The Sacramento Kings ran out of gas as they fell to the Detroit Pistons 124-112 Wednesday night at Power Balance Pavilion. The Kings suffered another loss on the court, losing guard Tyreke Evans to an ankle sprain. Evans came down awkwardly on his ankle after making a layup late in the game. X-rays came up negative and Evans is listed day-to-day. Following two losses in a row, struggling on both sides of the floor, the Kings came out with an intensity that allowed them to jump out to a big lead against the Pistons. Forward Jason Thompson played great for the Kings, scoring 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting and grabbing 15 rebounds off the glass. “Jason is the perfect guy for what we are d

The Sacramento Kings lacked the energy necessary to win the game once again, as they fell to their Northern California rival Golden State Warriors 115-89 Tuesday night at Power Balance Pavilion. The Kings were unable to capitalize on the Warriors’ forced improvisation with their rotation following a trade made just before the game. The Warriors decided to make a splash before the trade deadline by swapping out guard Monta Ellis, former first-overall pick Kwame Brown and second-year forward Ekpe Udoh in a five-player trade. In return from the Milwaukee Bucks: the injured Andrew Bogut and a disgruntled Stephen Jackson. Ellis was the Warriors’ leading scorer this season with 21.9 points and

The Sacramento Kings were unable to continue their modest two-game win streak as the Kings fell 106-99 to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night at Power Balance Pavilion. The Kings returned to old habits with turnovers once again, finishing the game with 16 turnovers and only 19 assists. Despite a big game from DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings were unable to overcome the turnovers as the Hawks took advantage to leave Sacramento with the road win. Cousins finished with yet another double-double, this time with 28 points and 12 rebounds, even with fouling out of the game. “I just thought we had too many mistakes we made,” Kings coach Keith Smart said following the game. “Based on how we had played

What a difference a couple of months make. It was back on January 14 when the keepers of the castle were in Dallas and getting blown off the court. They only scored 23 points in the first half, 60 in the game and shot twenty-six percent in possibily the most disappointing performance of the season. Fast forward to the present. Coach Smart has had more quality time to spend with the team, thus the cohesion and his style of play are finally taking shape. On Friday night at Power Balance Pavilion, the Kings put on display the collective knowledge that Smart has infused into the team as they put a whooping on the visiting Dallas Mavericks 110-97 in front of a nearly-packed house. For the

Unlikely. If you would have asked almost any Kings fan before the game, they never would have used that word to describe the chances of a win against the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday evening at Power Balance Pavilion. Not only likely, but darn well better win. But when it came down to the final moments of the game, the chances of a home victory seemed very unlikely. With the Kings trailing by one and 14.9 seconds left in the game, Marcus Thornton (25 points, four boards, four steals) missed a runner and the collective breath of the old barn let out a sigh. It seemed a loss was in the near future until an incredible steal from rookie point guard Isaiah Thomas, who then passed to Joh

Playing against the “Lob City” crew and an arsenal of good long-range shooters, the Kings’ task at hand, on this Thursday night, was a tough one. Add in Kenyon Martin, who just made it back from China, and the Clippers are finally a legitimate contending team in this shortened season. With that said, the Sacramento Kings hung tough until a bad stretch in the fourth quarter that was initiated by some — as the venerable Bill Walton would say, “horrible” — calls and non-calls by the officials. In the end, the Kings fell too far back late in the game to mount a comeback and lost to the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 108-100. After the Kings got out to a early 6-0 lead on shots from DeMarcus

In hockey, the joke is: I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out. At Power Balance Pavilion Tuesday night, there was a celebratory love fest with Gavin and Joe Maloof, Mayor Kevin Johnson, the Sacramento Kings, and about 14,000 fans. This was the first home game since a financing plan was announced for a new arena. Along with the celebration, there was also a game. Even Isaiah Thomas, whose 18 points and 8 assists helped defeat the Utah Jazz 103 - 96, was happy for Sacramento. Although one of the possible relocation destinations for the Kings was his native Seattle area (he grew up in Tacoma as a Laker fan), he also knows what it’s like for a city to lose its NBA team. Besides, he t

Game Summary Going into Saturday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, the Phoenix Suns had every reason to be confident. One of only five teams to have a better record on the road than at home, they had won three of their last four games, including two straight road games. Moreover, they had beaten the Kings in 17 of their last 22 encounters. Having just stunned the "Best in the West" Oklahoma City Thunder, the Kings also had every reason to be confident. Sporting a 7 - 4 record at Power Balance Pavilion, they had won four of their last five games, while the three losses in the past seven games were by a combined total of a mere 8 points. Moreover, they had beaten the Suns in their most

Plain and simple: It was one of the best, most exciting games ever played at the old barn. With a national television audience watching on Thursday evening and the place filled to the rafters with ready-to-burst-with-applause black-adorned rabid fans, the Sacramento Kings pulled off the improbable and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 106-101. From the opening tip to the final buzzer, this game had it all. Consider this. Kevin Durant, one of the league’s outstanding players, scored 27. Russell Westbrook had 33. And the Thunder had a franchise record 17 blocks, including 10 from Serge Ibaka. Add that all up and, on a normal night, it would seem the home team was destined for doom. Ah,

If I told you that a rookie guard on the Sacramento Kings was making a significant impact on the team's performance, certainly you'd assume I was talking about Sacramento's prized lottery pick Jimmer Fredette. The reality is the answer is Isaiah Thomas. The diminutive guard from the University of Washington has overcome a swarm of obstacles to earn playing time and contribute. Kings fans and Kings personnel alike yearned desperately to see Jimmer Fredette play, he a lottery choice and widely considered one of the core players on the roster. Meanwhile Thomas, for all intents and purposes, barely made the team as the 60th and final choice in last summer's NBA Draft. So for the first few wee

Sacramento Kings head coach Keith Smart led his team to victory against the Golden State Warriors at the Power Balance Pavilion on Saturday. The Warriors started the first quarter off strong. Shooting guard Dorell Wright scored 14 points versus center DeMarcus Cousins’ and shooting guard Marcus Thornton’s eight points each. By the end of the first half, the Warriors made eight of 12 3-pointers and maintained the lead at 54 points, putting them one point ahead of the Kings. Thornton, who had trouble shooting in the first half, made his comeback in the third quarter. He made four 3-pointers and scored 18 of the Kings’ 34 points, putting his team eleven points ahead of the Golden State War

Since Keith Smart took over coaching duties last month, the Kings have had very little practice time and never had everyone on the roster available for a game. Things changed this week when the Kings were able to get more time in between games to work on their new game plans. Add that to a healthy Marcus Thornton returning to the lineup and, wham-o!, a team with real possibilities has emerged. After being down at the half by nine and being throttled by LaMarcus Aldridge the entire time (19 points on 9-of-11 shooting with five rebounds), Smart changed up his formula in guarding the Blazers standout forward which led to a terrific third quarter as the Kings held on the beat the pesky Portl

The fans weren’t the only ones leaving the old barn early on Wednesday evening. Quite honestly, they weren’t the only ones leaving embarrassed either. By the time the press got into the Kings locker room after losing 122-93 in a blowout to the visiting Denver Nuggets, most of Sacramento’s players had left the arena also. No Cousins, no Tyreke, not even Donte Greene hung out long enough to give their side of this ugly one-sided loss. Keith Smart, the new coach of the 6-13 Kings, was alone at the podium to explain. “Not what I expected,” Smart started his post-game press conference. “And I’m sure our fans didn’t expect that either. Kind of an embarrassing moment for our fans to watch us

The Kings returned home after a tough five-game road trip to beat the Indiana Pacers 92-88 in a hard-fought battle at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday night. “I don’t know how, but somehow this group found a way,” Kings head coach Keith Smart said. “I don’t know how we did it, but this group has some resilience. They fought, they found a lineup that got us back into the game, and they closed it out. And that’s what I’m trying to get us to become: a team on any given night.” On their eventful road trip, the Kings went 1-4 while earning their first road win, along with setting a new franchise record with only 23 points of the first half in a 99-60 rout by the Dallas Mavericks. Sacramento

The Sacramento Kings failed to close the game as they fell to the Orlando Magic 104-97 on Sunday at Power Balance Pavilion. The Kings were unable to capitalize on Magic big man Dwight Howard’s foul trouble. Howard started the game but was forced to leave the game at the 10:20 mark in the first quarter after two quick fouls on Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins. Howard didn’t return until midway through the second but was quickly forced to leave the game once again as he was called for a bump foul on Cousins for his third foul of the night. Howard only played 20 minutes all game and was held scoreless until he made a layup and made a free throw after the foul at 6:35 remaining in the game fo

Unbelievable! Amazing! Jaw-dropping! Spectacular! In sports writing, superlatives are greatly overused. Heck, even The Court Jester abuses the Queen’s English occasionally! In this case, however, I think not! After being down 58-37 at the half, being outshot from the floor 60.5 percent to 31.8 perccent in the first half and only scoring 12 points in the second quarter, it looked like another lackluster Kings performance would etch another loss in the standings Thursday evening. Not so fast, my pretty! After a day of showing Coach Paul Westphal the door, elevating assistant Keith Smart to the position full-time and holding a players-only film study session before the game, the Kings ca

The Sacramento Kings ended a three-game losing streak Sunday night in a 96-80 win over the New Orleans Hornets. Guard Tyreke Evans led the team with 27 points, scoring 13 points in the third quarter. Evans was also a force on the defense, and along with guard Marcus Thornton, who scored 25 points, helped the team dominate the second half of the game. Noticeably absent from the court was center DeMarcus Cousins, who had been listed as a probable starter in the game. Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal issued a release before the game in which he said Cousins was asked to stay home after he demanded to be traded. Despite his absence, the Kings dominated the Hornets. Westphal said he does not k

The Sacramento Kings suffered their second-straight loss as they fell to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night by 108-98. Last season’s MVP Derrick Rose finished the game with 19 points, one rebound and eight assists while playing only 32 minutes due to foul trouble for much of the second half. During that time, backup point guard C.J. Watson contributed nicely with eight points, five rebounds and nine assists of his own. The Kings were once again led by their backcourt Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton. Evans finished with 19 points, two rebounds and two assists, while Thornton finished with 20 points, five rebounds and one assist. Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins finished with 15 points and

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