
SACRAMENTO -- “Winning is healing,” veteran Caron Butler told CSNCalifornia.com before the Kings took the floor Wednesday night in Sacramento.
It seems like a simple statement, but for a team that has been through a whirlwind of emotion over the last 48 hours, it is nothing short of life blood.
If ever there was a must win contest nine games into an NBA season, it happened Wednesday night at Sleep Train arena. Embroiled in chaos and controversy, the Kings used the court to silence the noise in their 101-92 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
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“I don’t care what type of team you’re on, a new team, a veteran team - a losing streak is heavy,” an embattled coach George Karl told reporters. “There is like a monkey hanging on your back.”
Of course the monkey Karl is referring to is the six game losing streak the Kings were mired in. For a team that came into the season with so much promise, this as not how the script read. A 1-7 start nearly broke this team in two, and for one night, a 2-7 record means everything.
The information trickled out slowly over the last two days, but by now we have pieced most of it together. Following Monday’s loss to the Spurs, words were spoken by DeMarcus Cousins. Those words were aimed directly at Karl and despite the way they were delivered, most of the team was on board with the message.
[HAM: Kings' dysfunction approaching breaking point]
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A team meeting was called in an attempt narrow the divide between coaching staff and players. General manager Vlade Divac played Winston Churchill in the discussion, and fences were mended, at least in the short-term.
“I think we’re a family, man, a family,” Rudy Gay said. “Honestly, we see each other, hey, we see y’all more than we see our own family. It happens man, we build from it and today we got better.”
The Kings needed a hard reset. While Wednesday’s win wasn’t perfect, it allowed plenty of people in the Sacramento area, both inside and outside the arena, to take a much needed breath.
“It never makes you happy, and you got to be dissatisfied, and you got to be competitive to be frustrated,” Karl said of the losing streak. “But in the same sense, you saw a good team tonight play well, play better, compete more.”
Gay came out firing, playing with a renewed sense of purpose. The veteran forward dropped in 12 of his season-high 25 points in the first quarter. He was aggressive and clearly motivated by the events of the previous two days.
Not to be outdone, Cousins started dropping in balls from all over the court, including 4-of-5 3-point attempts. Trying to put a rough day behind him, the All-Star center finished the night with 33 points and nine rebounds.
Maybe more importantly, Cousins kept his body on budding star Andre Drummond who came into the game averaging nearly 20 points and 20 rebounds a game. Drummond’s stat line wasn’t horrible, but his impact on the game was minimal.
Gay and Cousins didn’t do it alone. Point guard Rajon Rondo finished the night with his second triple-double of the season. Omri Casspi put in solid work off the bench and James Anderson played inspired defense on Reggie Jackson.
It takes a team to win at the NBA level and for one night, the Kings played as a team and beat a solid opponent.
As for the meeting? This wasn’t the first one in Sacramento and it likely won’t be the last.
“It happens all the time, at least two a year, at least two a year,” Gay said with a smile. “Every losing streak.”
And there were positives that came out of the blow up as well.
“The win,” Cousins said of what was the best thing to come from the meeting. “I’ll take the hit if needed. If it results in this every night, I’ll take the hit. I’ll be the scapegoat.
“Everything came out positive. Every issue that we had, it was covered. That’s what families do. They sit down and they talk their problems out.”
It’s back to normal in Sacramento, at least for a few days. The Kings return to the court on Friday against the 1-7 Brooklyn Nets. A win makes it two in a row. A loss, well, we won’t talk about that possibility just yet.
THE GOOD
The Kings took a lot of flack for their decision to bring in Rondo on a one-year deal. The 29-year-old guard has struggled slightly with consistency, but for the second time in three games, he dropped a triple-double on an opponent. It’s also the second straight game the veteran played all 48 minutes for Karl.
“That’s the kind of player he is,” Gay said of his long-time friend. “When we need him to step up, he does. When we don’t have anybody to back him up, so he comes out there and compete(s) every second. Hats off to him.”
Rondo finished with 14 points, 15 assists 11 rebounds and three steals. He shot just 6-of-16 from the field and turned the ball over five times, but at some point, fatigue sets in.
“There’s no complaints, he’s all in,” Cousins said. “What more can you ask for from the guy. [Explicit] I wish I had his energy.”
THE BAD
Sacramento came into the fourth quarter leading 86-70 and they let up. Detroit fought back and got to within five points at the 4:09 mark of the fourth. The Kings finished them off with a 7-0 run before the Pistons dropped in a buzzer beating three pointer to end the game.
The Kings need to learn how to finish teams off. Getting outscored 22-15 while shooting 16.7 percent from the field in the fourth quarter could have cost them the game and sent this team spiraling deeper into the abyss.