Kings-Bobcats Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Jan 19 2013 1:17AM

Kemba Walker was vital to the Charlotte Bobcats ending a losing streak in their last game.

Another strong performance Saturday night against the Sacramento Kings would go a long way in helping the Bobcats avoid matching the longest home skid in team history.

Walker has emerged as Charlotte's key offensive threat in his second season, leading the team with averages of 17.5 points and 5.6 assists. The point guard came up big for the Bobcats (10-29) on Friday, scoring 25 points with eight rebounds and five assists in a 106-100 win at Orlando that ended a five-game skid.

"It's all about confidence," Walker said. "If your coach has confidence in you, that's all you need. My teammates have confidence in me also. It's just really easy to play with these guys."

Charlotte has a chance for back-to-back wins for the first time in two months, but will have to snap a 13-game home losing streak to achieve that. The Bobcats have surrendered 106.9 points and opponents are shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range during that slide.

They lost a franchise-record 14 in a row to conclude their home schedule last season.

Walker averaged 21.5 points in his first 16 home games this season, but that total has dipped to 13.3 in the past four contests there.

Over that same stretch, Ramon Sessions - second to Walker with 14.2 points per game - is shooting 32.5 percent from the floor while averaging 12.5 points.

Sessions has managed a 17.3 scoring average while connecting on 54.5 percent from the field in his last four meetings with Sacramento (15-25), but those came with Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Walker had 13 points in his only career matchup with the Kings on April 22, when the Bobcats lost 114-88 to end their six-game winning streak in the series.

Facing Sacramento gives Charlotte a golden opportunity to earn its first home win since Sessions hit the decisive jumper with 28 seconds left in a 98-97 victory over Toronto on Nov. 21.

The Kings are 3-15 on the road, giving up an average of 101.2 points.

Those troubles away from home continued Friday as Sacramento opened this three-game trip with an 85-69 loss to Memphis. The Kings set a season low in points and matched their worst effort from the field with 34.1 percent.

"We couldn't find the right energy or rhythm we needed," coach Keith Smart said, adding that his team "had a lot of missed shots, easy paint shots.

"We just couldn't finish plays. We had layup opportunities, close paint shots. We just could never get ourselves into anything that was going to be easy for us to break any runs."

DeMarcus Cousins continues to do his part, averaging 27.0 points and 14.3 rebounds over the past three road games. He had 22 points and 12 rebounds Friday, the only Kings player to score in double figures.

Cousins tallied 29 points and 10 rebounds at Charlotte last season, while Tyreke Evans scored 22.

Evans has averaged 19.8 points in four career meetings with the Bobcats, but he enters this game after going 3 for 10 from the floor and finishing with eight points Friday.

Thornton, Evans lift Kings over Bobcats, 97-93

By STEVE REED
Posted Jan 19 2013 11:25PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) The Sacramento Kings were determined Saturday night to make amends after one of their most embarrassing defeats of the season just 24 hours earlier.

Mission accomplished.

Marcus Thornton scored 18 points off the bench, Tyreke Evans came up big down the stretch, and the Kings held on to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 97-93 for their third win in four games.

After scoring just 69 points in a 16-point loss to Memphis, the Kings made sure there would not be another offensive letdown.

They led most of the way but needed a late burst from Evans, who scored six of the team's last nine points in the final four minutes. He finished with 16 for the game.

DeMarcus Cousins added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and James Johnson chipped in with nine points and a season-high nine rebounds for the Kings (16-25).

"This was a great win for us," Johnson said. "We're struggling a little bit, especially after last night. Memphis had their way with us and we looked like a team that gave up - and that's not us. We wanted to get back to our fundamentals and outplay them and outrun them."

Cousins said: "Now hopefully we can come out Monday against New Orleans and do the same thing."

Kemba Walker had a chance to tie the game but shot an airball on a 3-point attempt with 3 seconds left as Charlotte lost its 14th straight game at home. Walker had 14 points and 10 assists.

Ramon Sessions scored 16 points for Charlotte (10-30) while Gerald Henderson chipped in with 15.

"Our guys did a good job of moving the ball and making that extra pass tonight," Kings coach Keith Smart said of his team's 24 assists.

The Kings led most of the game and took a 78-76 lead into the fourth quarter.

After being on the verge of taking the lead most of the quarter, the Bobcats finally jumped ahead with 3:35 left on a transition layup by Henderson off a nice feed from Walker.

That's about when the Bobcats began to meltdown.

Charlotte had a chance to push the lead to four but was called for a shot clock violation at the worst time possible.

Evans tied the game with a pair of free throws on the other end.

Both teams went more than two minutes during an ugly stretch of turnover-filled basketball before Evans took advantage of Hakim Warrick's turnover and scored an easy layup on a fast break for a 92-90 lead with 1:19 left to put the Kings ahead for good.

After Warrick missed a turnaround layup, Evans scored again inside on a spin move to make it 94-90.

A three-point play by Sessions cut the Sacramento lead to one with 40 seconds left, but Isaiah Thomas pushed the lead 96-93 with a pair of free throws with 18.4 seconds left.

The Bobcats set up for a 3-point shot, but Walker missed everything on a play that never developed. Thomas put the game away by making the second of his two free throws with 2.4 seconds left.

"They gave me pretty good pressure, but I thought I had an open shot," Walker said. "I kind of hesitated. I could've shot it right away, because I thought I was open. But I hesitated. It'll be like that sometimes."

For Charlotte, finishing games continues to be a huge problem.

The Kings held to Bobcats to only three points in the final 3:33 of the game. During that span, the Bobcats missed four shots, turned the ball over twice and were called for a goaltending.

"Composure is big," Smart said. "Our young guys did a great job. They came down, managed the plays we needed to get. The combination of them running what needed to be run at that particular time was critical."

The Bobcats didn't help themselves at the free throw line converting only 26 of 38 attempts, or 68 percent.

They haven't won at home since Nov. 21.

"We've just got to come out ready to play next time," Walker said. "It's tough. We've been losing some pretty close games, and we definitely need a home win. It's been a long time."

Added Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap: "It's just something that we have to get better at. I'm on that and so are the players. They understand. They want to give these fans a win, too."

NOTES: Kings rookie first-round draft pick Thomas Robinson played only minute before being taken to the locker room after getting elbowed in the mouth by Sessions. Robinson said after the game he had 10 stitches, but expects to play Monday night at New Orleans. ... Brendan Haywood had a season-high five blocked shots for the Bobcats. ... Thomas tied a season-high seven assists for the Kings and tied a season-high with five rebounds.

Notebook: Kings 97, Bobcats 93

Bill Kiser, For NBA.com
Posted Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:13 PM - Updated Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:13 PM

THE FACTS: DeMarcus Cousins scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings held off a late fourth-quarter rally to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 97-93 on Saturday night at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.

Marcus Thornton came off the bench to add 18 points for the Kings (16-25), who led by as many as 10 points only to see the Bobcats rally and take a 90-88 lead on Gerald Henderson's layup with 3:34 remaining. But Tyreke Evans scored the next six points to put Sacramento ahead to stay.

Evans finished with 16 points for the Kings, who also got 15 points from Isaiah Thomas and 11 from Jason Thompson.

Ramon Sessions led the Bobcats (10-30) with 16 points. Henderson, battling a sore back, added 15 points; Kemba Walker had 14 points and 10 assists, and Hakim Warrick and Ben Gordon put in 12 points apiece.

QUOTABLE: "I thought our guys did a great job of keeping their composure. We were betting and hoping that they would overreact to the post-up on Ramon Sessions, and they did. We moved the ball out of there and we got a quick shot on the backside. I think a combination of running what we needed to run at that particular time was critical. We didn't take a quick jump shot or try to force shots."

-- Kings coach Keith Smart

THE STAT: The Kings finished with 24 assists, a night after putting up just nine assists in a 16-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Thomas led Sacramento with seven assists, and eight players overall had one or more assists.

TURNING POINT: After the Bobcats took what would be their last lead, Evans hit a pair of free throws with 2:38 left to tie the score at 90-90. He then hit a pair of layups over a 31-second span in the final minute to put the Kings ahead to stay.

QUOTABLE II: "As soon as we won last night [beating Orlando on Friday], we planted the seed about what tonight meant. As you remember, not too long ago, we didn't play that well at home. So, to come off of a back-to-back like we did, that's definitely represented tonight. It's just something that we have to get better at. I'm on that and so are the players. They understand; they want to give these fans a win, too."

-- Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap

HOT: Cousins posted his 18th double-double of the season for the Kings. He also had four assists, including a key feed to Evans for his second layup with 44 seconds remaining to put Sacramento ahead 94-90.

QUOTABLE III: "We executed pretty well. We're known to make some mistakes down the stretch, but we showed growth tonight in these close situations and we made some good plays."

-- Kings center DeMarcus Cousins

ROOKIE WATCH: Kings rookie forward Thomas Robinson was knocked out of the game in the opening minutes after taking a hard shot to the jaw. He received at least 10 stitches in his upper lip, and is scheduled to undergo oral surgery after a front tooth was knocked out.

NOTABLE: The Bobcats' home losing streak is now at 14 consecutive games, dating back to Nov. 21, 2012, a 98-97 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Since then, all of Charlotte's wins have come on the road.

QUOTABLE IV: "We've been losing some pretty close games, and we definitely need a home win. It's been a long time."

-- Bobcats guard Kemba Walker

UP NEXT: For the Kings, Monday @ Hornets, Wednesday vs. Suns, Friday vs. Thunder. For the Bobcats, Monday vs. Rockets, Wednesday vs. Hawks, Saturday vs. Timberwolves.

• Kings: Honeycutt
• Bobcats: Mullens

• Kings: --
• Bobcats: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #45 Brian Forte, #31 Scott Wall
• Attendance: 17012
• Duration: 2:18