Kings@Rockets PBP for Feb. 13

[VF21]

Greetings fellow Kings fans!

"If you can't say anything nice, say nothing at all."

...

So now that I've discussed last night's game I'll just move on.

The weather is beautiful once again here in the forest. The snow is melting rapidly, leaving behind a nice boost to the water table once it filters down through the rock, etc. Right now, though, it's still a muddy morass for anyone living off the paved roads. One interesting thing about movies with snow is they almost never show the slush or mud, probably because it's too hard to duplicate and too messy to work with the real stuff.

I'm thinking seriously of switching to tea for this afternoon's game. A nice honey ginseng or something to soothe the nerves...

The road trip is only going to get tougher. Let's hope the Kings can manage a good showing in Houston tonight and come home for the All-Star break to regroup before heading out to Portland.

Remember, tonight is another early game. No HousePartyLive as News10 is doing the broadcast, starting at 5:30 p.m.

GO KINGS!!!

 

[VF21]

So the buzz tonight is about Jason Kidd going to the Mavericks for Jerry Stackhouse, Devon Harris, et al. And Stackhouse is already saying the Nets will buy him out and Cuban will pick him back up in 30 days...

This could work in the Kings favor, as I mentioned in the trade thread, since other teams in the West will be looking to shore up their teams and Artest could be exactly the type of hired gun they bring in for the short sprint to the playoffs.

Watching the warm-up teaser on News10, I was impressed to see Justin Williams working on a nice spin move out of the low post. I'd like to see him do it in a game...and hopefully will soon.

 

[VF21]

Starting lineups:

Kings-Bibby, Martin, Artest, Moore and Miller
Rockets - Alston, McGrady, Battier, Scola, Yao

Getting ready for the tip...

 

[VF21]

Rockets win the tip. What a shock. Miller called for a foul on Yao; non-shooting. Scola inside for floater and two points.

2-0 HOU

Interesting match-up. McGrady is guarding Miller. Martin bounce-pass kicked oob. Kings to inbound.

Artest wide open under the bucket for two.

2-2

11;06 left

Alston miss, Martin deflects the rebound to Bibby. To Artest and then in to Miller, who misses. Rockets rebound.

Yao called for three-second violation. Kings ball.

 

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Bibby to Artest, who drives inside again right past Scola for two more.

4-2 KINGS

Battier for three.

5-4 Hou

9;48 left

Bibby to Artest, who goes inside against Scola again and draws the foul. Scola just is not going to be able to guard Artest. Kings inbound.

Martin inside to Artest, shot blocked by Scola. Ball to T-Mac and back to Scola, who is fouled (well grabbed) by Martin.

Scola at the line. Makes first; and second.

7-4 Hou

 

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Artest drives inside, drawing th3e defense, kicks out to Miller for two.

7-6 Hou

Houston miss, Scola called for loose-ball foul. 2PF. Hayes in for Scola in a very predictable Adelman move.

Kings ball.

8;48 left

Bibby to Miller, dish to cutting Martin for two.

8-7 KINGS

Alston jumper for two.

9-8 Hou

Bibby miss; Yao tips the board to Alston. Hayes airball, Yao with the rebound and Artest hammers him.

Yao to the line.

7;59 left

 

[VF21]

Yao makes first; and second.

11-8 Hou

Bibby to Miller, back to Bibby. Bad pass to Miller ends up with the Rockets snagging it. Three Rockets on the run, Martin catches up out of nowhere and Battier loses the ball. Kings turn.

Rockets get it back at the other end, though, on a Kings turnover.

McGrady to the line on hard foul by Moore.

 

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Makes both.

13-8 Hou

Martin to Moore inside for two.

13-10 Hou

T-Mac miss; Artest rebound.

Artest to the line on foul by Hayes. Misses first; makes second.

13-11 Hou

6;33 left

 

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Yao half-hook for two.

15-11 Hou

Bibby with the ball, fouled by Alston. Bibby to the line.

Makes first; and second.

15-13 Hou

6;04 left

Alston for two.

17-13 Hou

Miller to Bibby and back to Miller, shot blocked by Yao. Rockets on the run, Alston for two.

19-13 Hou

Bibby almost loses the ball but Martin chases it down. Kicks out to Mike.

BIBBY FOR THREE!

19-16 Hou

 

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Battier for three.

22-16 Hou

4;49 left

Bibby to Martin, who cuts around Moore screen, is almost tripped and lay-up rolls around but doesn't fall.

Rockets with two more at the other end.

24-16 Hou

Kings ball. Martin fouled and will head to the line after the time out and commercial.

4;14 left

 

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Beno and Salmons in for Bibby and Artest.

Martin makes both.

24-18 Hou

4;06 left

NICE move by T-Mac as he gets past Artest for two more.

26-18 Hou

Salmons miss; Rockets ball. Rockets miss; Kings ball.

Artest inside, draws another foul. Rockets in the penalty.

Artest to the line. Makes first; and second.

26-20 Hou

 

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Rockets ball. Yao bodies up against Moore, no call, but he loses the ball and Kings find it.

Kings ball, knocked oob.

Time out and commercial.

I think it will be Kings ball after the break but I'm not certain.

 

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Kings inbound. Martin tries to pass cross court but Rockets intercept it. T-Mac from the popcorn stand for three.

29-20 Hou

2;18 left

Artest inside, goes up for jumper and comes back down. Called for traveling. Rockets ball.

Another three for the Rockets.

32-20 Hou

Beno drives inside, ball knocked out of his hands and goes off his knee and oob. Rockets ball.

Bonzi in for the Rockets.

1;23 left

 

[VF21]

I'm sorry... I had two important phone calls. You haven't missed much, though, aside from some guy proposing to his girlfriend at mid-court. She said, "I can't do this... why did you do this to me?" and walked off the court.

49-33 Houston pretty much tells it all as far as the game goes

Bibby was knocked to the floor by Yao's arse. That's been about the most humorous point of the game, as Yao protested "I didn't touch him!" Well, no Yao. But your immense posterior did!!!

There's 4;19 left in the first half and we have Bibby, Martin, ARtest, Moore and Miller back on the court. I've seen Justin Williams get a couple of quality minutes but not much else.

Miller has been t'd up. He's clearly frustrated and whining at every call, even though he did have some validity in one or two cases. The official even went over to Reggie and explained that he finally T'd Miller up after warning him repeatedly.

On the next play, Yao hammers Miller and Brad does, in fact, get the call. Kings ball. Miller is now determined. He drives inside right against Yao and gets the trip to the line. Yao with 3PF.

 

[VF21]

Yao made the t shot. Miller makes both free throws.

50-33 Houston

3;15 left

Justin Williams back in for the Kings, replacing Moore. Nice board by Justin on the Rockets end and after a bad shot by Artest, Williams gets an offensive rebound but loses it when he puts it on the floor and has nowhere to go.

Time out and commercial.

IMHO this is just Artest ball and I'm very tired of it. There's NO ball movement; there's no team chemistry. There's nothing but a bunch of broken plays and Ron Artest trying to do it all - and not doing it very well.

I'll make the occasional comment but a PBP at this point just seems ... well ... pointless.

50-35 Houston

 

[VF21]

I'm liking what I'm seeing from Justin Williams. He was called for a goal-tend BUT he was in the play the whole way. Good to see.

It's frustrating to see the Kings being manhandled. We're supposed to be tough with Ron Artest but the whole team is getting hammered. We look SOFT. If that's gonna keep happening, there's NO reason for Ron Artest to be around. Justin Williams and even Kevin Martin are looking more aggressive than Ron at the moment. And Mikki may not be able to contain Yao but at least he wasn't playing matador for him.

I'm not a happy camper. Reggie had to take a time out to get Artest off the floor. He sent Salmons in to sub and Ron didn't come off. We nearly got called for a technical with six men on the court... And Ron is grinning because he honestly didn't have a clue.

Good lord...

52-35 Houston

1;01 left

 

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52-39 Houston at the end of the first half.

Justin Williams has continued to play nicely and Bibby hit a long two at the buzzer right before the half.

 

[VF21]

56-49 Houston

Kings have sparked somewhat of a comeback. Bibby is hitting his shots. Just as they went to break, however, they showed Bibby on the bench grimacing and grabbing his left ankle...

 

[VF21]

I'm sorry I didn't come back to this. I had a couple of phone calls I had to deal with and then the Kings were coming back hard and I was honestly afraid I'd jinx things.

We may not have won but Justin Williams just earned himself more minutes, IMHO. And if his play tonight was any indication, the young Mr. Williams may be a part of the Sacramento Kings for a long time to come. That was AWESOME!