Deja Vu, Except with a Different Outcome

I was expecting the Kings to lose to the Cavs. Hey, Cleveland did beat Boston in their season opener. Yeah, they got blown out in Toronto, but that was on the road.

This game was pretty much the exact same game as the New Jersey game - Kings were behind by double digits during the first half, came back in the second half and lead by 8+ points late in the game. And then they couldn't score, and the Cleveland Cavaliers came back. Luckily for the Sacramento Kings, the Cavs didn't have a go to guy who can finish the job like the Nets' Devin Harris, so Kings held on and got the win.

Samuel Dalembert won the game for us. His interior defense set the tone for the crucial third quarter where the Kings held the Cavs to just 15 points and caught up from being down by 14. Dalembert also played well in the first quarter in limited minutes. Whenever he's in the game, you rarely see easy layups.

On offense, Omar Casspi was the hero of the game. He was on fire tonight, making 6 of 7 three-pointers. Sure, he missed two crucial free throws late in the game, but he played exceptionally well before then.

DeMarcus Cousins got a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds. He looked like his usual self. Pretty good, but not exceptional. At least, not yet. I would like to see him more active on defense and offense. Sometimes, he's just standing around.

Darnell Jackson played well again in limited action. Francisco Garcia didn't play much tonight.

I also didn't see Donte Green at all. I wonder if it's the just the match up.

A great win overall. Coming back from a three game road trip and winning two is pretty good, even if the wins are against crappy teams.

Next game is a home game against the Bosh-less Toronto Raptors. We should win this one. Should. These Kings are so inconsistent, you never know.

Elsewhere in the NBA

The Orlando Magic got crushed by the Miami Heat. That's what they get for talking smack about Lebron James and the Heat. They caught them at the wrong time too. It was a back-to-back for Orlando, and a season opener for Miami. There's not much to say other than they got their ass whupped. I guess this could be the team to beat in the East. We'll see.

Houston Rockets signing Erick Dampier is a good move. With the Houston Rockets limiting Yao Ming to 24 minutes, they need more help than just Brad Miller. Miller is good for facilitating the offense, but the guy's a liability on defense. Erick Dampier might not be a great defender, but compared to Miller, he's an All-Star.

New Jersey Nets Game

I knew it. I only watched from half-time on. I didn't see Samuel Dalembert play, but looking looking at the box score, he did play a couple minutes and blocked a couple shots. Hopefully, he gets to play more soon. His defense is much needed. Kings defense is still horrible. They allow another team to score over 100.

DeMarcus Cousins didn't get to play much because of foul trouble. We did get a lot of Darnell Jackson. Nice to someone hustle for putbacks.

I was watching a couple minutes before halftime when they were behind by 18 or so points. They came back and lead by 8 points a couple minutes before the game ended. And then it turned into the Devin Harris show. He completely took over the game and helped his team scored 11 straight. A tough game to swallow, but I expected it from these inconsistent Kings. No lead is safe with them. They can't stop anyone.

Tyreke was his usual self. He played ok. I thought he massaged the ball a little too much. Too many times, he just drives into a bunch of New Jersey players.

Oh well. I don't think they can win tomorrow at Cleveland. It's a back-to-back, and Cleveland beat Boston just a couple days ago.

Looking Forward to Having Everyone

Looks like the Kings might be at full strength tonight against the New Jersey Nets in another game of the NBA's worst teams.

Last season, the Kings lost on a road game against New Jersey. Hopefully, they'll do better tonight. They did have a day of rest. Like I said in the last entry, their defense still looks shaky.

Devin Harris will school Beno Udrih, though. He's just too quick.

Last season, the Kings had one of the worst road records, and the Nets had one of the worst home records. Let's which stat prevails tonight.

Samuel Dalembert said he'll play tonight, but it all depends on what the doctors say. I hope he does. The Kings need his shot blocking.

Also back tonight is their star player and reigning Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, who was suspended one game for speeding.

Great Win on the Road Against Minnesota

Any time the Kings can get a win, especially on the road, I'm happy. Minnesota is a bottom-of-the-barrel team, but who cares - a win is a win.

Without Samuel Dalembert, the Kings still have trouble defending. They allowed a crappy team like the Timberwolves to score 116. I like DeMarcus Cousins, but until the team learns to defend, they're not gonna be much improved from last season.

It's just one game, but already, this looks like an up-and-down team. They couldn't make any stops at the end. They just got lucky, they outscored their opponent.

Carl Landry is steady. You can always count on him for 18 points and 6 rebounds. This game he got 21 and 11.

I'm glad our schedule early on is against bad teams. It'll give the team time to gel and work out their kinks. From the first game, I didn't see much improvement in terms of defense. I'm looking forward to Dalembert's debut agains the Nets, and that's a big if. He's supposed to be for 4-6 weeks.