Game #2 Recap: Kings vs. Nets

Starting Line-ups:

Kings-

• Tyreke Evans
• Beno Udrih
• Omri Casspi
• Carl Landry
• DeMarcus Cousins

Reserves: Samuel Dalembert, Jason Thompson, Francisco Garcia, Luther Head, Darnell Jackson, Donté Greene and Antoine Wright.

In-actives: Pooh Jeter and Hassan Whiteside.

Nets-

• Devin Harris
• Anthony Marrow
• Travis Outlaw
• Joe Smith
• Brook Lopez

Reserves: Derrick Favors, Quinton Ross, Kris Humphries, Johan Petro, Jordan Farmar, Terrence Williams.

Injuries: Troy Murphy (back)- Out.

First Quarter Recap:

The Kings got off to a slow start in the first quarter.  DeMarcus Cousins looked good on the offensive end, scoring on a 17 foot jumper and an amazing drive and dunk over Brook Lopez.  Dalembert came in at the 7:35 mark and quickly showed his defensive prowess, blocking Lopez twice.  The Kings moved the ball well, they just couldn’t hit the open perimeter shot.  After a sloppy quarter by the Kings, they only trailed by 8.

Kings 21  Nets  29

Second Quarter Recap:

The Nets continued to force the action in the early second, getting the lead up to 18 multiple times.  Rookie DeMarcus Cousins continued his strong play, being both active and hitting his free throws but the Kings only answer for Brook Lopez was Cousins’ back-up Samuel Dalembert.  Tyreke Evans came to the Kings rescue, finishing the half with 12 and helping to cut the lead to 8. Darnell Jackson continued his strong play, adding 5 points and 2 rebounds in four minutes while the Kings other bigs were on the bench in foul trouble.  It was Jackson’s picks and put backs that really opened things up for Evans and the team.  Donté Greene made his game debut at the 3:33 mark of the quarter after starting the first game of the season.  The quarter refs really slowed the pace of the first half, calling 32 personal fouls and 3 technicals (Thompson, Humphries, Westphal).

Kings 53  Nets 61

Leaders:

Kings: Evans (12) Points; 3 tied (3) Rebounds; Evans (4) Assists.

Nets: Lopez (19) Points; Lopez (5) Rebounds; Harris (6) Assists.

FG%: Kings 40.4%  Nets 59.4%

Rebounds: Kings 17  Nets 20

Assists/Turnover: Kings 9/7   Nets 11/13

Third Quarter Recap:

The third quarter started a lot like the first half with a tightly officiated game. Both the Kings and the Nets were forced to play with secondary post players and the best one of the bunch was Darnell Jackson.  Jackson continued to set picks, play defense and score, finishing the quarter with 10 points and 5 rebounds.  Landry, Udrih and Evans played well as the Kings outscored the Nets by 9 and left the quarter with a one point lead.

Kings  77  Nets  76

Fourth Quarter Recap:

The first half of the quarter was back and forth, leading to an 88-88 tie at the 6:41 mark.  The Kings showed defensive intensity that just wasn’t there last season; drawing charges, blocking shots and forcing turnovers.  For most of the quarter, the Kings used a line-up that featured Beno Udrih, Tyreke Evans and Francisco Garcia.  At the 3:47 mark, the Kings had a 97-89 lead when DeMarcus Cousins picked up his 6th and final foul.  They didn’t score again until Francisco Garcia hit a three with 15.6 seconds left with the team down by five.  The Nets finished on a 17-3 run to take the game by 6.

Kings lose!

Kings  100 Nets  106

Leaders:

Kings: Evans/Garcia (18) Points; Jackson (6) Rebounds; Evans (6) Assists.

Nets: Lopez (29) Points; Humphries (8) Rebounds; Harris (10) Assists.

FG%: Kings  41.9%  Nets  52.5%

Rebounds: Kings  31  Nets  43

Assists/Turnover: Kings  21/12  Nets  18/26

MVP of the Game: Brook Lopez- 29 points (13-15 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 blocks.

Difference Maker: Darnell Jackson- 12 points, 6 rebounds.

Key Stats:

• 1 Field goal in the last 3:47 after Cousins fouled out.
• 26 turnovers by the Nets.
• Nets out rebound Kings 43-31.
• Jason Thompson- 2 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists- 5 fouls.
• Donté Greene- 4 minutes of play.
• Casspi 0-5 from 3 pt range.

Coaches Quotes:

• Westphal on the fouls: “There are a lot things that you can do coaching wise that we’ve been trying to do and we’re going to have to try some more things, including playing some guys who don’t foul so much.”
• On Darnell Jackson: “Darnell was really, really good.  He came in and showed that you can play physically and aggressively and not be sitting down with fouls all the time.  He really used his body well and he set some very good screens for us and he was a big part of us coming back in the game.”
• On Samuel Dalembert: “We were thinking 10 ten minutes or so but the second half was going in such a way that we couldn’t really couldn’t spare any minutes for him in the second half as unfamiliar as he is with what we’re doing.”
• On Casspi starting: “I like his energy off the bench and his ability to shoot the ball for us off the bench but with Luther playing better and with Cisco, with us learning Luther’s game and thinking he can give us some punch off the bench, I don’t think that it’s as important to bring Omri off.   He’s been doing a good job defensively and trying to do what we want him to do so I thought it was a better fit now that we have our whole team back to go that way.”

This was a blown opportunity for the Kings.  When the game was on the line, they struggled to both get into an offense and hit open shots.  The Kings got very little off the bench except for the solid play of Garcia and Jackson. Jackson, the throw in from the Brockman deal has continued to come in and play well.  Jason Thompson is killing his own minutes by making poor decisions on defense and it will interesting to see how much the Kings get out of Donté Greene now that he is a bench player.  The Kings should never be out rebounded by twelve.  They need their bigs to figure out the new NBA rules on offensive fouls and they need to work on keeping their arms straight up on the defense end.

If you missed today’s Darnell Jackson interview, you can find it here.