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Kings collapse late
Sacramento continues to fade with its 10th loss in 12 games.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 6:15 am PDT Monday, April 2, 2007
LOS ANGELES-What began as Ron Artest wanting the ball quickly turned into a relentless pursuit of leather, with no sympathy being shown for the player in the way.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Maurice Evans sat in the fetal position on the Staples Center floor Sunday night, holding on and quickly noticing that Artest was scrapping long past the whistle that fell on deaf ears.
In the third quarter of yet another game in which the Kings couldn't consistently find their way, the Kings' small forward looked as ready to fight as a heavyweight champ, his right fist clenching as an incredulous Evans jumped out of his grips and Kobe Bryant came to his defense.
It begged the question of what it would have taken to prompt such passion earlier, not in terms of minutes but months. The mini-melee sparked an 11-0 run that came with the feeling that these Kings could not be stopped, but their energy eventually faded in a listless fourth quarter, and the Lakers went on to win 126-103.
"It's like we've been saying all season: We can play that way, but we lose, so you can't just look at that," Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin said. "I don't know how to explain it, but we definitely need it more."
There is, in the big picture, plenty to be mad about these days for the Kings. Entering the season with the belief that the playoffs were only the start of their to-do list, they lost for the 10th time in 12 games. They were picked apart by a more subtly impressive Bryant (19 points, a season-high 13 assists), a nearly perfect Luke Walton (18 points on 8-for-11 shooting) and a better-than-ever Evans (21 points on 7-for-8 shooting), as the Lakers shot a season-high 61.7 percent.
And while this once great North-South rivalry is about as relevant as the Kings in the Western Conference playoff race -- as in not at all -- one of the two remaining members from those long-gone glory days sees promise for the Kings. Mike Bibby, however, wasn't the one.
"I'm sure the (Kings) will figure it out," Bryant said afterward. "They're not that far away. I think what you have is it's tough for them to decide what style they're going to play. Do they want to play a power game, where you post the ball up and do that sort of thing? Or do they want to play the way they used to play, which is ball movement and cutting -- Kevin Martin and Bibby just absolutely live off that stuff and are terrific at it. It just depends on which direction they want to go."
The same player whom Kings coach Eric Musselman called a basketball genius entering this game heaped the same praise upon Geoff Petrie, saying the franchise is destined for quick recovery so long as the team's basketball president is at the helm.
"Petrie is absolutely amazing at what he does, just terrific," he said. "I'm sure he'll make the necessary adjustments, and I expect them to be a threat again.
"Just look at what he's done. He had a team that should've beat us and got to the Finals (in 2002). They were that good. Then they break the team up, reshuffle the deck, came back at it again (last season) and got back to the playoffs that quickly. That's not easy to do."
The Kings' third-quarter surge was followed by more hard times, as they were outscored 39-22 in the fourth quarter, during which Evans scored 13 points and the Lakers hit 15 of 20 shots. The Lakers had a similar outburst in the third quarter, as their 21-4 run set the table for Artest's flare-up and put them ahead 85-70.
Bryant had nine assists by halftime, as the Lakers led 59-54. He had scored 50-plus points in five of the previous seven games, including two outings with 60 or more, yet this variation of dominance came through finding teammates and bypassing Artest's solid defense.
A Kings bench that was without forward Corliss Williamson (sore right heel) and lost forward Kenny Thomas in the third quarter (sore left big toe) couldn't keep up with the Lakers' reserves, who totaled 59 points. And a Kings team that mixed it up but couldn't find the winning mixture was mad but not made once again.
"It's such an emotional game, and the NBA season is built on chemistry," Bryant said. "Obviously, if the team isn't making the playoffs, there's some chemistry issues going on."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
Kings collapse late
Sacramento continues to fade with its 10th loss in 12 games.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 6:15 am PDT Monday, April 2, 2007
LOS ANGELES-What began as Ron Artest wanting the ball quickly turned into a relentless pursuit of leather, with no sympathy being shown for the player in the way.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Maurice Evans sat in the fetal position on the Staples Center floor Sunday night, holding on and quickly noticing that Artest was scrapping long past the whistle that fell on deaf ears.
In the third quarter of yet another game in which the Kings couldn't consistently find their way, the Kings' small forward looked as ready to fight as a heavyweight champ, his right fist clenching as an incredulous Evans jumped out of his grips and Kobe Bryant came to his defense.
It begged the question of what it would have taken to prompt such passion earlier, not in terms of minutes but months. The mini-melee sparked an 11-0 run that came with the feeling that these Kings could not be stopped, but their energy eventually faded in a listless fourth quarter, and the Lakers went on to win 126-103.
"It's like we've been saying all season: We can play that way, but we lose, so you can't just look at that," Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin said. "I don't know how to explain it, but we definitely need it more."
There is, in the big picture, plenty to be mad about these days for the Kings. Entering the season with the belief that the playoffs were only the start of their to-do list, they lost for the 10th time in 12 games. They were picked apart by a more subtly impressive Bryant (19 points, a season-high 13 assists), a nearly perfect Luke Walton (18 points on 8-for-11 shooting) and a better-than-ever Evans (21 points on 7-for-8 shooting), as the Lakers shot a season-high 61.7 percent.
And while this once great North-South rivalry is about as relevant as the Kings in the Western Conference playoff race -- as in not at all -- one of the two remaining members from those long-gone glory days sees promise for the Kings. Mike Bibby, however, wasn't the one.
"I'm sure the (Kings) will figure it out," Bryant said afterward. "They're not that far away. I think what you have is it's tough for them to decide what style they're going to play. Do they want to play a power game, where you post the ball up and do that sort of thing? Or do they want to play the way they used to play, which is ball movement and cutting -- Kevin Martin and Bibby just absolutely live off that stuff and are terrific at it. It just depends on which direction they want to go."
The same player whom Kings coach Eric Musselman called a basketball genius entering this game heaped the same praise upon Geoff Petrie, saying the franchise is destined for quick recovery so long as the team's basketball president is at the helm.
"Petrie is absolutely amazing at what he does, just terrific," he said. "I'm sure he'll make the necessary adjustments, and I expect them to be a threat again.
"Just look at what he's done. He had a team that should've beat us and got to the Finals (in 2002). They were that good. Then they break the team up, reshuffle the deck, came back at it again (last season) and got back to the playoffs that quickly. That's not easy to do."
The Kings' third-quarter surge was followed by more hard times, as they were outscored 39-22 in the fourth quarter, during which Evans scored 13 points and the Lakers hit 15 of 20 shots. The Lakers had a similar outburst in the third quarter, as their 21-4 run set the table for Artest's flare-up and put them ahead 85-70.
Bryant had nine assists by halftime, as the Lakers led 59-54. He had scored 50-plus points in five of the previous seven games, including two outings with 60 or more, yet this variation of dominance came through finding teammates and bypassing Artest's solid defense.
A Kings bench that was without forward Corliss Williamson (sore right heel) and lost forward Kenny Thomas in the third quarter (sore left big toe) couldn't keep up with the Lakers' reserves, who totaled 59 points. And a Kings team that mixed it up but couldn't find the winning mixture was mad but not made once again.
"It's such an emotional game, and the NBA season is built on chemistry," Bryant said. "Obviously, if the team isn't making the playoffs, there's some chemistry issues going on."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
