Tonight’s game was televised on NBATV. It was the first and only televised pre-season game for the Kings this year.
Starting Line-ups:
Kings-
- Tyreke Evans
- Beno Udrih
- Donté Greene
- Carl Landry
- DeMarcus Cousins
Injuries: Samuel Dalembert (adductor), Hassan Whiteside (patella tendon).
Clippers-
- Baron Davis
- Eric Gordon
- Rasual Butler
- Craig Smith
- Chris Kaman
Injuries- Blake Griffin (strained ankle).
First Quarter Recap:
The Kings had a miserable first quarter, allowing both Craig Smith and Chris Kaman to dominate the post. After shooting a mere 26.3% from the field, the team was lucky to only be down twelve. DeMarcus Cousins led the team in scoring, but didn’t look good doing it, struggling both offensively and defensively throughout the quarter. Hats off to Jason Thompson and Francisco Garcia who came in to provide a nice kick, combining for 8 points off the bench.
Kings 22 Clippers 34
Stat Leaders:
Kings: Cousins (6) points; Thompson (3) rebounds; Greene/Evans (1) assist.
Clippers: Gordon (7) points; Kaman (8) rebounds; Davis (4) assists.
FG%: Kings 26.3% Clippers 64%
Rebounds: Kings 10 Clippers 14
Assist/Turnover: Kings 2/2 Clippers 9/2
Second Quarter Recap:
The Kings began the second quarter hot. Landry hit a jumper and Casspi had a nice breakaway dunk to start the team off on a 7-0 run in the quarter and an 18-4 run overall. The officials got a little technical-happy at the mid-way point of the second, hitting the Clippers’ Deandre Jordan and Brian Cook as well as Kings rookie DeMarcus Cousins. With both Evans and Landry struggling in the first half, the Kings bench outscored the Clippers bench 25 to 14 to cut the lead to 6 before the break.
Kings 47 Clippers 53
Stat Leaders:
Kings: Casspi (10) points; Thompson (5) rebounds; Evans (4) assists.
Clippers: Kaman (11) points; Kaman (7) rebounds; Davis (4) assists.
FG%: Kings 38.5% Clippers 47.6%
Rebounds: Kings 23 Clippers 23
Assist/Turnover: Kings 10/8 Clippers 11/8
Third Quarter Recap:
***Injury update: Clippers guard Eric Gordon tweaked his ankle and did not return.
The third quarter belonged to Chris Kaman and Baron Davis early, pushing the Clipper lead all the way to 11. Cousins looked good on offense, but the young center was held to only one rebound through three quarters. Casspi and Darnell Jackson brought the Kings within four to end an up and down twelve minutes of play.
Kings 75 Clippers 79
Stat Leaders:
Kings: Casspi (13) points; Thompson (7) rebounds; Evans (7) assists.
Clippers: Kaman (17) points; Kaman (9) rebounds; Davis (8) assists.
FG%: Kings 41.8% Clippers 49.2%
Rebounds: Kings 30 Clippers 26
Assist/Turnover: Kings 16/13 Clippers 18/12
Fourth Quarter Recap:
The Kings came out in the fourth and really went for the win. Both Kaman and Landry fouled out early in the fourth. Beno Udrih ran the Kings like a well-oiled machine for most of the quarter, relying heavily on reserve Omri Casspi, who was clearly the best player on the floor not named Chris Kaman tonight. The Clippers went heavily to the bench and for the second time this pre-season, rookie Al-Faroq Aminu burned a hole through the Kings defense. With 22 seconds left, Aminu buried a three to tie the game at 94. Going for the win, Coach Westphal drew up a mid-season isolation play for Kings star Tyreke Evans, who did not disappoint. With 1.9 seconds left, Evans drove right and hit the game winning basket.
Kings 96 Clippers 94
Stat Leaders:
Kings: Casspi/Evans (17) points; Casspi (8) rebounds; Evans (8) assists.
Clippers: Kaman (21) points; Kaman (10) rebounds; Davis (8) assists.
FG%: Kings 38.3% Clippers 47.4%
Rebounds: Kings 43 Clippers 45
Assist/Turnover: Kings 19/14 Clippers 22/19
Stats that stick out:
- Zero minutes for Pooh Jeter and Antoine Wright.
- Darnell Jackson 11 points, 5 rebounds in 19 minutes.
- Omri Casspi 3-6 from three point land.
- Kings 42 free throws, Clippers 26 free throws.
- Carl Landry- 5 points, 5 turnovers, 6 fouls.
- Francisco Garcia added 2 more blocks for a total of 7 in 4 games.
Post games quotes via Kings.com:
- Tyreke Evans on his ankle injuries from last week: “The ankles feel fine. Just a little plantar fasciitis on the bottom of my foot but that’s just basketball and I play through it.”
- Omri Casspi on coming back from the slow start tonight in LA: “One of the strengths of our team is we never breakdown. We showed it last year and it’s important for us to keep showing it this year.”
- Beno Udrih on pulling this one out: “We never let down, we never surrender. We’re just going to keep coming and try to win every game.”
The Kings play Friday in Utah, their last game of pre-season before beginning the regular season in Minnesota on October 27th.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
