• The Kings lost Tuesday night against the rival Los Angeles Clippers 92-89 in the final game before their opening night matchup against the Phoenix Suns. Sacramento finished the preseason with a 3-3 record.

    While the final result was somewhat disappointing, there were plenty of positive takeaways from the game, not the least of which was Sacramento’s sustained effort and energy on both ends of the floor.  The Kings were aggressive all night, hustling at every opportunity and showed a strong desire to compete defensively.  Here were some interesting notes from the game:

    • Ben McLemore was active and engaged on both ends of the floor, finishing the night with 11 points, five assists and six rebounds.  It will be important for him to find ways to be productive on nights when he isn’t scoring, so the rebounds and assist are encouraging.  McLemore also showed great effort on defense.
    • Garret Temple started the game at point guard but didn’t look as comfortable as many would have hoped, scoring just seven points in 29 minutes.  It’s also worth noting that all of his points came at the end of the fourth quarter, with him being 0-5 on his attempts prior to that.  Ty Lawson has looked fairly comfortable this preseason, so he may be better suited to start while Darren Collison serves his suspension.
    • DeMarcus Cousins had a great night, scoring 23 points in just over 25 minutes.  He did his damage from all over the floor, and was exceptionally accurate with his mid-range shot coming out of the half.  Cousins has looked very comfortable all preseason, which is a great sign for the team moving forward.

    While the end result wasn’t what the Kings wanted heading into the night, the team managed to compete on both ends of the floor all game.  The next challenge for this roster will be maintaining this level of play for the full 82 game season.

     

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