The damned Lakers have a way of clouding reality, don't they? As the Kings stuck with them through two quarters, I goaded myself into believing the Kings could win. The team's best three players were out. Spencer Hawes was frustrated and awful. Mikki Moore wasn't doing much. Francisco Garcia was a bit off. The team looked tired (understandable, given the fight against San Antonio the night prior). The Lakers had a full assault, and they were at home, and they were on rest.

Against most teams, I would have conceded as soon as the margin hit 10. Good fight, fine season, good night. I hung in until the margin was about 18, though. At that point, it became "watch Quincy run."

Seriously, how perfectly morbid is it that the big take-away from the season's 82nd game was a monster night from Quincy Douby, in which he carved up the opposing defense so effortlessly you almost imagined it was summer league? QD shows us something between little and nothing all year ... and then on April 15, he drops 32. I'd be mad were it not for the closing play -- penetration leading to an and-1 ... with 3.3 seconds on the game clock, down 26. Showing disrespect to the Lakers will always get you points in my book.

So there we are, that's it. "Next Game: No game scheduled," says Yahoo!. I've been ready for the end since March, but it still stings a little. As many noted in response to the most recent poll, a 38-44 season is not typically a success. More than half the mornings-after this season have resulted in something between mild annoyance and downright depression. It's all part of the fan's manifesto, and we all deal with it in our own ways. But it's not the downers which are important -- it's the moments of glee and heartfelt excitement and fluttering pride in something we truly have more than a customer-business relationship in.

The offseason means no more Kevin Martin box scores. No more Spencer Hawes dunks. No more Francisco Garcia mean faces. No more Mikki Moore screeches. No more Ron Artest flyin' fist pumps of doom. No more Beno Udrih lefty kisses off the glass. No more Brad Miller face-flattening screens in the open court. No more cheesy shots bespectacled randoms during Newman Lasik promos. No more Fat Lever or Henry Turner (or, yes, Katye Christensen). No more Jerryisms. No more... no more... no more Peaches. <sniffle>

I miss Kings basketball already. But hey! Only roughly 172 days until the first preseason game!

(As it were, if you just joined StR this season, fear not: We'll be around all summer. In fact, June has historically been our most active month. In the next few weeks, we'll eulogize this season and started looking at what the team can/will do this summer. We'll get our draft prognostication on. We'll discuss the playoffs. We'll post more pictures of Peaches turning up in foreign countries. We'll prepare for free agency, summer league, the Olympics, preseason, and of course the 2008-09 season. Hope you join us, and we thank you for being a part of the 2007-08 season with us.)

This is all pretty absurd, the below-.500 Kings deciding the #1 seed in the best conference in recent NBA history. One down, LOL amirite?!

Before we get into the importance (local and national) of the two remaining for Sactown, let's not let this ultra-satisfying win pass slowly into the night. Err, morning.

• Ron Artest, man. Ron Artest. His three-point shooting must be 10% better in the fourth quarter. A stunning series of makes, and his nightly jawdropping drive-and-dunk was spectacular, per usual. I still don't want the Kings to give him $10 million. But damn he's a ton of fun to watch.
• Francisco Garcia is a beast. I didn't know you could be a streaky player on defense, too. Apparently so. That fourth-quarter block party was something to behold. When you see those happen so close to those inexplicable touch fouls on three-point shots ... you realize they are Siamese twins: you cannot have all those blocks without a few cringeworthy fouls.
• Great activity from Shelden Williams, great production from Spencer Hawes. (The backside block on Tyson Chandler was a personal high note.) It showed up in John Salmons line more than these fellows, but the ability of Kings to hang tough in the rebound margin was unexpected and frankly upsetting. If we can't count on the Kings being a sucky rebounding team, what can we rely on in this crazy world?!
• Speaking of Salmons: All sorts of brilliant. He's a starter in this league. I hope it's with this team. A three-man swing rotation of Martin-Salmons-Garcia would be better than most.

The headbands were a nice touch to a real good teammate. (The Associated Press calls it Kevin Martin's idea.) But the better homage came from the young big man, Spencer Hawes, who had Brad Miller type game.

15 points on 11 FGAs, 7 rebounds, 3 assists.

The per-games for Miller's first All-Star season (in 2002-03 with Indiana): 13 points on 9 FGAs, 8 rebounds, 2.6 assists.

Hawes has plenty of room to grow -- he's still getting outhustled and outstretched for 3-4 boards a night, he's got to learn how to defend slashers and penetrators without hacking, and his renowned flat-footed "jumper" isn't nearly as potent as advertised.

His successful plays aren't nearly as jawdropping as those from Thaddeus Young or Julian Wright or Jeff Green. But they're repeatable and show tremendous court vision and that so-called "feel" for the game. It shows up in breakaway layups. It shows up in easy buckets off broken plays (like driving the lane when Beno Udrih draws a double on the post). It shows up in blocks off opponent offensive rebounds.

Great game. Great potential.

Around the roster:

• Brilliant second-half from John Salmons. Amick's game story captures some good Salmons personality insight, which is incredibly rare -- I've talked to a few other folks who have tried to interview Johnny, and they confirm he is about the most reserved guy in the league. Observationally, I still haven't put my finger on what makes Salmons succeed in the starting lineup but hurts him off the bench. Statistically, I haven't figure it out either. We know he needs space to operate offensively (Salmons mentions that in the Bee story) -- theoretically, out there with minor offensive weapons from the traditional second unit, he'd have plenty of space. It could be that Martin is clearly Weapon #1 in the starting lineup, while Salmons veers toward the focus himself off the bench (from the opposing defense's standpoint), even though Francisco Garcia (who Salmons often plays with) is far more aggressive. But hey, we've got a whole summer to consider it. I still think this guy's a keeper. Cheap and potent ... and maybe the best defender on the roster (according to John Hollinger).
• Quincy Douby and Shelden Williams played awesome, for the most part. You want points from QD and rebounds from The Landlord. Douby scored 13 in 19 minutes; Shelden had 7 boards in 22 minutes.  Good work.
• Francisco Garcia is not rejecting to Bobby Jackson comparisons. He's had a most terrific homestretch. I pay inordinate attention to his turnover numbers ... only one in 30 minutes last night. Terrific.
• Kevin Martin do what Kevin Martin do. He hit the boards early Friday night, which is always a good sign. (Also, my goal this offseason is to make everyone realize Martin is the best rebounder for his position on this team. Unless you consider Salmons a two-guard, Martin's the only regular King who outrebounds his position. One-dimensional? Psh.)
• Beno Udrih is looking fine. Barring three disastrous games to finish out, I think he's earned the full mid-level, or at least a starting salary of $5 million even.

Great offensive night, and I'm willing to overlook the rest. Mikki Moore is the team's best post defender (a problem to begin with), and he played 23 minutes due to foul trouble. When Spencer Hawes and Shelden Williams are your big minutes bigs, 140 points is about right. No offense to either guy; they just cannot defend that well straight up at this point.

Speaking of Hawes, his legs look dead. Many of those Golden State offensive rebounds came with Hawes in good position ... but not much oomph to get them. Andris Biedrins, especially, went right around or over Hawes a few times, and Beans isn't much longer than Shock.

Shelden drew some commentary in the game thread, and I'd have to say I'm about on board with what everyone else says: He's a bench player at this point and likely in the future. His post skills are remarkably unpolished, his defense is questionable, and his size might keep him from being an elite rebounder (which needs to be his calling card).

Kevin Martin: 29 points on 12 shots, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and just 1 turnover. The definition of efficiency. Outside of Martin, the most encouraging things from the Kings perspective:

1. Francisco Garcia: 35 minutes, 18 FGAs, 0 turnovers. If he can be mistake-free, he's a huge asset and a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
2. Quincy Douby hit his shots, played aggressive basketball, and made no mistakes. Great stint.
3. Beno Udrih got knocked down three or four times, and got right back up every time.
4. Anyone feel like the 'John Salmons can't play off the bench' thing might actually be a 'John Salmons plays better with Kevin Martin' thing? 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 turnovers with efficient shooting and passable defense (he shut down Monta Ellis in the fourth).

By the second quarter, you could tell this wouldn't be a repeat of Saturday night's game. The team went as far as it could in the first quarter, and simply died on the court. A few things stood out:

• Whatever hope for the 'Francisco Garcia as backup point guard' ply the last week had brought... ugh. Four turnovers for the fellow, in 18 minutes.
• I'm rather sure I don't need to discuss a Ron Artest 7-for-20 shooting night. And it was the exact opposite of most Ron Artest 7-for-20 shooting nights -- he was only hitting the long shots, with four blocks against.
• 38 minutes for Spencer Hawes. Not a great game, maybe not a good game. Fouling Kobe Bryant hard in transition will always make you some friends, though.
• Anthony Johnson is the antonym of "involved" on offense.
• Quincy Douby, leading the team in assists. (That's not a good thing.)
• I'll just throw this out there: Kevin Martin took nine fewer FGAs than Artest ... and outscored him by three points. Efficiency, good!

That was a really fun game. And it helped define a theory which has been bounding around my skull for a few days: When the Kings get good, everyone is going to hate this team.

Kevin Martin is on a Manu/Wade-like warpath toward alienating everyone who isn't a Kings fan. J.R. Smith, Allen Iverson and Linas Kleiza all had moments where they looked like they could kill Martin for coaxing them into dumb fouls on pump fakes. And fans hate that play. If Martin's 13-FTM nights start winning games regularly (like last night), he can become Public Enemy #1.

Spencer Hawes talks so much sh*t it's not funny. He got a few cheap shots in last night. His on-court persona resembles Joel Pryzbilla or Karl Malone -- a borderline physical-to-the-point-of-dirty fellow who has never once committed a foul. (This attribute isn't fully developed, but he's getting there.)

Francisco Garcia has the mean face, and he's not afraid to use it.

Shelden Williams is from Duke. No further explanation required.

Reggie Theus is a pretty boy.

Mikki Moore is demonstrative, a good screener (ask A.I.), and yells a lot. Depending on how long he sticks, he could be a part of the Evil Kings.

...

Sacramento played Denver without Ron Artest ... and Sacramento was the more physical and furious team. I like that.

I am wary of beating the Kevin Martin drum too often, as I do not want to bore anyone to tears. But, people: Shane Battier -- the guy who can stop Kobe Bryant -- was shadowing Speed all night, wire to wire. How did Martin perform under constant pressure from a first team All-Defense guy? 27 points on 14 shots.

And glass? Glass? Kevin Martin has no use for your God-forsaken glass!

(Thanks, kingsTV.)

Tracy McGrady, also with an amazing defender covering him (Ron Artest), scored 32 points on 31 shots. Mac has and had a better all-around floor game than Martin... but there's little question that at this point, Speed's a superior scorer.

Moving onto Shelden Williams: He was a +14. I'm not terribly sure how to translate that; his defense was good in spots (last possession, for example) and awful about twice. His rebounding was no great shakes -- Houston had almost as many offensive rebounds as Sacramento had defensive rebounds, which is really f%#$ing terrible. It was mentioned in the game thread, but: Brad Miller got ejected real early in the third quarter... and he finished as the team's leading rebounder. Eep.

Shelden had a case of the Mikkis, losing one transition pass inexcusably and another in the paint which most non-crustaceans would have picked. But again, he had flashes of goodness on defense, scored some buckets and drew some fouls, and did not once play outside his own ability, which was fantastic. The last thing we need during this audition period is a kid trying to do too much, like Spencer Hawes's flirtation with the three-ball in December or Quincy Douby's forays into the pick-and-rolls. (No offense, Q, but the pick-and-roll is not your friend. There was a nice pick-and-pop with Miller in there, but as fast as QD is... sorry. The corner just isn't getting turned fast enough.)

The most impressive Shelden play of the night, however: Less than a minute left in the first half, Martin with the ball at the top of the key. Williams lays a MASSIVE pick on Battier -- so massive, Martin dribbles into the lane, loses the ball, regains possession, backs out to the three-point line right side, settles, fires up a shot... and Battier's still 10 feet away trying to get his bearings.

Hawes hasn't set tremendous picks thus far in his career; Mikki Moore's have been hit-or-miss. (He's really thin [as you well know], so it seems he compensates a little by either moving out early or shoving his shoulder into the pickee, depending on his mood.) A HUGE part of Miller's excellent offense is his ability to set definitive picks and free up his guards. With that pick on Battier, Shelden showed me he's got that attribute. I'm not sure he can drill the open 18-footer like Brad nor hit cutting baseline drivers -- in fact, I know he cannot do those things. But the stiff screens are a plus. A plus plus. Lay them out, big man, lay them out!

Closing question: Does Reggie Theus

a) think Francisco Garcia is younger than 26 years old, thus viable under the Youth and Beauty Mandate?

b) think Joe Maloof won't notice that while ancient Anthony Johnson got only 12 min, Douby got only 5 min?

c) realize that, because of Rick Adelman, this is the one game the Maloofs really, really cared about winning no matter what, to Hades with the youngsters?

If interior defense were bread, Sacramento would starve.

It is abnormally difficult to find Jim Kozimor during a game. A Peaches shirt has been delivered, though. Henry Turner wouldn't touch it, though, which makes me believe the wrath of Peaches is fast and heavy.

• Seriously, Delaney's crew must have thought they were still in Oakland, because this one was full of make-up calls for Northern California. Monta Ellis died for our sins.
• Memphis's first big run: In the second quarter, when the Kings couldn't score with a Garcia/Martin/Salmons/Artest/Hawes lineup. No movement; the only ball movement was passes between the three guards out on the perimeter. Ugly. I was begging for Salmons or Martin to drive into the zone, but we just ended up with turnovers and bricks.
• Memphis's second big run: In the early fourth, with Douby/Martin/Garcia/Salmons/Moore on the floor. Let it be said that John Salmons is not a power forward. Yikes. The key: Either Brad Miller or an actual point guard (even Anthony Johnson!) needs to be on the floor at all times.
• Francisco Garcia's is only marginally better than that of Kevin Martin; Garcia's defense is also marginally less effective than that of Salmons. When a guy has shot 2-11 and his plus-minus in the -20s... I think you give your star (Martin) the benefit of the doubt, unless he's sucking air (because he has had to carry the entire offense all night), in which case you put in the stronger swingman who can rebound and has been known to score efficiently. Just my two cents.
• If the Kings sign Beno Udrih this summer, backup PG has to be a top priority, either in the draft (Ty Lawson, D.J. Augustin) or in free agency. If Kyle Lowry becomes available for a decently cheap price (a second-rounder, a Douby), I think you snatch him up. He's different than your prototypical Bobby Jackson scoring machine, but he's a solid defender and he can make plays. (He simply destroyed Artest on a transition bucket which stands out in my mind.)
• Kevin Martin hit as many FTs as the Memphis Grizzlies did.
• When the cameras get a close-up of Darko, or when he touches the ball, the universe comes to screeching halt. He's the human slow-mo button.
• I am willing to call Rudy Gay a poor man's LeBron James. Rough night, but he's had a tremendous season and showed some brilliant awareness and ability in spurts last night. And remember, this guy went 8th in a bad draft. Stars can be had in the mid- to late-lottery.
• Brad Miller was feisty all night long. Never seen him throw so many baseball passes. I think he watched UCLA's weekend games. Also, he molested several Grizzles after Memphis defensive rebounds. Well-played game, Brad.

Not that the difference between W or L has tons of weight at this point, and no win was even guaranteed had the play ended with a Spencer Hawes rebound instead of three Juan Carlos Navarro free throws. But good freaking gravy. Bad play, man. Bad play.

I might also question just a bit the absence of John Salmons in the last quarter. Salmons had been playing good defense, and Memphis's lineup left the Kings with Mikki Moore guarding Rudy Gay and Garcia guarding Mike Miller. I think Salmons would've done more to limit either. I understand why Garcia was in there -- he shot fairly well, he was rather active (usually in a good way). But Salmons carried you through a month of this season. He is good. He should play.

While we should be applauding the first career start and double-double for Spencer Hawes, we'll instead fact-check Mikki's postgame comments:

There was a stretch where the ball movement died -- the early fourth. And the defense was uniformly awful, save a six-minute stretch in the third. (By the way, if you haven't watched the game yet, from the 7-min mark to the 1-min mark in the third might make you feel good about the future of this team.)

Shock & Hawes, people. Shock & Hawes.