Hornets-Kings Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Mar 07 2012 2:26AM

After the Sacramento City Council and Mayor Kevin Johnson took care of the financial details that should help the team break ground on a new downtown arena, the Kings have plenty of upcoming business to attend to at their current home.

Sacramento will try to snap a four-game losing streak on Wednesday night when it opens a franchise-record nine-game homestand against the Western Conference-worst New Orleans Hornets.

The Kings and the NBA reached a tentative agreement during last week's All-Star break to finance a new arena in Sacramento, and the City Council approved the measure Tuesday night.

That facility would open in 2015-16, but in the meantime fans who've been fighting to keep the Kings (12-26) from relocating to Anaheim would certainly like to see a better product on the court.

Sacramento returns home with just two victories in its last 12 games. The Kings were seconds away from salvaging a win to close their three-game road trip, but lost 119-116 in overtime to Denver on Monday.

Kings guard Marcus Thornton hit a career high-tying six 3-pointers and finished with 27 points, but he fouled Arron Afflalo on a 3-point attempt with 0.6 seconds left. Afflalo hit all three free throws, and Ty Lawson's 3 with four seconds left in OT handed Sacramento another defeat.

"It's on me. I can't do that. I take this loss. I have to be smarter," Thornton said.

Kings coach Keith Smart, whose contract was extended through 2012-13 earlier Monday, had a more positive spin to the latest loss.

"We are growing and moving in the right direction," he said. "It just came down to micro moments of management and we didn't come through at that time."

Sacramento has come through in both contests versus New Orleans this season.

Even after DeMarcus Cousins was told to stay away from the team by then-coach Paul Westphal for apparently demanding a trade, the Kings defeating the visiting Hornets 96-80 on Jan. 1.

Tyreke Evans led Sacramento with 27 points in that victory, while Thornton, a former Hornet, added 25 with five steals.

Thornton had just 12 points in the teams' Feb. 6 matchup, but Evans scored 11 of his 20 in the fourth quarter to help Sacramento complete its rally from 18 down and end a five-game skid in New Orleans with a 100-92 victory.

That duo could cause plenty of problems for the slumping Hornets (9-29).

With points guards Jarrett Jack and Greivis Vasquez each recording just six total assists in the last two games - both losses - New Orleans has averaged 79.0 points on 41.1 percent shooting.

"A lot of that goes on our guards," coach Monty Williams said following Monday's 86-74 loss at Portland. "They have to be able to get us into offense."

Trevor Ariza returned Monday after missing two games with an illness, but the Hornets could again be without Carl Landry (sprained knee ligament), Jason Smith (concussion) and Emeka Okafor (sore left knee).

Hornets center Chris Kaman, who has started the last 11 games for Okafor, is averaging 13.5 rebounds against the Kings in 2011-12.

Cousins scored a season-best 28 points with 19 boards in last month's meeting.

Kings edge Hornets on Salmons' layup

Posted Mar 08 2012 1:54AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A veteran who lost his starting job this season due to poor play, John Salmons was on the court when it counted most Wednesday night for the struggling Sacramento Kings.

Marcus Thornton scored 25 points, but it was Salmons making the game's most significant basket, a go-ahead layup with 6.8 seconds left to help the Kings snap a four-game losing streak with a 99-98 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

The Hornets led by one and inbounded with 8.9 seconds left, but Isaiah Thomas stole Trevor Ariza's pass and quickly spotted Salmons cutting to the basket for a left-handed layup.

"He (Ariza) lofted it, and it was in the air long enough that I had a chance to get it," said Thomas, who started the game, but played only the final 58 seconds of the fourth quarter. "I was lucky enough that I got a hand on it and was able to get the steal."

The confident rookie point guard from the University of Washington quickly located Salmons heading toward the basket and his pass was on target.

"Credit Isaiah. He made the steal and threw it over Jarrett Jack's head," said Salmons, who had 12 points in 26 minutes. "It was a fairly open layup, but I needed to concentrate and make sure that I made the basket."

Jack had 25 points and Ariza 20 for the Hornets, who lost their third straight and fifth in six games. Chris Kaman had 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Ariza missed a jumper as time expired to give Sacramento the home victory, where the Kings are 9-6 this season.

"You have to take care of the ball," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "I didn't like the fact that we turned the ball over at the end of the game, but we also turned it over 20 times. It's always easy to point to that last play because we had the lead and the game in control. "

Tyreke Evans had 13 points for the Kings, who had dropped 10 of their previous 12 games. Jason Thompson and Thomas both had 12 points, and Jimmer Fredette scored 11.

The Kings played without second-year center DeMarcus Cousins, their third-leading scorer and top rebounder. The team said he was suffering from food poisoning. The Kings are 2-0 in games Cousins has missed this season, both coming against the Hornets.

This was the first of a franchise-record nine straight home games for the Kings. It came one day after the City Council and Mayor Kevin Johnson took care of the financial details of a new arena that will keep the team in Sacramento indefinitely, ending rumors that the team might move to Anaheim or Seattle.

The City Council approved the measure Tuesday night to build a new downtown arena that is expected to break ground next spring and be ready for the 2015-16 season.

Sacramento concluded its winless four-game road trip with an overtime loss Monday against Denver. The Kings are 4-20 on the road.

"We obviously play different at home, so it's nice to have eight more on our court," Thompson said. "It was good to get this win and get the monkey off our back. We've had a lot of tough games lately, especially the Denver."

It was yet another evening of playing short-handed for the injury-ridden Hornets, who have been decimated by injuries this season and only dressed nine players against the Kings.

"A couple of our guys struggled with fouls and you know it was like worst-case scenario as far as not having enough guys to go," Kaman said. "We give them credit. They made a play at the end."

Thornton made a basket to pull the Kings to within 98-97. A shot clock violation by New Orleans gave Sacramento the ball back with 19 seconds left and trailing by one point. Thornton missed a jumper, but the Kings got a final chance after the turnover.

Trailing by six points early in the fourth quarter, the Kings ran off seven straight points to assume the lead. Fredette's 3-pointer ended the run, giving Sacramento an 85-84 advantage.

The Hornets continued to shoot well in the third quarter, when they outscored the Kings 26-20. Jack scored eight points and Ariza had seven in the quarter. Greivis Vasquez made the Hornets' first 3-pointer of the game with 21 seconds remaining in the period, putting New Orleans ahead 80-78 heading into the fourth.

Thomas scored 12 points and Thornton had 10, helping the Kings take a 58-54 lead into halftime. Jack and Kaman both scored 12 points in the opening half for the Hornets, who shot 57 percent.

Notes: The latest Hornet with an injury was starting power forward Gustavo Ayon, who missed the game due to a sore left foot. . The Hornets are expected to sign Solomon Jones for the remainder of the season on Wednesday. Jones, who started against the Kings, is on the final day of his second 10-day contract. . The Kings attempted 14 3-point shots in the opening half while the Hornets shot just one.

Notebook: Kings 99, Hornets 98

Posted Thursday March 8, 2012 1:28AM

James Ham, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: This one went down to the wire in Sacramento. With 13.2 seconds remaining in the game, rookie Isaiah Thomas stole the Hornets inbound pass and flipped it to a breaking John Salmons for the lay-in. The basket gave the Kings the one-point lead as they held on for the 99-98 win over New Orleans.

Marcus Thornton led the way for the Kings, scoring 25 points on 9-for-21 shooting. Five other Kings scored in double figures, as they ended their four game losing streak and improved to 9-6 at home this season.

Jarrett Jack equaled Thornton's 25 points for the Hornets, but finished with five turnovers and only four assists. Chris Kaman had a monster, near triple-double performance and Trevor Ariza added 20 points and six assists in the loss.

QUOTABLE: "Coach called my name and I had to be ready. I made a pretty good play and then Johnny sealed it."
-- Thomas on his game-deciding steal and pass to Salmons.

THE STAT: Kaman nearly picked up the triple-double on the night, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight assists for the Hornets.

TURNING POINT: The turning point in this one came in the closing seconds when Thomas made an incredible acrobatic steal on the in-bounds pass, leading to the game-winning basket. New Orleans got one last shot, but Ariza missed the elbow jumper for the win

QUOTABLE II: "It was a first-time experience. It was unbelievable. It was like a game. It was like walking into a basketball game with a sold out crowd and the crowd's rowdy. The fans here are unbelievable, the city is unbelievable and it's an honor to even be here. To see something like that, everybody doesn't go through that and I saw history last night."
--Thomas on attending the Sacramento City Council vote for a new arena on Tuesday night.

HOT: Jack played great ball in the loss for the Hornets. He finished with 25 points on an efficient 11-for-17 shooting.

GOOD MOVE: Even though Jimmer Fredette played extremely well in the second half, Smart made the right decision going back to Thomas down the stretch.

BAD MOVE: Thomas was really good early on. This game might not have been this close if Smart would have played Thomas more than 17 minutes.

NOTABLE: DeMarcus Cousins was a last-second scratch after coming down with food poisoning before the game. The Hornets' Gustavo Ayon was also a late scratch with a sore left foot.

UP NEXT: For the Hornets, Friday @ Denver, Saturday @ Minnesota, Monday vs. Bobcats. For the Kings, Friday vs. Mavs, Sunday vs. Hawks, Tuesday vs. Warriors.

• Hornets: Gordon
• Kings: Hickson

• Hornets: --
• Kings: Thornton

• Lead Changes: 18
• Times Tied: 11

• Arena: Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento, CA
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #28 Tommy Nunez Jr., #12 Violet Palmer
• Attendance: 13487
• Duration: 2:10