The Kings stepped up against a tough opponent and beat them at their own game.
Great teams make you match their style and hope you can't beat them at their own game. That's exactly what the Memphis Grizzlies did at Sleep Train Arena on Wednesday, but the Sacramento Kings ruined the plan. The Kings adapted and persevered, and beat the Grizzlies in a grit-and-grind style game, winning 102-90.
The game was marred by inconsistent officiating. The refs would call a ticky-tack foul one possession, and then allow a body shot on the next. And while it certainly may have felt like the Kings got the short end of the stick, the refs called 21 fouls on Memphis and 18 on Sacramento. DeMarcus Cousins was the biggest victim, with multiple questionable foul calls limiting him to just 16 minutes through the first three quarters. Cousins played most of the fourth, and was instrumental in the Kings win. Despite being limited to just 24 minutes, Boogie still put up 16 points and 9 rebounds. he was also huge on the defensive end, frustrating Zach Randolph to the point of a fight nearly breaking out, with Z-Bo as the instigator.
Rudy Gay led the Kings with 28 points, six assists, and five rebounds. Jason Thompson notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and had several key defensive plays along the way. Overall, it was a team win. All five starters scored in double figures, and the Kings held Memphis to 40.5% shooting on the night.
For the opponent's perspective, visit Grizzly Bear Blues.
Random Observations
- The Kings are now 2-1 in the George Karl era
- DeMarcus Cousins demonstrated incredible self control against Randolph, Marc Gasol, and the refs
- RIP Chair, we hardly knew ye
- I like the way Karl uses Andre Miller to close games. Ray McCallum had a good game, but still tries to do too much sometimes. Miller is a good calming influence at the end of games. Should be interesting to see how this plays out once Darren Collison returns
- Nik Stauskas has yet to play a non-garbage time minute under Karl
- Carl Landry played 3 minutes. I expect to hear Landry mentioned as a very available player in trade rumors this summer.
- Ben McLemore had 16 points, including an awesome windmill dunk that was one of the better in-game dunks I've seen this season