Kings-Hornets Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Feb 05 2012 1:20PM

When the Sacramento Kings faced the New Orleans Hornets last month, DeMarcus Cousins was absent after running afoul of then-coach Paul Westphal. A lot has changed since.

Coming off his first career 20-20 game, Cousins looks to help lead the Kings to a season-high third straight win Monday night in New Orleans.

Cousins finished with 21 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in a 114-106 overtime win over Golden State on Saturday, just the second time this season Sacramento has claimed consecutive victories.

The second-year center gave an impassioned speech heading into OT after the Kings (8-15) blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.

"Usually when we get in that situation like that in the past we've had a tendency to do it one-on-one and do it by ourselves," Cousins said. "So I just made sure I made it clear that we weren't going to win the game playing one-on-one, we've got to play together, team defense, team offense."

Cousins' maturity and leadership have grown since Westphal ordered him to stay away from the team after he demanded a trade prior to a 96-80 win over New Orleans on Jan. 1. Cousins came off the bench the next two games before Westphal was fired Jan. 5.

Cousins seems to have a better relationship with coach Keith Smart, averaging 15.4 points and 11.9 rebounds since Westphal's dismissal after spending his first four games in near-constant foul trouble.

"I think people had this young man pegged the wrong way," Smart said. "He just needed direction and someone to lead him in a direction. I can't take all the credit for it. This guy is willing to listen to what I am trying to say to him, what our coaching staff is trying to say for him."

The Kings will try to build off Saturday's win, in which they outrebounded the Warriors 55-36 and had 20 offensive boards. Cousins had six Saturday and grabs 4.3 offensive rebounds per game, second in the league behind Cleveland's Anderson Varejao (4.7).

Despite getting outrebounded 60-41 without Cousins, Sacramento had little trouble against the Hornets on Jan. 1. Tyreke Evans had 27 points and Marcus Thornton 25.

After missing four games with a deep thigh bruise, Thornton has averaged 24.0 points the last two games.

Heading into this matchup of last-place teams, New Orleans (4-20) has dropped five straight and 14 of 15. The Hornets lost 89-87 at Detroit on Saturday.

Playing without starting point guard Jarrett Jack (knee) for a second straight game, New Orleans lost Carl Landry with a knee injury and Jason Smith with what coach Monty Williams thought was a concussion.

The injuries seemed to take their toll. After the Hornets tied the score at 65, the Pistons went on a 10-0 run.

"This is the dog days of the NBA right now," Williams said. "A lot of players are kind of going through the motions and are tied and we certainly looked that way tonight. I thought we'd be a bit fresher because I gave them the day off yesterday but maybe that hurt us."

The statuses of Jack, Landry and Smith are unknown, but it's possible Chris Kaman could return. Kaman hasn't played since Jan. 23 while the team attempted to trade him, but general manager Dell Demps took the big man off the market Friday.

New Orleans has won five straight and 11 of 12 at home against Sacramento.

Cousins leads Kings back against Hornets, 100-92

By BRETT MARTEL
Posted Feb 07 2012 12:02AM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) After digging themselves a hole 18 points deep with poor shooting and porous defense, DeMarcus Cousins and the Sacramento Kings avoided the temptation to bicker with one another. Coach Keith Smart hoped it was a sign of a young team maturing and pulling together.

"They had a nice discussion with each other at halftime," Smart said. "They picked up the pace and I thought they did a really good job."

Cousins finished with 28 points and 19 rebounds, and Sacramento stormed back for a 100-92 victory over the slumping New Orleans Hornets on Monday night.

Tyreke Evans scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, when Sacramento took its first lead on Marcus Thornton's free throw with 6:24 left. Isaiah Thomas scored 17, including a 31-foot rainbow late in the shot clock that gave the Kings a 94-88 lead with 2:15 to go.

"I threw it up there and it went in. So that was a little dagger and I was happy I made it," Thomas said. "We fought hard and stayed together. That's one thing we're getting better at is not getting on each other and not giving up."

Thornton finished with 12 for the Kings, who currently sit near the bottom of the Western Conference at 9-15, but have won three straight.

"We're just playing great basketball right now," Evans said. "We want to keep that up and try to be in the race for the playoffs."

Playoffs? That may be still a long shot for the Kings, but New Orleans is just trying to win a game. The Hornets have now lost six straight and 21 of 23 while falling to 4-21 overall.

Greivis Vasquez tied a season high with 20 points and Marco Belinelli scored 18 points for the Hornets, who have led numerous games in the second half only to fade down the stretch. Emeka Okafor scored a season-high 19 points, while Chris Kaman added 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks in his return from a weeklong absence while the Hornets tried to trade him.

"It's not easy for us. ... We played well enough to (win) games like this," Vasquez said. "We've lost games by two or three points and we keep doing the same thing over and over again. At some point we have to learn the hard way. Hopefully soon."

Cousins scored 12 of his points in the third quarter as the Kings trimmed its deficit from 13 at the half down to five at 72-67.

"Put all the stats aside. The main thing is we got the win tonight," Cousins said. "At halftime we talked about our effort in the first half and we knew we had to come out in the second half with much more energy. ... We're getting better. We just need to keep it up."

Belinelli's jumper and Vasquez's end-to-end layup at the horn gave the Hornets a 78-69 lead heading into the final period, but it was not nearly enough.

Cousins' driving reverse layup as he was fouled by Kaman ignited a 12-2 run to open the fourth quarter. Evans followed Cousins three-point play with nine straight points of his own - all on drives to the hoop, once as he was fouled.

"We knew we had to put the pressure on them and the way to do it was to get to the basket," Evans said. "We were in attack mode."

New Orleans was able to tie it at 86 on Trevor Ariza's fast-break layup, but Thornton, who had struggled most of the game and finished 3 of 12 shooting, came back with a 3 to give Sacramento the lead for good.

After shooting 32.5 percent (13 of 40) in the first half, Sacramento finished at 47 percent (37 of 78). New Orleans shot 42 percent (34 of 81) after making only 26 percent (6 of 23) during the fourth quarter.

"Well, that's the story of our season so far. Play well in the first and then we do let it go in the second half," said Ariza, who had 11 points. "Nobody likes to lose. It's just getting old."

The Hornets hit 11 of 22 shots in the first quarter, when Okafor scored 11 points and Belinelli 10. Reserve guard Xavier Henry later scored eight straight points and New Orleans' lead got as large as 52-34 before the Kings trimmed it down to 52-39 on Cousins' layup that narrowly beat the halftime horn.

Notes: Cousins, who now has 16 double-doubles this season, was called for a technical foul for arguing with officials after they whistled him for an offensive foul in the second quarter. ... Jimmer Freddette played for the first time in three games, scoring five points. ... Hornets G Jarrett Jack missed his third straight game with a sore left knee. New Orleans also was without F Jason Smith (concussion), reserve forward DaJuan Summers (right knee swelling), G Eric Gordon (right knee bruise) and F Carl Landry (left knee sprain). ... Hornets F Gustavo Ayon got his first-career start, making him the 12th different New Orleans player to start a game through only the first 25 games of the regular season. ... Evans has scored 20 or more in four of five games.

Notebook: Kings 100, Hornets 92

Posted Monday February 6, 2012 11:52PM

Larry Holder, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Center DeMarcus Cousins dominated for the second consecutive game as he scored 28 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Hornets 100-92 on Monday night in the New Orleans Arena. The Kings have won three consecutive games, while the Hornets have lost 21 of their last 23 games.

QUOTABLE: "This was a worry game for me. I'm from Baton Rouge and I didn't even go home. I really worried. I didn't go home to see my parents. I was really worried and I was focused on what lineup I needed to have on the floor and what group of players I had working together. But I knew DeMarcus would do an incredible job of going to the glass and not really pushing or shoving people. He's using his lower body to weave in between areas."
--Kings coach Keith Smart

THE STAT: 18. That's how many points the Hornets led by at one point in this game. The Kings turned it on in the second half outscoring the Hornets 61-40 in the second half and 31-14 in the fourth quarter.

TURNING POINT: Sacramento began its momentum swing when it opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to turn a 78-69 deficit to start the quarter into an 81-80 lead with 6:24 remaining in the game. The Hornets briefly re-took the lead, but Sacramento was already in takeover mode.

QUOTABLE II: "There's nowhere to run. I told the players that. You can't get out of this. We'll find out who's committed and who's not because this is a tough time we're going through."
--Hornets coach Monty Williams on the losing ways continuing.

HOT: Cousins has been a monster the last two games as the Kings have the longest winning streak of the season. Cousins went 11 of 20 from the floor on Monday. He came in the Hornets game off Saturday night's win against the Warriors where he scored 21 points and pulled down 20 rebounds.

NOT: Kings guard Marcus Thornton probably wanted a big game against his former team. It didn't happen as the Kings leading scorer went 3 of 12 from the floor with 12 points. He did hit a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to seal the win for Sacramento, though.

ROOKIE WATCH: Kings guard Isaiah Thomas was the spark plug Sacramento needed in the backcourt with Tyreke Evans, who ended up with 20 points, and Thonrton starting off the game very cold. The rookie out of Washington went 6 of 11 shooting for 17 points in nearly 27 minutes. Thomas' most clutch basket happened with the shot clock expiring with 2:15 left in the game as Thomas hit a 31-footer to push the Kings up 94-88.

NOTABLE: The Hornets went into Monday's game very banged up. Point guard Jarrett Jack (left knee), forward Jason Smith (concussion) and forward Carl Landry (knee) missed the Sacramento game. Jack has missed the last three games and Williams said he wasn't sure when Jack would be ready to return. Smith will be monitored and miss at least one week. Landry will miss 3-4 weeks with a sprained MCL. Guard Eric Gordon is also still out with a knee bruise with his return time uncertain. ... Hornets center Chris Kaman played for the first tine since Jan. 23 as New Orleans sidelined him in the hopes of trading Kaman. Kaman had 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Williams wouldn't go into details as to why Kaman was brought back. ... New Orleans' Greivis Vasquez led the Hornets with 20 points and nine assists.

UP NEXT: For the Kings, Tuesday @ Minnesota, Thursday vs. Oklahoma City, Saturday vs. Phoenix. For the Hornets, Wednesday vs. Chicago, Friday vs. Portland, Monday vs. Utah.

• Kings: Whiteside
• Hornets: Gordon, Landry

• Kings: Cousins
• Hornets: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #56 Mark Ayotte, #52 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 13222
• Duration: 2:10