Photo courtesy sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Kings forward Andres Nocioni picked a great time to come out of a four game slump as he drained four threes on his way to scoring 21 points as the Kings pulled out a tough much-needed victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Nocioni had been 1-17 in his previous four games before catching fire from beyond the arc which is exactly what the Kings needed after losing their previous two games in overtime. Nocioni’s performance was a huge factor in last night’s outcome, but the credit must be given to Paul Westphal, the orchestrator of the phenomenal lineup combinations which paved the way for the victory against the Northwest division leading Nuggets. Westphal has done a great job of maximizing the production of his personnel all season long, and last night was especially impressive with the sudden absence of star rookie guard Tyreke Evans who was sidelined by an ankle injury. Westphal tapped Beno Udrih on the shoulder before game time to start in place of the injured Evans and he responded with 17 points and 7 assists in 40 productive minutes and though Sergio Rodriguez didn’t shoot the ball well, he was able to dish out 6 assists in 22 minutes of play. Donte Greene was asked to defend the NBA’s scoring leader to this point in Carmelo Anthony, and the fellow Syracuse Orangeman did a superb job only allowing him to get to the line seven times where he converted just three free throws. Melo did score 34 points, but he needed 35 shots to get them which shows how well Greene defended the perennial all-star. On top of that Greene was extremely effective offensively scoring 17 points on 6-9 shooting and was a perfect 4-4 from the line in just over 22 minutes on the court. Israeli rookie sensation Omri Casspi was the definition of clutch as he hit a three from the corner with a little over two minutes left in the game which put the Kings ahead for good 97-96. On this night however, coach Paul Westphal earned his keep by tapping rookie power forward Jon Brockman on the shoulder who excited the crowd as he pulled down 10 rebounds (four of which were on the offensive end) and connecting on all four of his free throws on his way to 6 points and 2 huge blocked shots in just over 16 minutes of play. Westphal’s injection of Jon, “the Brock-ness Monster” infused the Arco Arena faithful with a newfound energy that proved to be the difference maker on this night, and Kings fans are looking forward to Coach Westphal’s next masterpiece.
On a side note one can only hope that Kings rookie phenom Tyreke Evans learned something from watching his teammates persevere over the Nuggets on Monday night, as he took the brunt of the blame for their previous two losses. Since his injury is deemed as minor, maybe watching his team play so well together as one unit was exactly what the young gun needed. Maybe Tyreke Evans sitting out a game was exactly what these young Kings needed in order to show the rookie how well they can play as a team. Some of the answers could come as early as tomorrow night when the original “Answer” Allen Iverson and the Sixers come to Arco as the Kings try to surpass last season’s home win total of 12 games four months ahead of schedule. Once again, the League should take note that the Sacramento Kings are a team on the rise and will only get stronger as the season rolls on.
