Kings-Wizards Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 22 2012 12:27AM

After a promising start, the Washington Wizards' road trip ended in miserable fashion. A matchup with the struggling Sacramento Kings during their return to Verizon Center could provide some positivity heading into the All-Star break.

The Wizards will try to snap a three-game slide by adding to their recent home dominance of the Kings on Wednesday night.

Washington recorded back-to-back victories for the first time this season during the start of a five-game trek but dropped the final three games by an average of 16.0 points, capped by a 104-88 defeat to Phoenix on Monday.

The Wizards (7-25) led by a point early in the third quarter but were outscored 31-6 over the rest of the period. Jordan Crawford, who had a team-best 20 points, is averaging 18.5 over his last four games.

"We were up by one and then went on a spree of the most selfish basketball I have seen since I have taken over," coach Randy Wittman said. "I have to find the right people to play the right way because I am not letting that slip back in."

If Wittman can do that, it might give Washington a better chance at its seventh consecutive home win against the Kings (10-22). Sacramento enters the Verizon Center having dropped a season-high six straight and six in a row on the road.

The Kings are also 0-5 on their six-game trip following a 120-108 defeat to Miami on Tuesday. Sacramento failed to recover from a 15-5 fourth-quarter burst by the Heat.

Rookie guard Isaiah Thomas was a bright spot with a season-high 24 points, including 20 in the third quarter, and he made five of his team's season-high 13 3-pointers. Marcus Thornton's 23 points gave him at least 21 in three consecutive games.

Sacramento, though, gave up 25 points off its 15 turnovers and allowed Miami to shoot 55.6 percent.

"You needed to play a perfect game to win this game against this team and we were pretty close to the perfect game," coach Keith Smart said. "We had moments, but when you give up 25 points off turnovers, you're not going to beat many teams."

The Kings did plenty of scoring against the Wizards last season as their 124.5-point average was their highest against any opponent. However, they didn't play well at the other end of the floor during last season's visit to the nation's capital, especially against Nick Young, during a 136-133 overtime defeat.

Young had a career-high 43 points to lead six players in double figures, including John Wall with 22, during his team's best scoring performance since a 144-139 overtime win in Phoenix on Dec. 22, 2006.

The Wizards' 107.4-point average against the Kings since the beginning of the 2004-05 season is their second-highest versus any opponent, but they have split their last four overall in the series.

Sacramento, though, might not have John Salmons available for this matchup. The swingman, who came off the bench in the previous two games, was a late scratch Tuesday because of a sore right hip.

Sacramento hasn't lost seven straight since an eight-game slide Dec. 11-27, 2010.

Kings break 6-game skid, beat Wizards 115-107

By JOSEPH WHITE
Posted Feb 22 2012 11:02PM

WASHINGTON (AP) With the pace off the charts and players driving to the basket at will, the first half of Wednesday night's game between the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards looked like an All-Star game preview - minus the All-Stars.

Then a few things happened that weren't All-Star-like at all: The Kings started playing some defense, DeMarcus Cousins made the unselfish decision to keep himself on the bench, and the coach of the losing team angrily ripped his players for pursuing "style over substance."

Cousins and Tyreke Evans sat the entire fourth quarter while Marcus Thornton, rookie Isaiah Thomas and Chuck Hayes took over, leading Sacramento to a 115-107 win that snapped a six-game losing streak.

"I was getting ready to put Cousins back in," Kings coach Keith Smart said. "And he said `Let Chuck Hayes stay in the game.' That's gigantic for him. Tyreke Evans had a fabulous first half, came out of the game, didn't play in the fourth quarter and simply cheered his teammates on.

"That's the growth I'm trying for our team to have if we're ever going to have a chance to be good and turn our franchise around."

It made for an interesting set of numbers as the game progressed. Evans scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half, and Cousins had 14 of his 16 before halftime as well as 10 of his 16 rebounds. Meanwhile, Thornton scored 18 of his 22 in the second half, and Thomas had 16 of his 18 in the final two quarters. Hayes finished with six points - all in the final 6 1/2 minutes.

"Chuck was doing an incredible job out there on the floor," Cousins said. "The group that was out there was going well, so there was no need for me to go in and change it."

Right now, it's hard to imagine such examples of team play coming from the Wizards, who made 6-of-16 shots in the fourth quarter. Washington has lost four straight and enters the All-Star break 19 games under .500.

"Until our team is committed to playing winning basketball - until they're committed to doing that - we're going to be like this team was tonight," coach Randy Wittman said. "There wasn't anything done in that second half to win that game.

"I know the term has been used - style over substance. We got a guy going in for a layup and does a reverse 360 and misses the whole thing. Crowd oohed and aahed. We didn't get any points out of it. Until we're committed to making winning basketball plays the whole game, it's going to look like that."

He kept going, referencing the Wizards' 14 second-half turnovers.

"Why did we have those turnovers? When I'm double-teamed, I continue to try to do something against the double team," Wittman said. "You're going to turn it over, plain and simple."

The player guilty of the failed 360 move was Nick Young, who was 6 of 23 and scored 17 points.

"I was the only one who did it. I did that in the past. If I make it, everybody's on my side," Young said. "If I miss it, then it's a bad shot. ... I didn't know I had that many shots. I was just trying to get things going for my teammates. They brought me here for that and that's one of the parts of my game."

Jordan Crawford scored a season-high 32 points, and John Wall had 21 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Wizards.

"In that second half, we became selfish and didn't play team defense," Wall said, "and they picked us apart."

The Kings said pretty much the same thing about themselves in the first half as the Wizards piled up 68 points at halftime, the most Washington has scored in any half this season. Neither of these losing teams will have a player in the All-Star game in Orlando on Sunday - the only representatives will be former Kentucky teammates Cousins and Wall in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday - but that didn't keep both sides from getting in the spirit of fast-paced runs that met little resistance.

"There was no defense out there," Cousins said. "It was terrible."

The game included 58 fast break points and 102 points in the paint. The Kings led 104-103 with 3:44 to play, but Thomas scored the next basket to start a game-ending 11-4 run as Sacramento matched its highest point total of the season.

Thomas made 8 of his last 12 shots and has scored 78 points since taking the starting point guard spot four games ago, tying Otis Birdsong (1977) for the most points scored by a Kings rookie in his first four starts.

The win also gave the Kings an upbeat ending to their six-game road trip.

"It was important for us to get a win and go home over this break," Smart said, "and not have to come back with all the world on our shoulders."

Notes: In this lockout-shortened season, both the Kings (11-22) and Wizards (7-26) hit the break exactly halfway through their 66-game respective schedules. Sacramento improved to 4-17 on the road; Washington fell to 4-13 at home. ... The Wizards had won six in a row at home against the Kings. ... Washington F Jan Vesely was not on the bench at the start of the game because of a stomach virus, but he played in the second half. ... Sacramento F-G John Salmons missed his second straight game with a sore right hip. ... Players have been known to check out mentally in the final game before the All-Star vacation, and both coaches addressed it before the game. "I've been around it when I look in the tunnel and the limos are already there - ready to go to the next spot," Smart said.

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Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Notebook: Kings 115, Wizards 107

Posted Wednesday February 22, 2012 11:29PM

By Rich Dubroff, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Marcus Thornton and Isaiah Thomas combined for 34 of their 40 points in the second half, and the Sacramento Kings broke a six-game losing streak with a come-from-behind 115-107 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.

The Kings trailed by eight at halftime, but outscored Washington 55-39 in the second half. Sacramento took a 102-101 lead with 5:01 to play on Thomas' driving banker. The Kings closed the game with a 15-6 run.

Thornton ended with 22, and Thomas with 18. Tyreke Evans had 20 of his 22 points in the first half for Sacramento.

Jordan Crawford led the Wizards with a season-high 32 points. John Wall narrowly missed a triple-double with 21 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Washington ended the first half of the season with a four-game losing streak.

QUOTABLE: "There was no defense out there. It was terrible."
-- Kings' DeMarcus Cousins.

THE STAT: Thornton and Thomas had six points in the first half -- 34 in the second. Evans and Cousins had 34 in the first half -- four in the second.

TURNING POINT: In the fourth quarter, Cousins and Evans didn't play at all. Sacramento coach Keith Smart played just five players in the fourth quarter: Thornton, Thomas, Jason Thompson, Chuck Hayes and Francisco Garcia.

QUOTABLE II: "They need to introduce themselves to some of the bigs that they never throw the ball to."
-- Washington coach Randy Wittman.

HOT: Evans was 8-for-10 from the field, but watched his team's rally from the bench.

NOT: Nick Young was 6-for-23 and was criticized by Wittman for missing a reverse 360' layup in the first half. "Crowd oohed and aahed. We didn't get any points out of it," Wittman said. "Until we're committed to making winning basketball plays the whole game, it's going to look like that."

GOOD MOVE: Smart keeping Jimmer Fredette off the court in the second half. Crawford scored 15 points with Fredette guarding him in the second quarter.

BAD MOVE: Young kept firing up ill-advised shots in the second half. He was 2-for-11. "I didn't know I had that many shots," Young said. "I was just trying to get things going for my teammates."

NOTABLE: Both teams reached the All-Star break having played exactly half their schedule. Sacramento is 11-22 and Washington is 7-26.

IN THE ARENA: Many devotees of Fredette swelled the crowd to 17.085. It was Fredette's first game -- college or professional -- in Washington. He scored eight points in 12 minutes.

NEXT: For the Kings, Tuesday vs. Utah, Mar. 1 vs. L.A. Clippers, Mar. 2 @ L.A. Lakers. For the Wizards, Tuesday @ Milwaukee, Wednesday vs. Orlando, Mar. 3 vs. Cleveland.

• Kings: Salmons
• Wizards: Turiaf

• Kings: Cousins, Thomas
• Wizards: Wall

• Lead Changes: 14
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
• Officials: #43 Dan Crawford, #42 Eric Lewis, #77 Karl Lane
• Attendance: 17085
• Duration: 2:08