Nik Stauskas

Steven Wilson

Despite a strong debut from rookie Nik Stauskas (9 first-half points), a smothering three-point defense that held Golden State to 22-percent from long range, and a double-double from DeMarcus Cousins (21pts, 11rebs), the Sacramento Kings couldn’t manage a win in their 30th-season home opener.

The Warriors used a 48-28 second-half to earn the victory and snap Sacramento’s ten-game winning streak in home openers.

Following an inspirational pregame ceremony and an eye-popping on court display showcasing legends and current superstars, the 2014-15 season began for the purple and black.

On a night that the organization honored the original 1985 team, the current squad came out strong. The Kings jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, but the Warriors stormed back with a 10-3 run. As the starters subbed out, Head Coach Michael Malone called upon his reserves to carry the load.

Playing against his former team, Carl Landry provided a key spark in the first half with six points off the bench and six rebounds, five of which were offensive boards.

Ramon Sessions then helped the Kings retake the lead early in the second quarter as he sped past the defense in transition, drew contact from Warriors center Andrew Bogut and converted a layup. The ensuing free throw gave his team a 29-27 lead with 9:23 to play before halftime.

Although the Kings hit just 26-percent of their attempts in the second frame, they outscored the Warriors 26-22 thanks to strong defense and a stellar free throw percentge. The purple and black made 15-of-17 free throws in the quarter including eight from DMC.

A normally high-powered offense, the Warriors were off from beyond the arc as they hit just 10-percent (1-of-10) of their attempts through the first two periods of play. Klay Thompson ended up as the only player on Golden State to drain a three in the first half. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry kept the visitors in reach scoring 12 of his game-high 24 points by hitting 3-of-5 field goals and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.

Understanding the threat the Warriors pose in transition, the Kings defense was on point in the first half, which helped the home team earn an 11-7 advantage in fast-break points to take a two-point lead at intermission, 49-47. The Kings also outrebounded the Warriors, 30-21 and 11-3 in offensive rebounding in the first stanza.

Although both offenses were sluggish early on, Golden State’s backcourt came alive in the second half and Sacramento’s faded. Curry added 12 more points to his stat line, while Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green both tallied 8 leading the blue and yellow to a 47-percent clip in the final half.

On the other end, Cousins was productive with eight points of his own, but the rest of the team combined for just 20 points in the final two periods. The Kings were held to 30-percent from the floor and just 9-percent from beyond the arc as the Warriors closed out the win on Sacramento’s home court.

Stepping on the floor for the first time with less than five minutes left in the first quarter, Nik Stauskas earned a standing ovation from his home crowd. As the opening period wound down, the rookie shooting guard connected on a trey from the far corner – his first basket in his NBA career – and the crowd went wild.

Stauskas shined in the first half tallying nine points on 3-of-5 shooting and adding two threes in just under 12 minutes of action.

Midway through the second quarter, fans turned their attention to the World Series.

The anticipation was palpable. As the final pop-up of the World Series hung in the air so too did the reactions from Kings fans. Turning to see the TVs inside the luxury suites inside Sleep Train Arena, fans saw exactly what they wanted – A game-7 win for the San Francisco Giants.

The crowd erupted, fans high-fiving each other and suddenly the sea of purple had a tint of orange to it. Fans –whether Golden State or Sacramento – united as one in unison to cheer for Northern California’s most recent sports accomplishment.

Just before the game, the organization honored a fallen member of the Kings family and all impacted by the recent Sacramento tragedy.

The crowd fell silent and the only light visible inside Sleep Train Arena illuminated Seat 5, Row A in Section 106 in honor of the life, service and commitment of long-time Kings fan &amp; Season Ticket Member Deputy Danny Oliver, and Placer County Detective Michael Davis.

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Recap: Kings Fall to Warriors in Home Opener

Sacramento opens the 2014-15 campaign against the in-state rival Golden State Warriors. Hear from newcomers Nik Stauskas and Ramon Sessions as they prepare to slow the “Dubs” potent backcourt.

Broadcasts: TV – CSNCA
Comcast - 34 / 721
Dish - 441 / 9579
DirecTV - 698-1
AT&amp;T - 768 / 1768Radio – KHTK Sports 1140 AM

'Ray Vegas' Tips-In Game-Winner in Preseason Finale

In the fourth quarter against the Lakers on Friday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Ray McCallum repeated his Las Vegas heroics, which earned his Summer League Championship game MVP honors. No. 3 led the Kings back from a double-digit deficit and tipped-in a game-winning layup as time expired.

Afterwards, Head Coach Michael Malone said the second-year point guard from Detroit will now be aptly known as “Ray Vegas.” McCallum scored 7 points in the final frame, while Nik Stauskas added 10 as the purple and black closed the fourth quarter on a 17-3 run to steal the 93-92 victory over the Lakers and finish the preseason with a 3-4 record.

In all, Sacramento outscored L.A. 29-16 in the final 12 minutes. DeMarcus Cousins paced the offense through the first three quarters with a game-high 21 points and earned his third consecutive double-double by adding 10 boards. Derrick Williams (14pts), Ramon Sessions (13pts) and Stauskas (10pts) all joined their center in double-figures.

Tonight’s showdown with in-state rival Golden State will officially tip-off the Kings 30th-season in Sacramento. After purchasing the Kings in 1983, new owners, Joseph Benvenuti, Frank and Gregg Lukenbill, Bob A. Cook, Frank McCormick and Stephen H. Cippa petitioned the NBA Board of Governors to move the team from Kansas City, Mo. to Sacramento, which was approved April 16, 1985.

The Kings first game in Sacramento was played in front of a sellout crowd on October 25, 1985 against the Los Angeles Clippers. Over the next 29 seasons, Sacramento Kings fans became known as one of the most passionate fan bases in all of sports, creating a legendary home court advantage.

Wednesday’s contest against the Warriors will be the first of many commemorative moments this season as the organization plans to celebrate legendary moments, players and fans throughout the 2014-15 season. A limited edition 30th season T-shirt is on sale exclusively at www.KingsTeamStore.com.

Before the opening tip of the 2013-14 season as the lights dimmed and the announcer began his introductions, goose bumps crept up Ben McLemore’s arms – the anticipation and jubilation overcame the 20-year old shooting guard.

“It felt like I was home,” said No. 23 about the arena’s energy. “I was very excited and happy to be playing in my first real NBA game. There was a ton of energy and enthusiasm – the fans are so crazy here and they showed me so much love and support. I was excited to go out there and perform.”

It didn’t take long for him to find the net – a special moment in any player’s career – and the anxiety faded.

“I had a few jitters,” he admitted. “My first points in the books came on a three against Denver – it felt so good. That’s when I realized I had made it to the NBA.”

As McLemore drained his first bucket, fans rose to their feet in unison to celebrate and cheer for their new rising star.

“Coming from a big program like Kansas and the ovations they gave me, I got the same treatment here,” said McLemore.

Now on the verge of his second season in the League, Sacramento’s young guard is primed for success and ready to prove doubters wrong.

“I’m ready to get this season going,” said McLemore. “I think this is the year for us to surprise a lot of people and teams.”

The Kings added many talented veterans this offseason including point guard Ramon Sessions, who says he never takes his opportunity for granted.

“This is my eighth year and I still get butterflies,” he admitted. “I’m just as excited as I was in my first year. Any time you get to start a season in the NBA, there’s nothing like that first game.”

“I can’t wait to see the crowd. I know they’re going to be excited. That first night, when they do the starting lineups, everything is a little different and it’s [even more special] because it’s a cross-town rivalry with Golden State.”

With an anticipated sell-out crowd inside Sleep Train Arena, the noise will be deafening, the energy will be palpable and the teams will be fired up for the start of a new season.

“There’s nothing like it,” concluded McLemore.

Led by the potent “Splash Brothers” – Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson – Golden State finished last season with 51 wins and the sixth-seed in the 2014 NBA Playoffs. Curry and Thompson have been the NBA's top 3-point shooting duo in each of the last two seasons draining 261 and 223 threes, respectively.

The Warriors backcourt duo leads a team that returns their top seven players in terms of minutes played from last season including swingman Andre Iguodala, forwards David Lee, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes, and center Andrew Bogut.

“To play a challenging team like Golden State early is good, we know we have to improve our defense and you can’t ask for a better team than Golden State to help us with that,” said reserve point guard Ramon Sessions. “They’re a team we know that’s going to run the floor, shoot threes and we have to be ready.”

The Warriors led the NBA in scoring during exhibition action scoring 110 points per outing and finishing their 8-game slate with a 6-2record. First-year head coach Steve Kerr also witnessed his team finish first the League in shooting percentage (.513), assists (28.1 apg) and point differential (+11.0).

After dropping all four matchups to the blue and yellow last season, the Kings will need a strong performance from their defense to pull out the win.

“It’s definitely takes a team effort, but it starts with the guards,” said Sessions. “They have Curry and Klay Thompson – two dynamic guys in the backcourt. It’s going to take a team effort, it’s going to take all five of us to get stops.”

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Game Preview: Kings (0-0) vs. Warriors (0-0)

This past March, when Nik Stauskas was still sporting a blue and yellow Wolverines jersey, his mom, Ruta Stauskas could be seen every so often in the stands wearing a “Real Moms of Basketball” T-Shirt.

“I know she always goes on Twitter and checks my tweets, but I thought she was going on Twitter [without a username],” Nik admitted. “But then I found out she has a Twitter account, so I gave her a shout-out. She actually has some followers now and she followed me back.”

Ruta created a profile (@RStauskas) roughly five months ago and started favoriting her son’s posts. At the time, Nik didn’t realize who it really was, but recently checked her profile and found out his mom was following one of his current teammates.

“I saw zero followers and 1 following and there’s Boogie Cousins,” said Stauskas with a big grin. “Cuz was the only person she was following – he’s her favorite player apparently.”

Nik Stauskas is beginning to realize what the rigors of an 82-game regular season mean in the NBA. Not only does No. 10’s rookie season feature 17 sets of back-to-back games, but October &amp; November also boast 11-of-17 matchups against playoff teams from a season ago.

“We’re playing some good playoff teams in this first month [of the season] and a lot of road games too, so it’s going to be a difficult challenge for us,” said Stauskas, who admitted the daily flight plans will take some time to get used to.

As a unit, the Kings have already surpassed 15,000 miles traveled this preseason with another thousand in the books today as the team heads to Las Vegas to face the Los Angeles Lakers.

The flights may take their toll on the player’s bodies, but they haven’t stopped Sacramento’s offense from putting up encouraging numbers. With field goal percentages near the top of the NBA and averaging over 100 points per game, the Kings are looking to carry those numbers into the regular season.

“I feel like we’ve made some good strides so far,” said Stauskas. “I think we’ve shown signs of playing really well together offensively and defensively. At this point, it’s about us being consistent – that’s what separates the good teams and the great teams, the ability to do it for 48 minutes every single night. I believe we’re on that path, we just have to keep working.”

When asked just how good he thinks this offense can be, Stauskas replied, “I think it can be really good. With a guy as talented as DeMarcus – you saw it down in San Antonio, he’s virtually unstoppable when he gets it going like that – we have a lot of great pieces around him – guys who can shoot and make plays for each other.”

With a handful of seasoned veterans leading the way, practices have been intense, unforgiving and emotional.

“We’re trying to change things around here,” said center Ryan Hollis. “We’re going to go down fighting whether we win or lose, and you’re going to have a fight when you play us. That mentality has to start in practice.”

The Kings will look to carry that mindset over into Friday’s preseason game against the rival Los Angeles Lakers – a game no player is taking lightly.

“We have to set the tone for the season, so we’re trying not to approach this as preseason, but a regular-season game,” added Hollins. “[We want to] do the things that we’ll do once the season starts, so we have to be ready to roll.”

Nik Stauskas

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