Did you fall off the Kings bandwagon already?
The kings winning four-straight games was almost enough to win back the hearts and minds of Sacramentans. Almost.
Still, attendance for a Tuesday was respectable—the box score reports 12,600—and I’m sure most weren’t there for the free buffet, which I’m told wasn’t plentiful enough to feed the hundreds who showed up early to chow.
Anyway, the Kings were a man short and a dime down for the game; Andres Nocioni was out, and the team never could overcome the Bulls’ 10-point lead, which they established in the early going.
This is not to say the Kings didn’t have their chances. In the fourth quarter, Sergio Rodriguez was game to run the point and the Kings held Chicago to a paltry 15 points. Problem is, they too couldn’t score, though they had ample opportunity.
Donte Greene had a season high 24 but got a bit too cocky on offense, clapping for the ball on a few occasions and hoisting up some ill-advised threes after success from behind the arc early in the game.
The big stats of the night were glaring: Kings shot a horrible 4 of 21 from downtown and coughed up the ball an inexcusable 21 times. Beno Udrih was ineffective and sat out for big chunks. Omri Casspi and Greene couldn’t stop Luol Deng, who landed multiple daggers with his marksman perimeter shooting, oftentimes when the Kings were building momentum and creeping back into it.
All in all, one to grow on. But not one to win back Sacramento. Yet.
