Sacramento Kings Give Three Players 'Planned Rest,' Snap Losing Slide against Orlando Magic
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Sacramento, Calif. — The curious action of resting players toward the end of the season has become a trend in the NBA and the Sacramento Kings decided to join the chorus while the team was on an eight-game, winless drought.
Lo and behold, the streak was snapped with the support of other players for the Kings. Sacramento beat the Orlando Magic 120-115 at Golden 1 Center.
Seven players scored in double figures for the Kings (26-41 overall, 13-20 G1C), who haven’t won a game since Feb. 23. The Kings made 44 of 82 shots from the field at 53.7 percent and astonishing 16 of 30 behind the 3-point line at 53.3 percent.
“It’s great to get a win in the fashion that we got it tonight in terms of playing well offensively. We were able to close out the game at the end,” said Kings swingman Garrett Temple. “Darren (Collison) did a great job of finding guys for 3s, AT (Anthony Tolliver) knocked some down, Ben (McLemore) knocked some down, and me and Buddy (Hield) got into the mix.”
Sacramento Kings guard Lanston Galloway, with the basketball, looks to pass to teammate George Papagiannis against the Orlando Magic on March 13. Publicity Agents photo art by T. Ray Harvey.
Veterans Arron Afflalo, Kosta Koufos, and Ty Lawson sat out for “planned rest,” officials of the team said. Tyreke Evans did not dress either because of a sore left ankle.
The Kings started Hield, Collison, Temple, Willie Cauley-Stein, and rookie Skal Labissiere. George Papagiannis was recalled from the D-League’s Reno Bighorns to help fill out the roster.
Collison had 19 points and 13 assists and Tolliver had 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Kings. Cauley-Stein added 18 points and seven rebounds from the center position while Ben McLemore contributed 14 points, five rebounds, and made three of six 3-point shots.
Langston Galloway got some time on the court, too. Galloway had six points, both 3-pointers, in 22 minutes. Malachi Richardson is still out nursing a right hamstring partial tear he suffered against the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 15.
“To be honest, that was a good basketball game. It started a little slow, but the guys played really hard,” said Kings head coach Dave Joerger. “They’ve been playing really hard. We played nine guys and I thought everyone that played played well.”
A lot of noise has been heard around the league with teams oddly resting players for one reason or another. The Golden State Warriors sat Stephen Curry Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala against the San Antonio on March 10.
The Magic (25-44 overall, 12-22 road) went with their starting 5 and were pretty much at full capacity in terms other its roster. Nikola Vucevic had 23 points, nine rebounds, and four assists while Evan Fournier had 21 points, five rebounds and one steal.
Magic point guard Elfrid recorded a triple double with 13 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds. Aaron Gordon finished with 17 points, three rebounds, and two assists, to conclude the Magic’s starters that scored in double figure.
The game was tied 109-109 with 2:38 left in the fourth quarter until the Kings went up 113-109 on a Tolliver dunk. Tolliver came back to make a trey and Hield scored on a layup with 27.2 seconds remaining that proved to be the difference, despite Terrence Ross making a 25-foot jump shot with 3.2 seconds to go in the game.
Collison closed the door with two free throws with less than two seconds before the buzzer sounded. The Magic admitted that giving up 120 points and 16 3-point baskets to the Kings done them in. Orlando lead by as much as 10 points in the game.
“It was bad. It was really bad,” Fournier said. “I mean there’s not much to say. Sacramento played extremely hard. They were just playing more aggressive. I mean that’s basically it.”
By T. Ray Harvey | PA Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist
Twitter: Tony Ray Harvey @PublicityAgents
PA’s PUBLIC INFORMATION:
Sacramento Kings guard Garrett Temple is well aware of the Orlando Magic’s point guard Elfrid Payton, who recorded a triple-double against the Kings.
Payton played at University of Louisiana-Lafayette, which is in Temple’s neck of the woods. Temple played at Louisiana State University, LSU, and is from Baton Rouge. The schools are 60 miles apart.
“I think this is his third year in the league,” Temple said of Payton. “He’s found a way to be very effective on the court without a great jump shot. For him to be able to get 13 assists and only one turnover...it’s (Rajon) Rondo-like. He’s definitely a great rebounder, smart player, and he’s known for defense. So if he can give you 13, 13, and 10 as a defender that’s real good. I’m real proud of him.”
T. Ray (Antonio) Harvey is a Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist for Publicity Agents. Harvey is also the author of The HOMICIDAL HANDYMAN OF OAK PARK: MORRIS SOLOMON JR.
