Rondo’s dunk helps lead Kings past Knicks, 99-97

Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo has been suspended one game without pay for directing a derogatory and offensive term towards a game official and not leaving the court in a timely manner upon his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The Sacramento Kings (9-15) now have a two game winning streak, beating the New York Knicks (10-14) last night, 99-97. “We’re coming together even closer and tighter to get through these moments”.

“He was physical. Everything I expected”, Porzingis said. It was another disappointing performance for the Knicks, who have gotten off to disturbingly slow starts in four straight games, all of which were losses. The game is just too predicated on the whistles sometimes to avoid it. But to Anthony’s credit, he is far better at not flopping than other National Basketball Association superstars.

Similarly, Fisher has to put his best player in a better position so he doesn’t have to work so hard to get his shot off. He needs to be given more options to move the ball. The margins of victory in those games were 15, seven and 21 points, respectively, and the seven-point loss to the Mavericks was a blowout for most of the night. In the 4th quarter, the Knicks took five 2-shot trips to the line, giving Jazz fans five chances to boo loudly to force the Knicks to miss. The Rockets have managed to steal the first two games of the series from the Kings this year. I didn’t think it was a poor defensive game, but this team can defend much better. Anthony led the Knicks (10-14) with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

With the Knicks inbounding with about five seconds remaining, head coach Derek Fisher failed to design a play that would get Anthony the ball going towards his own basket, forcing him to waste valuable seconds pivoting and changing direction. The fault was on the entire Knicks lineup: Neto (who had 5 assists in the first half) was easily driving past Calderon, which forced the Knicks to help, which Anthony, Porzingis, and Lopez didn’t do well at all. “They went under some screens and I was able to get those threes”. He also had a bad game on Wednesday against Derrick Favors with 13 minutes.

Kristaps Porzingis found himself in a slump on the night as well, shooting 2-for-8 from the field, finishing with four points and snagging just three rebounds.

The New York Knicks will continue to find their stride as they play Thursday on the road against the Sacramento Kings. Six Kings players – Cousins, Gay, Rondo, Casspi, G Darren Collison and F Marco Belinelli are averaging double digits in scoring.