Highs and Lows: Sacramento Kings Rally To Defeat Clippers
By Rafe Wong
Someway, somehow, the Sacramento Kings pulled off the upset today as they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers by a score of 98-97. March Madness has made its way to the NBA.
Listed down below are the highs and lows of tonight’s game pertaining to the Sacramento Kings.
HIGHS
Darren Collison: For today’s game, Darren Collison was able to score 19 points while shooting an effective 8-11 (72.7%) from the floor. Collison’s performance today proves that he is one of the Sacramento Kings’ top productive scorers this season. Throughout this entire campaign, Collison has been able to give the Kings consistent production by the game as he is averaging 13.2 points per game while shooting 47.2% from the floor and 41.8% from the perimeter.
Anthony Tolliver: Anthony Tolliver is more than a veteran presence for the Kings. In today’s game, Tolliver recorded 15 points while shooting 5-6 (83.3%) from beyond the perimeter. When the Kings are able to give Tolliver good looks from the three-point line, there is a good chance he is going to make them. For the season, Tolliver is shooting 39.8% from the perimeter.
Three-Point Shooting: The three-pointers didn’t fall for Sacramento in the beginning stages of the game, but down the stretch, they did to their fortune. For the game, the Kings shot 13-28 (46.4) from beyond the perimeter, adding another great three-point shooting performance this season for the purple and white. The game seemed over for the Kings once the fourth quarter was in session, but the three-point shooting for Sacramento helped uplift the team in achieving the shocking upset in Los Angeles. Perimeter shooting has been the main catalyst for the Kings’ offense as of late.
LOWS
Clippers’ Big Three: The group of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan were the reason why the Clippers were competitive in today’s contest. As a result of their play, the trio recorded 54 points, 21 rebounds, 13 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks for the game. For most of the match, the Kings’ defense didn’t have an answer to stopping them.
Tyreke Evans: Tyreke finished the game scoring 8 points, not bad. But it took him taking 12 shot attempts to get it, pretty bad. Evans had a tough time today trying to score against the Clipper defense as he finished the game recording 8 points while shooting 3-12 (25%) from the floor.
Skal Labissiere: Skal Labissiere had a rough afternoon against Los Angeles Clippers. After scoring the first basket of the game, Skal went scoreless for the rest of the contest as he had trouble going up against the mass of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. For the game, Skal recorded just 2 points and 4 rebounds. The developing process has been pretty smooth so far for Skal, but today’s game he experienced some growing pains that all rookies go through in their career.