The Sacramento Kings took care of business Saturday night in Los Angeles. It wasn’t always pretty, but Sacramento took advantage of a depleted Clippers team and came away with a huge 110-103 victory.
This is what the Kings have to do if they truly hope to make the playoffs. They have to win the games they are supposed to win against damaged or lesser teams and they need to do it consistently.
“It’s a big win for us,” DeMarcus Cousins told reporters following the game. “They’ve been on a winning streak and are probably one of the top teams in the league right now. To come into their house and get a win like this is good for us.”
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The Clippers came into the game riding a 10-game winning streak with nine of those victories coming without All-Star Blake Griffin. Also missing from the equation was big man DeAndre Jordan who missed his second straight contest due to a bout with pneumonia.
Former Sacramento King Cole Aldrich filled in admirably for the missing Jordan, scoring 19 points, while grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking three shots. But without Griffin, who scored a combined 70 points in the two early season matchups between these two teams, the Clippers had to rely heavily on their perimeter game.
“We felt that we had the advantage going into the game, especially with their big men out,” Rajon Rondo told media following the game. “We wanted to take advantage of that and get the ball into the paint. [Cousins] was able to find guys on the perimeter. He did a great job of passing the ball. We did a great job of passing the ball as a team and we got the win.”
Rondo wasn’t the only player to notice a change in Cousins’ game. The Kings All-Star center is averaging 31.1 points and 13.4 rebounds in the month of January, but Saturday night he made the players around him better.
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[INSTANT REPLAY: Kings out-muscle Clippers in LA]
“It is tough because Cousins is their focal point,” Clippers guard Jamal Crawford said. “But when he starts making plays, passing to guys and getting them open shots because he commands a lot of attention, it makes them a much better team and tougher opponent. Obviously we will watch the tape and see how we can improve.”
Cousins finished the night with 19 points, 13 rebounds and six big assists. The 25-year-old has strung together seven straight games with a double-double, bumping his total to 22 on the season.
“You have to take advantage, but even with that being said, they are still a very good team,” Cousins added. “I think they played a [great] game considering their situation. We made some mistakes in the end, but we pulled it out.”
There is no question that the Kings are still figuring out how to win as a team. It took late game heroics from Rudy Gay to knock off the Utah Jazz on Thursday and Saturday night, they won the old fashion way - by hitting 6-of-8 from the line in the final 15.9 seconds.
Sacramento has another three-day break to work out some kinks before returning to the Staples Center on Wednesday to face to Lakers. With the win, the Kings improved to 17-23 on the season and remained just one game behind the Jazz for the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings.
GUARDS COME TO PLAY:
It’s tough to look at a box score where J.J. Redick lit the Kings up for 22 points and the ageless wonder, Jamal Crawford added another 21, and profess that the Kings’ guards had a good night. But the game tape doesn’t lie.
“My guards worked harder tonight than I think I’ve seen all year long,” Karl said.
Darren Collison came in during the first quarter and stabilized the Kings’ team defense. The former Clipper initiated the defense before Chris Paul could even get to half court and the change clearly interrupted LA‘s offensive flow.
On the offensive end, Collison attacked Paul and helped get the eight-time All-Star in foul trouble early. Collison was a catalyst for the Kings in the first half, but he wasn’t the only one.
Ben McLemore has had trouble earning the trust of George Karl. The Kings’ coach has more often than not turned to veteran Marco Belinelli to play the bulk of the minutes at the two. Saturday night in Los Angeles, McLemore looked aggressive from the moment he stepped on the floor and his confidence level grew with every make.
“I thought Ben had his moments, both offensively and defensively,” Karl said.
The third-year guard out of Kansas was one of six Kings players to score 13 points or more. He finished the night with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 28 minutes of action and his +17 in the plus/minus category led the team. This was only the second time in 13 games that the 22-year-old has scored in double figures.
This is the third straight season that McLemore has seen a substantial dip in his numbers during the month of January. But there is still time for him to bounce back.
BOMBS AWAY:
For one of the rare nights this season, the Kings actually matched their opponent in points from behind the arc Saturday night and they did so on 14 fewer shot attempts. As a team Sacramento shot a sparkling 13-of-25 (52 percent) from long range, while holding the Clippers to 13-for-39 (33.3 percent) from deep.
Like he has been most of the season, Omri Casspi was the Kings’ star from the perimeter, knocking down 5-of-8 from behind the arc. With his big night, Casspi has moved into third place in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage at 47.3 percent. Is an invite to the 3-point shootout at All-Star weekend in his future?