For a team that was on the second game of a back-to-back, the Portland Trail Blazers played like a fresh team. After beating the Toronto Raptors and a day of rest, it was the Sacramento Kings that were shut down. The Blazers defeated the Kings 110-94 in a game where turnovers made the difference. After achieving a triple-double the game before, Kings rookie guard Tyreke Evans had a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Kings power forward Carl Landry had 18 points and 6 rebounds, while Francisco Garcia had 17 points off the bench. Portland led by as many as 26 points and scored 21 points off of the Kings' 20 turnovers. Kings power forward Carl Landry said it was obv

 Last night something happened that no one thought possible. Ok, maybe a couple of people thought there was a chance. While not as long lasting as the Curse of the Billy Goat or the Curse of the Bambino, the Curse of Giovanni Crotti was starting to cause nightmares. Giovanni Crotti has been playing adult league dodgeball longer than most in Sacramento, having participated in leagues in Portland, Oregon prior to XOSO's beginning in Sacramento. As XOSO has grown from 50 dodgeballers to hundreds, Giovanni has maintained his hold as one of the top players in the league, yet a championship title remained illusive. Giovanni was rivaling Jim Kelly with a streak of playing in five championship

Wednesday night was Tyreke Evans' night at ARCO Arena. The Sacramento Kings rookie guard had limited-edition T-shirts and printouts of his face on sticks handed out on a night that was used to promote his rookie of the year campaign. His choice of music was played during warm-ups before the game. There was a special introduction, which included pyrotechnics and a banner rising in honor of his night, for him. An announced crowd of 13,412 was introduced to the rookie of the year chant, "R-O-Y." By the end of the game, RekeROY night was more than a success. It sealed the award for him. Evans, the frontrunner for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, notched his first career triple-double wi

Thursday in a special session at City Hall, task force member Chris Lehane told City Council members that the task force thinks that the project that represents the best success right now is the Kamilos project. In Kamilos’ plan, the Downtown railyards will be the site of a 19,000-seat sports and entertainment arena. In a second part of the plan, a new fairgrounds would be built at Arco Arena and on nearby land. John Moag, a consultant for the NBA working with Kamilos, in January explained a third part of the proposal. For that part, Kamilos' development team intends to purchase the California Exposition & State Fair from the state. A mixed-use residential development would be built at t

Sacramento, CA - Last night featured some epic showdowns to decide the Winter 2010 Wednesday night dodgeball champion. From the start of the season, Money Shot and DUI almost seemed destined to meet in the championship round. In the end, that's what happened. The night began with DUI squaring up against More Balls than Brains, one of the best #8 seeds XOSO has had to date. The first few games traded off, with DUI taking a 2-1 edge. Then, with each game coming down to a couple players, DUI found a way to win each one, prevailing 7-1 in the match. D3: The Mighty Drunks faced off against Beans and Rice, and took a commanding lead before relaxing, saving their arms for the #1 seed, DUI. Mo

There was a point Wednesday night at Arco Arena when Kings rookie Tyreke Evans was a little embarrassed. After all, it was a night designed and orchestrated by his team's management to promote him for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. As if he needed the t-shirts with Reke for ROY across the front to earn the award. Evans provided his own legitimate promotion with his first NBA triple-double (19 points and game-highs of 10 rebounds and 10 assists) to lead the Kings to a commanding 113-90 victory over the Toronto Raptors before a crowd of 13,412. Both Evans and the Kings had a slow start amidst all the hype. The Raptors led 45-40 at the half and Evans was three for nine from the field

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson – a three-time NBA all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns – shared his thoughts on Sacramento Kings Rookie of the Year candidate Tyreke Evans Tuesday morning at a press conference. Johnson officially endorsed Evans last week, and came before tonight’s rally to support Evans. "He's doing some amazing things," Johnson said about Evans' performance this season. "He's on pace to do something only three other (rookies) in the history of the NBA have done in the past – averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists (per game)." The three players who Johnson talked about are LeBron James and hall-of-famers Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan. Currently, Evans is

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

A quick look at the statistical breakdown of a game often reveals little about how the game was won or lost. The Oklahoma City Thunder's 108-102 victory over the Kings on Sunday was explained quite fully in by the box score. The Thunder (38-24) outrebounded the Kings 45 to 33, including a 16-9 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Thunder converted that advantage into a 23-11 second-chance points margin that the Kings had difficulty overcoming. Sacramento (21-42) also hurt itself at the free-throw line. The Kings made just 15 of 24 (62.5 percent) free-throws, while Oklahoma City shot 22 of 25 (88 percent) from the line. Those factors nullified the Kings outshooting the Thunder in fi

These are the best high school basketball teams, girls and boys, the area has to offer. It's the Sac-Joaquin Section 2010 championships. As I sit and watch and more importantly listen to the comments and reactions of teams' supporters, one question comes to mind. Can each team in every game be getting cheated? The obvious answer is "Of course not." Granted, the obvious biases belong to the parents, friends and relatives of the participants. Generally, officials could care less which teams win or lose. Officials are likely to have a slant toward a playing style more so than a team. Indeed, because humans are involved, should officials run into a team with consistency, there is the p