Kings Lose to Spurs In Lopsided Fashion

Jan 20, 2012; San Antonio, TX, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Isaiah Thomas (22) drives between San Antonio Spurs forward Richard Jefferson (left) and Matt Bonner (right) during the second half at the AT

The Sacramento Kings hardly showed up tonight in San Antonio as they were outplayed, out-hustled, and simply out-classed. The Kings lost 130-102.

The Kings had several opportunities to get back into the game in the third quarter, but were never able to put any sort of run together.

They committed 20 turnovers and nullified their 20 assists. The Spurs showed the Kings how elite teams share the ball as the Spurs had 41 assists, eight more than the Kings season high of 33. The Kings seemed to forget how they played in their last two games before the Spurs as they showed they were tired, and allowed the Spurs to practically run them out of the building.

San Antonio out rebounded the Kings 43-28, and dominated the Kings on the glass and inside the paint. The only category the Kings managed to beat the Spurs in was in steals, as they had 14 steals to the Spurs 12.

Tony Parker rolled his ankle very badly when he landed on Isaiah Thomas’ foot. Parker couldn’t get up on his own, and had to be helped off the floor. Parker seemed to tweak his ankle in two ways, and after watching the replay the injury looks serious enough to keep him out of the lineup for a few games at least.

Marcus Thornton was one of the few bright spots for the Kings tonight as he continued to play at a high level scoring 25 points on 8 of 13 from the field. Isaiah Thomas scored 18 points on 6 of 12 from the field. However Thomas had only one assist and was not the type of floor general the team needs him to be. Thomas had 2 quick fouls against the Orlando Magic in the first quarter and didn’t play most of the first half of the game.

The Kings need Thomas to play as well as possible, but Thomas needs to focus on distributing the ball more as well as getting his team to play as well as they can. Early in the season Thomas was quoted as saying he had asked coach Keith Smart how he can get more assists and get his teammates involved more.

If losing games really has eaten at the young guard he needs to rethink his game plan. As the teams starting point guard, he needs to understand his role on the team is to get his team to play as well as they can. Thomas has the ability to score and get to the basket while also being capable of creating shots for himself, but Thomas has often looked for his shot too early in games rather than looking to help get his teammates involved.

Tonight was a perfect example of what happens when the young guard looks to create for himself rather than share the ball, and get his teammates involved. Thomas needs to remember that when he scores points in a losing effort, no one cares if he had a great game because his team lost.

The Kings continue to show they are just as capable of reverting to their poor habits as they are of playing great team basketball. Until they learn that they must play as team, they will continue to struggle and will continue losing.