On paper, the Kings played well in just about every match-up. Jason Thompson beasted on the scoreboard (18 points on 12 shots) while Carl Landry tore up the offensive glass (six), which cut down the big night from LaMarcus Aldridge (21/9) and the seemingly solid boardwork from Marcus Camby (15). Andre Miller bursted for 23, but Beno Udrih 22 of his own. Nicolas Batum went berserk with 21, but Andres Nocioni and Omri Casspi combined for 25 on efficient shooting.
Brandon Roy, of course, as he always does against the Kings, went off: 24 points on 8/14 floor, 7/8 line. His counterweight, Tyreke Evans? Just six points on 2/12 shooting.
And that's the ballgame.
It remains amazing the Kings could be in this game despite Reke's bad night, and that's a credit to all those other players mentioned. They all seemed to come up with big plays through the second half to keep Sacramento within a certain graspable reach.
You don't expect this to happen regularly, both Evans to be the drain and the others to be the heroes. But it could happen a few more times this season, with Evans clearly struggling to keep up the pace with that mouthpiece hurting his breathing. Of course, that could spell doom for ye old 20-5-5 gambit, and also for this team's hope of winning at least one more game. Without Tyreke playing well, it's really really difficult for the Kings to win. (Clippers games not applicable.)