Game 24 Notes: Sacramento Kings Hold Off New York Knicks 99-97
The Sacramento Kings (9-15) now have a two game winning streak, beating the New York Knicks (10-14) last night, 99-97. After leading by as much as 19 points in a nationally televised game, the Kings were lucky to hold on for the win. Carmelo Anthony had a chance to put it away with 4.6 seconds left, but his three-pointer was thankfully off the mark.
DeMarcus Cousins finished with a game high 27 points and 11 rebounds, but it was an impressive game by Rajon Rondo that stole the show. He finished with 16 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds, along with a Kings bench clearing dunk. Rondo continues to make the case that he is an All-Star candidate.
But it was another night of active tenacious defense by Sacramento that was the biggest factor in the win last night. The match up of Rudy Gay on Carmelo Anthony was a nice surprised as Gay was able to make Carmelo work for his shots (he finished with a quiet 23 points).
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A few Notes from the game:
Rudy Gay had a bad offensive night tallying only 10 points. But he made a big three-pointer in the fourth quarter
had a few choice words with Kristaps at one point, which led to a “hold me back!” moment
Dec 10, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Kosta’s street cred has improved in Latvia
The Kings habit of turning the ball over down the stretch with just plain bad handles has continued, with big turnovers during the last few seconds of the game
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The 6’9″ Omri Casspi was somewhat effective going up against the rookie Latvian sensation Kristaps Porzingis who stands at 7’3″, holding him to 13 points. Porzingis held his own, filling the stat sheet including some impressive blocked shots. DeMarcus was just too physical for him though, and was able to push him around in the paint.
The Kings will continue their home stand next Tuesday with a chance to get revenge against the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have managed to steal the first two games of the series from the Kings this year.