A Royal Pain
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Game Recap: Former Wildcats Help Sacramento Kings Clobber Rival Lakers

By Rafe Wong

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Kings Win! Kings Win! Kings Win!

After the Sacramento Kings suffered a gritty loss Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, they rebounded nicely tonight as they finally get on the win column this season with a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers with a final score of 132-114.

Throughout this game I saw a lot more positives in the Kings compared to their last contest.

For one, the obvious, DeMarcus Cousins showed up for his team again, as he scored 21 points and 11 rebounds. Not only was he dominate offensively, but he also showed stout defense against bigs like Roy Hibbert and Brandon Bass.

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Two other shining stars that showed up tonight were another pair of former Kentucky Wildcats in Rajon Rondo and Willie Cauley-Stein. For Rondo, I thought he really sparked the team right off the bat. With the combination of crafty layups and passes in the first quarter, Rondo really set the tone throughout the whole game offensively for the team.

For Cauley-Stein, this was his breakout game. I thought he had a really quiet debut to the NBA last Wednesday, mainly because he only played a total of eight minutes. But for tonight, George Karl gave him plenty of playing time to showcase his talent and he didn’t waste the opportunity, ending with a statline of 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

As good of a smacking that the Kings gave the Lakers, they were some negatives to take out of this game also. For one, the defense wasn’t as effective as I would have expected it to be, as at the end the game the powder blue and red gave up a whopping total of 114 points to an inferior Lakers team.

What was also a knock tonight was that the perimeter shooting was off as well. The Kings finished 27.3% from beyond the arc tonight, which was pretty disappointing considering the amount of open looks they had (in my opinion).

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Overall as a collective group the Kings played very well tonight, especially offensively, but lets also remember who they were facing. I mean, the Los Angeles Lakers are projected to be in the bottom basement of the Western Conference, so for the Kings to live up to their expectations this was a must win.

But all in all a win is a win, and for the Kings to make an offensive statement like they did tonight will definitely carry some momentum tomorrow as they head down to Los Angeles to face the Clippers for the second time in three games.

Next: Ten Takeaways: The Sacramento Kings' Season Opener

If the Kings can continue their success offensively, hit their perimeter shots, and be more stingy on the defensive end, we may be in for another Kings-Clippers battle that goes down to the final minute.

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