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Wilting in desert
The Kings can't keep up with Phoenix and are caught by Houston.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 17, 2005
PHOENIX - There are many ways to lose an NBA game, but relenting to pressure and aggressiveness is not supposed to be an option for one of the league's better teams.
In terms of record, the Kings qualify in the latter category, but not Saturday night at America West Arena. The Phoenix Suns trampled them in a 116-98 romp that wasn't as close as the score indicated.
The loss ended Sacramento's four-game winning streak, dropped the Kings into a fifth-place tie with Houston in the Western Conference and left Mike Bibby feeling glum.
"I don't like getting embarrassed, and I was embarrassed (Saturday night)," he said.
With 4:20 left in the third quarter, Kings coach Rick Adelman had seen enough. He called a timeout and removed all his starters after the Suns' 62-52 halftime lead had ballooned to 89-63 on Amare Stoudemire's two-handed alley-oop dunk off a Steve Nash pass.
Adelman said he couldn't remember pulling his starting five before this season, but "at that point, I mean, my goodness. We talked about trying to get (the lead) from 10 to four, and it went from 10 to 26. I wanted to see if these other guys could come in and play a little harder and not just cave into the situation.
"Once we got to the fourth quarter with eight minutes to go, I wasn't going to put the starters back in. I don't need to see anybody else go down."
Adding to the Kings' troubles, Houston beat Denver 115-87 to improve to 49-31 and tie Sacramento. Because the Kings and Rockets split the season series 2-2, the second tiebreaker, conference record, takes effect, and Houston has a better mark in that category.
The Kings remain one game ahead of seventh-place Denver (48-32) but will need to close the season with victories Monday at Utah and Wednesday against visiting Phoenix to guarantee holding off the Nuggets. The Rockets end the season with home games Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers and Wednesday against Seattle.
"We're in a situation where we've got to try to win two games and see what happens," Adelman said. "We still want to win our last road game and our last home game, and then we'll see where we fall at that point. We knew it was going to be tough coming into here, but I still think our goals should be to finish up with two wins."
Phoenix (61-19), meanwhile, is one victory or one San Antonio loss from clinching home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Kings couldn't be blamed for hoping the Suns rest Stoudemire in the season finale. The man-child personally took apart the Kings with a game-high 38 points, including 22 in the third quarter, when he sank 9 of 10 shots.
While Stoudemire became a one-man wrecking crew, the Kings scored just 21 points in the third, hitting only 10 of 29 shots. Then again, it can be difficult to score when you're just primarily taking jump shots and the other team is rebounding and turning the game into a track meet you can't win.
Stoudemire looked like a sprinter going against a bunch of nags. He used his quickness and athleticism to put together an incredible highlight reel. "He's right up there with any athlete in the league," Nash, who had 11 assists, said of Stoudemire. "In the third quarter, we turned up the energy a bit. We got our transition game going and got a bunch of dunks."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12741910p-13593589c.html
The Kings can't keep up with Phoenix and are caught by Houston.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 17, 2005
PHOENIX - There are many ways to lose an NBA game, but relenting to pressure and aggressiveness is not supposed to be an option for one of the league's better teams.
In terms of record, the Kings qualify in the latter category, but not Saturday night at America West Arena. The Phoenix Suns trampled them in a 116-98 romp that wasn't as close as the score indicated.
The loss ended Sacramento's four-game winning streak, dropped the Kings into a fifth-place tie with Houston in the Western Conference and left Mike Bibby feeling glum.
"I don't like getting embarrassed, and I was embarrassed (Saturday night)," he said.
With 4:20 left in the third quarter, Kings coach Rick Adelman had seen enough. He called a timeout and removed all his starters after the Suns' 62-52 halftime lead had ballooned to 89-63 on Amare Stoudemire's two-handed alley-oop dunk off a Steve Nash pass.
Adelman said he couldn't remember pulling his starting five before this season, but "at that point, I mean, my goodness. We talked about trying to get (the lead) from 10 to four, and it went from 10 to 26. I wanted to see if these other guys could come in and play a little harder and not just cave into the situation.
"Once we got to the fourth quarter with eight minutes to go, I wasn't going to put the starters back in. I don't need to see anybody else go down."
Adding to the Kings' troubles, Houston beat Denver 115-87 to improve to 49-31 and tie Sacramento. Because the Kings and Rockets split the season series 2-2, the second tiebreaker, conference record, takes effect, and Houston has a better mark in that category.
The Kings remain one game ahead of seventh-place Denver (48-32) but will need to close the season with victories Monday at Utah and Wednesday against visiting Phoenix to guarantee holding off the Nuggets. The Rockets end the season with home games Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers and Wednesday against Seattle.
"We're in a situation where we've got to try to win two games and see what happens," Adelman said. "We still want to win our last road game and our last home game, and then we'll see where we fall at that point. We knew it was going to be tough coming into here, but I still think our goals should be to finish up with two wins."
Phoenix (61-19), meanwhile, is one victory or one San Antonio loss from clinching home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Kings couldn't be blamed for hoping the Suns rest Stoudemire in the season finale. The man-child personally took apart the Kings with a game-high 38 points, including 22 in the third quarter, when he sank 9 of 10 shots.
While Stoudemire became a one-man wrecking crew, the Kings scored just 21 points in the third, hitting only 10 of 29 shots. Then again, it can be difficult to score when you're just primarily taking jump shots and the other team is rebounding and turning the game into a track meet you can't win.
Stoudemire looked like a sprinter going against a bunch of nags. He used his quickness and athleticism to put together an incredible highlight reel. "He's right up there with any athlete in the league," Nash, who had 11 assists, said of Stoudemire. "In the third quarter, we turned up the energy a bit. We got our transition game going and got a bunch of dunks."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12741910p-13593589c.html
