and Taylor could have a bright future in the NBA. I'm not surprised if Gordon contends for ROY, since he's supposed to be a better version of Ben Gordon. As for the Kings, the starters did everything right. The bench didn't. It's that simple. Fortunately, it won't be this way this season because since it's pre-season, the bench does not get the majority of playing time.

Speaking of playing time, Martin looked like he was in mid-season and was on fire. Not only did he score, he distributed as well. He had only 2 rebounds and 3 TOs, but his scoring was phenomenal and rebounding wasn't a team problem when he was in the game. His game really flourishes in the new run-and-gun triangle offense Reggie Theus put in. In other words, Martin looked like an all-star. If he plays like that this season like he has in his limited minutes this pre-season, you can see him in Phoenix this February and in the future.

Brown, Hawes Shine in 94-85 Win Over Thunder

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.