CK Press Box Report: Kings 92, Pacers 88

by Jonathan Santiago and James Ham

Poor shooting from both the field and the charity stripe didn’t stop the Sacramento Kings from defeating one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Sacramento Kings shot just 30.1 percent overall and 68.3 percent from the free-throw line, yet managed to beat the Indiana Pacers 92-88 in their second to last home game in the month of January.

“I don’t know how, but somehow this group found a way (to win),” said head coach Keith Smart following the victory.  “I don’t know how we did it, but this group had some resilience and they fought, they found a lineup that worked and got us back in the game, and then they closed it out…”

Kings swingman Francisco Garcia had his best game of the season, scoring 16 points in nearly 30 minutes of action off the Kings bench.

“It was energy,” said Garcia postgame.  “Just play hard.  We were lagging in the third quarter a little bit and they got into a little lead, so we had to come off the bench knowing to play hard and keep running the floor like (coach) said.”

The Kings managed to stave off a 16-point deficit going into the fourth quarter en route to their four-point victory.

Notes and Analysis

• Jason Thompson started in place of J.J. Hickson tonight for the Kings.  The fourth year forward/center out of Rider scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 26 minutes of work.

• DeMarcus Cousins continued to dominate the glass Wednesday, tying his career high with 19 rebounds.  In the first half, Cousins set a new franchise high for offensive rebounds in a single half with 10 and finished the game with a franchise-record tying 12 offensive boards.

• The Kings starting backcourt shot just 8-for-31 from the field and 3-for-12 from three-point range.  Thornton led the team in scoring with 17, but needed 17 shots to achieve that mark.

• Jimmer Fredette played a career-low six minutes, missing all four of his shots and going scoreless in the game.

• Francisco Garcia has played his way back into the rotation under coach Smart.  The veteran wing scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds and played inspired defense down the stretch.

• J.J. Hickson played only 11 minutes tonight after losing his starting position to Thompson.  He finished with six points and five rebounds.

• The Kings bench outscored the Pacers bench 39-20 on the night.

• The Pacers came into the game shooting nearly 40 percent from three-point range.  Tonight, they hit only one of their 13 attempts (7.7 percent)

• The Pacers had five players score in double figures tonight.  Danny Granger and Darren Collison each finished with 16 to lead the way.

• Stat of the night: The Kings won despite shooting just 30.1 percent from the floor tonight.  The last time the franchise shot under 31 percent and won was in 1957 as the Cincinnati Royals, defeating the Minneapolis Lakers 90-89 (30 percent on 30-of-100 shooting).