EmKingsFan4
Starter
Sweep-less in Sacramento…
I’m not really sure what was better, getting a win to prevent the Mavs from sweeping the season-series versus the Kings or watching a Sacramento team actually have 12 guys healthy and ready to play.
Getting the win was most important of course, not only for psychological reasons, but because the Rockets, Grizzlies, and Nuggets all won tonight as well, meaning a loss would have made things even tighter in the Western Conference playoff race.
But it sure looked comforting having a bunch of guys in uniforms instead of street clothes sitting on the bench.
Things really turned for the Kings with their late third-quarter run, which cut Dallas’ lead to one point going into the fourth. From there, whether it was due to tired Mavericks legs or the Kings being hungrier, Sacramento pulled away and took control of the game.
Although this ended the Kings-Mavs season series, the way recent postseasons have worked out, it probably won’t be the last time these teams meet.
Peja…
The best number from Peja Stojakovic’s box score on Thursday wasn’t the 38 points or the nine rebounds he grabbed, although both of those show how aggressive he was on the offensive end.
No, the best number from Peja’s stat line was the five fouls he accumulated. Why? Because it showed how hard he was playing defense and challenging shots, attempting to help his team in any manner.
Peja is not known for being a hard-nosed, rough-and-tumble type of player—and the Kings don’t necessarily want him to be—but the coaching staff does need him to try and do other things besides score, and tonight he was successful at that.
"We don't need him to score 38 every night, but we've needed him to be aggressive like tonight," said Rick Adelman afterwards. "Hopefully, this will jump start him."
For the first time in a while, Peja looked like the player who some had pegged as MVP halfway through last season, a sign that bodes well for the rest of the year.
Random Thoughts…
I’m still trying to figure out that five-point play that Dirk Nowitzki got in the third quarter. So the shot was ruled a goaltend along with a flagrant foul, equaling two shots and possession of the ball, which resulted in three Nowitzki free throws? I think that’s right.
I do know one thing though, Dirk and Kenny Thomas don’t really like each other on the court—that can happen when you exchange flagrant fouls on each other. I'm also pretty sure just about every person watching the game said, "Here we go again," when Thomas went down and didn't get up right away, assuming another injury had hit.
Denver is really going to be tough on Saturday. The Mile High City is always a tough place to play for the Kings, compounded with the fact that the Nuggets are the hottest team in the league right now.
The Mavs are kind of like the current Kings in that they really don’t resemble the same team that this rivalry was built on. Dirk and Mike Finley are still there, but besides that it’s basically a new squad.
Alright, cross Dallas off the list of teams to block the sweep from. Next up is Seattle later in the month, who has a 3-0 series advantage so far. The Kings haven’t been swept in a four-game season series in a long time and would like very much not to start now.
<LI>As promised (to my nerdy self), I researched and provided the Kings’ game operations staff with a clip from the Simpson’s where Superintendent Chalmers yells, “SKIN-NER!” at Principal Skinner, hoping they might play it during a game whenever Brian Skinner makes a great play. It’s out of my hands now—and as the saying goes, you can only lead a horse to water…mmm…I forget the rest…
http://aol.nba.com/kings/news/The_Inside_Dishvs_Dallas-136481-58.html
I’m not really sure what was better, getting a win to prevent the Mavs from sweeping the season-series versus the Kings or watching a Sacramento team actually have 12 guys healthy and ready to play.
Getting the win was most important of course, not only for psychological reasons, but because the Rockets, Grizzlies, and Nuggets all won tonight as well, meaning a loss would have made things even tighter in the Western Conference playoff race.
But it sure looked comforting having a bunch of guys in uniforms instead of street clothes sitting on the bench.
Things really turned for the Kings with their late third-quarter run, which cut Dallas’ lead to one point going into the fourth. From there, whether it was due to tired Mavericks legs or the Kings being hungrier, Sacramento pulled away and took control of the game.
Although this ended the Kings-Mavs season series, the way recent postseasons have worked out, it probably won’t be the last time these teams meet.
Peja…
The best number from Peja Stojakovic’s box score on Thursday wasn’t the 38 points or the nine rebounds he grabbed, although both of those show how aggressive he was on the offensive end.
No, the best number from Peja’s stat line was the five fouls he accumulated. Why? Because it showed how hard he was playing defense and challenging shots, attempting to help his team in any manner.
Peja is not known for being a hard-nosed, rough-and-tumble type of player—and the Kings don’t necessarily want him to be—but the coaching staff does need him to try and do other things besides score, and tonight he was successful at that.
"We don't need him to score 38 every night, but we've needed him to be aggressive like tonight," said Rick Adelman afterwards. "Hopefully, this will jump start him."
For the first time in a while, Peja looked like the player who some had pegged as MVP halfway through last season, a sign that bodes well for the rest of the year.
Random Thoughts…
I’m still trying to figure out that five-point play that Dirk Nowitzki got in the third quarter. So the shot was ruled a goaltend along with a flagrant foul, equaling two shots and possession of the ball, which resulted in three Nowitzki free throws? I think that’s right.
I do know one thing though, Dirk and Kenny Thomas don’t really like each other on the court—that can happen when you exchange flagrant fouls on each other. I'm also pretty sure just about every person watching the game said, "Here we go again," when Thomas went down and didn't get up right away, assuming another injury had hit.
Denver is really going to be tough on Saturday. The Mile High City is always a tough place to play for the Kings, compounded with the fact that the Nuggets are the hottest team in the league right now.
The Mavs are kind of like the current Kings in that they really don’t resemble the same team that this rivalry was built on. Dirk and Mike Finley are still there, but besides that it’s basically a new squad.
Alright, cross Dallas off the list of teams to block the sweep from. Next up is Seattle later in the month, who has a 3-0 series advantage so far. The Kings haven’t been swept in a four-game season series in a long time and would like very much not to start now.
<LI>As promised (to my nerdy self), I researched and provided the Kings’ game operations staff with a clip from the Simpson’s where Superintendent Chalmers yells, “SKIN-NER!” at Principal Skinner, hoping they might play it during a game whenever Brian Skinner makes a great play. It’s out of my hands now—and as the saying goes, you can only lead a horse to water…mmm…I forget the rest…
http://aol.nba.com/kings/news/The_Inside_Dishvs_Dallas-136481-58.html
