Game Recap #4: Kings vs. Raptors

Starting Line-ups:

Kings-

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

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

In-actives:  Hassan Whiteside, Pooh Jeter.

Raptors-

• Jarrett Jack
• DeMar DeRozan
• Linas Kleiza
• Reggie Evans
• Andrea Bargnani

Reserves:  Jose Calderon, Sonny Weems, Leandro Barbosa, David Andersen, Amir Johnson, Julian Wright, Marcus Banks.

In-actives:  Joey Dorsey, Solomon Alabi.

Injuries:  Ed Davis (Knee)- Out.

First Quarter Recap:

The Kings got off to a slow start, missing a handful of wide open shots.  No one put a body on Reggie Evans and he killed the Kings all quarter on the glass.  Andres Bargnani provided the early offense as the Raptors jumped out to a 23-12 lead and a 12-5 lead on the glass.  Both Cousins and Evans picked up two early fouls, sending Coach Westphal to the bench early with Garcia and Dalembert.  The Kings finished the first down by 17 and showed very little on either end of the floor.  The Kings had more fouls than made baskets in the first.

Kings  16  Raptors  33

Leaders:

Kings- Udrih (8) Points;  Dalembert (7) Rebounds;  Cousins/Udrih (1) Assist.

Raptors- Bargnani/DeRozan (10) Points;  Evans (10) Rebounds;  Jack (2) Assists.

Stats:           Kings     Raptors

FG%-           33.3%      52.6%

Rebounds-     9             15

Assists/Turnovers-    2/2          5/3

Second Quarter Recap:

The second quarter began with a completely different feel.  Jason Thompson started the quarter quickly, scoring and getting fouled.  Tyreke Evans followed with two nice jumpers to cut the lead to 12, while Darnell Jackson did his best to keep the Kings in the game on both offense and defense.  The Raptors took the ball at the teeth of the Kings defense for easy buckets in the second, much as they did in the first.  Tyreke Evans put up an impressive 14 points in the quarter, but the Kings still trailed by 11.

Kings  51  Raptors   62

Leaders:

Kings- Evans (16) Points;  Dalembert (7) Rebounds;  Cousins/Head (2) Assists.

Raptors- Bargnani (17) Points;  Evans (12) Rebounds;  Jack (4) Assists.

Stats:           Kings     Raptors

FG%-           41.7%      57.9%

Rebounds-   17            24

Assists/Turnovers-    5/4         11/9

Third Quarter Recap:

Tyreke Evans spent the first few minutes of the second half in the locker room losing his lunch. When he returned, the game was still yo-yo-ing between 10 and 14 points.  Westphal, at this point, had tried countless line-ups and none of the them could keep Reggie Evans from grabbing every board, stop dribble penetration or guard the three point line.  A late surge cut the lead to 5, but Jose Calderon hit a three with 2 seconds remaining to push the lead back to 8.  Arco Arena was booming and full of energy, making the fans anticipate something interesting down the stretch.

Kings  78  Raptors  86

Leaders:

Kings-  Evans (21) Points;  Dalembert (10) Rebounds;  3 players tied (2) Assists.

Raptors- Bargnani (21) Points;  Evans (18) Rebounds;  Jack (5) Assists.

Stats:           Kings     Raptors

FG%-           44.8%    49.2%

Rebounds-   26          35

Assists/Turnovers-    9/7        15/12

Fourth Quarter Recap:

The fans tried to will the team back into contention, and it worked- Kings 86, Raptors 89 with 8:52 left after a big time three pointer by Omri Casspi.  With 5:00 remaining, the game was tied at 98-98 when Tyreke Evans went coast to coast, drew the foul and hit the bucket.  He missed the free throw, but the Kings had a two point lead for the first time in the game.  At the 2:14 mark, rookie Demarcus Cousins stepped to the line to extend the Kings’ lead to 104-99.  Moments later, Omri Casspi hit his third three pointer of the night to push the lead to 8 with 1:46 left.  Arco Arena hasn’t thundered like this in years and Israeli flags were waiving everywhere.  With 0:29 left on the clock, the Raptors had the ball down 3- DeRozan drove to the hole for a flush and with 13.3 seconds on the clock, the Kings led by 1.

KINGS WIN!

Kings  113  Raptors  108

Leaders:

Kings- Evans (23) Points;  Dalembert (14) Rebounds;  Evans (5) Assists.

Raptors-  Bargnani (28) Points; R. Evans (19) Rebounds;  Jack/Calderon (5) Assists.

Stats:           Kings     Raptors

FG%-           47.7%     45.9%

Rebounds-   40           42

Assists/Turnovers-    15/11     19/14

Coaching and player notes will be up in the morning. It was a very busy post-game, so I’ll have some good stuff to throw out there.