Ah, the good old days – when the Sacramento Kings would play the Los Angeles Lakers before screaming, sold-out crowds, tension and excitement filling the air from tipoff to the final buzzer. Perhaps for the last time, those days were here again Saturday night. If the NBA Board of Governors approves the Maloofs’ plan to sell the team and allow the franchise to die (only to be reincarnated as the new Seattle Sonics), then this was the final game of Sacramento’s most intense rivalry. Not only did the Kings start well, but future Hall of Famer Steve Nash re-injured his hip less than two minutes into the game and never returned from the locker room. Just one day earlier, defensive linchpin Me

The Sacramento Kings, sporting the worst record in the Western Conference, battled the Los Angeles Lakers, who are the most All-Star laden team in the NBA on Wednesday evening. Had Laker point guard Steve Nash not missed the game due to injury, the Laker starting five alone would contain five All-Stars — compared to zero on the entire Kings roster. But, Kings fans had hopes for a good game. As King fan Saul said, “If we play an A game and they play a B game, we're perfectly capable of taking this game.” We played our A game. Laker Dwight Howard, arguably the best center in basketball, played twice as many minutes as foul-plagued DeMarcus Cousins, but Big Cuz equaled Howard’s point total,

Thomas Robinson has had his first YouTube moment in a Kings jersey, and better yet, it came at the expense of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Sacramento Kings rookie power forward had what the Bleacher Report referred to as a "nasty" putback dunk over Dwight Howard, who debuted for the Lakers in their 99-92 preseason loss to the Kings.  For an analysis of the game and the latest on Coach Keith Smart's roster moves, go to Cowbell Kingdom.

The Sacramento Kings defeated their Pacific Division rival the Los Angeles Lakers 113-96 at Power Balance Pavilion Thursday night in the final game of the season. With the win, the Kings finished 22-44 for the season. The Kings were 16-17 at home and only 6-27 on the road, a number they will have to increase if they want to succeed in the NBA. Prior to the start of the game, Kings star DeMarcus Cousins came to center court and thanked the fans for being a great sixth man all year long, which brought a loud applause from the 16,281 in attendance. Though the Lakers sat all of their starters in anticipation for the beginning of the postseason on Saturday, the Kings began the game strong an

Following a long eight-month hiatus, the Sacramento Kings finally returned to Power Balance Pavilion and provided a sellout crowd with a 100-91 win over the rival Los Angeles Lakers. After almost seeing their team move to Anaheim last season followed by a labor disagreement that caused a delay to the start of the season, Kings fans filled the arena for the Kings “blackout” game and were rewarded with a hard-fought victory by their new-look Kings. Fans were loud and into the game before the ball was even tipped off. With the lights off, fans were instructed to activate the purple light sticks that they were given at the door, and continued cheering through much of a tribute video that fol

Apparently the once-heated rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers (5-0) and the Sacramento Kings (3-2) still has more than a flicker. The two teams squared off on Wednesday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento in the first of their four contests during the 2010-2011 season. The defending champion Lakers entered the contest undefeated through their first four games while the Kings boasted a 3-1 record that has included two second-half comeback wins. The Kings were unable to muster a third come-from-behind win this time around, losing 112- 100 to a Los Angeles team led by Kobe Bryant’s 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his 17th career triple-double. Bryant, a Kings enemy of old from

We are only four games into an 82-game season, but one thing we can take away from this year’s Sacramento Kings is that they do not quit.  On Monday night the Kings played their home opener in front of a packed Arco Arena, and for the third consecutive game, the Kings fell behind by double-digits before mounting a late rally to set up a dramatic finish.  The Kings held on to defeat the Toronto Raptors 111-108 and improve their record to 3-1 with an early test coming on Wednesday when they host the champion Los Angeles Lakers. The opening-night festivities began with the Maloof family presenting Tyreke Evans his Rookie of the Year trophy at center court.  Last season Evans became just t

For the past five seasons the Sacramento Kings have opened up the regular season on the road facing teams that were above .500 the previous year. This year they will again start on a three-game road-trip in late October, but won’t be playing the likes of Dallas, Houston or Orlando. Instead, the Kings will travel to Minnesota, New Jersey and Cleveland – two of those teams are young, and the other team is in a downward spiral looking to stay afloat in the east after the departure of its superstar. Besides their games against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and a game at Phoenix, the Kings have a pretty soft schedule to start the year. With only one back-to-back game in November,

Although the Sacramento Kings haven't announced their preseason schedule, three teams haven revealed their games against the Kings. The Phoenix Suns will play against the Kings here in Sacramento on Oct. 5 at Arco Arena. The Kings will travel to Las Vegas, where they will play the Los Angeles Lakers in their annual preseason game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Oct. 13. The Utah Jazz will wrap up their preseason against the Kings in Salt Lake City on Oct. 22 at EnergySolutions Arena.

After a historic season averaging 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game, Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans will be named the 2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year (ROY). The 20-year-old Chester, Pa. native became the first Kings player to win a postseason award since Bobby Jackson won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2003 and the fifth rookie in franchise history to win the ROY award. Maurice Stokes of the Rochester Royals, Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas of the Cincinnati Royals and Phil Ford of the Kansas City Kings were the first four. Evans is the first of to win the award in the Sacramento era. He also became the fourth rookie to average 20 points, five rebound

During an NBA season in which the positives for the Kings are more innate than tangible, rookie guard Tyreke Evans Monday night ensured his first professional season statistically will rank among the best in league history. That it came during a 117-107 defeat by the Houston Rockets and former Kings guard Kevin Martin before a supportive crowd of 14,549 at Arco Arena clearly had become a secondary issue before the game ended. Most of the fans came to cheer one of the few things enjoyable about the team's 25-56 mark with a season-ending game tonight in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Evans struggled through fatigue and nerves, but eventually scored 24 points to assure season game average

Kings rookie guard Tyreke Evans was playing the best basketball of his rookie season, but his it took a bad turn during last Friday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Late in the fourth quarter, Evans was hit by Ersan Ilyasova while he was swinging his elbows. As a result, Evans sustained a slight concussion, a bruised jaw and two cracked teeth. A fractured jaw was feared to be the diagnosis, and it would have been a horrible end to his spectacular first season in the NBA. He'll miss at least a week, which includes games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, New Jersey Nets and possibly the Boston Celtics. In the last two games played until his injury, Evans chalked up 2

There were undeniable truths when watching the Kings lose 106-99 Tuesday night to the Los Angeles Lakers at Arco Arena before a sellout crowd of 17,361. In many ways, the defending champions were everything the Kings could hope to become. As a unit, the long, athletic Lakers knew where to go on the court, when and how to get there and what to do when presented opportunities. Following a win the night before in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors, Kobe Bryant opened the game against the Kings super-aggressively with 12 first-quarter field-goal attempts. He helped set the tone, scoring a team-high 30 points, and the rest of his team followed. The natural matchup of Bryant vs. Kings

With four games played in March, Sacramento Kings rookie guard Tyreke Evans is still producing, despite his team losing three of the last four games to playoff-bound teams. Evans put up 17.5 points, 4.75 rebounds, 5.75 assists and 1.75 steals per game since March 2. He had had a team-high 27 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that has the sixth-best record in the Western Conference.  The Thunder's defense tightened up late in the game, securing a 113-107 home win over the Kings. Oklahoma City's top two players, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, combined for 69 points. The next night, the Kings were in Houston to play the Rocket

Sacramento Kings rookie guard Tyreke Evans led the Rookies team to its first win in eight years, beating the Sophomores 140-128 on Feb. 12. Evans earned the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge Most Valuable Player award, posting 26 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. Although fans voted Evans as the MVP, he didn't want to keep it for himself. Evans shared the spotlight with San Antonio Spurs rookie big man DeJuan Blair, who finished with 22 points, a game-high 23 rebounds and 4 assists. "I think we did a good job of getting the ball and pushing it," Evans said after the game. "But DeJuan Blair set the tone. He got the points and he got the rebounds. I'm (going to) share this MVP with him

The Kings, as far as NBA teams go, are infants. Every day is a new experience. Each game is an opportunity to learn.  Handling success, even on a moderate level, can be as important or moreso than dealing with defeat. Common sense suggests there's no better place of NBA learning than against the world champion Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. That's where the Kings will spend New Year's night before returning to Arco Arena Saturday to face the Dallas Mavericks. Both opponents are far more experienced than the Kings. The Kings (14-17) know how they must play to be successful: approaching every play as if it's the last. Sacramento will not be able to rely on a talent advantage for

Inside an electrifying ARCO Arena reminiscent of 2002, the Sacramento Kings (13-16) battled the Los Angeles Lakers (24-15) in a thrilling double overtime game. The arena was standing-room only for the Dec. 26 game. Lakers fans decked in purple and gold peppered the crowd of 17,345 that night. After a long and hard fight, the Kings faltered in the end to the defending NBA champions, losing 112-103. It was an emotional loss for fans and the players and Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal wore the team's emotions on his face. "We wanted that game so bad," Westphal said somberly. "(The Kings) did everything but get the last rebound with four tenths of a second." In the last seconds of the firs

The Kings have learned a couple of things this week while going against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, figuring out how to defeat one of those NBA elite squads was not one of them. A victory was not in the lesson plan. Saturday, the Kings searched for the killer instinct, but could not get the job done against the Lakers. They lost 112-103, this time in double overtime before a wild sellout crowd of 17,345 at Arco Arena. There were nearly as many Lakers fans as Kings fans. The packed and animosity-filled arena was good for Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who scored a game-high 38 points. "To be honest," he said, "it had been kind of boring in here for the past

The Sacramento Kings (13-15) may have lost to an eastern conference power in the Cleveland Cavaliers (23-8) on Wednesday night, but the team's rookie guard Tyreke Evans impressed all-stars LeBron James and Mo Williams. Evans posted 28 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal and a block in an 117-104 overtime loss to the Cavaliers. "He's a terrific young player," Williams said, who defended Evans for much of the night. "Six-foot-six-inch point guard who can handle the ball...has a quick first-step. You know he's a match-up problem waiting to happen." James always steps up to defend the opposing team's best player down the stretch, and Evans was no exception. "Tyreke's going to be a great