he Sacramento Kings started well against the Charlotte Bobcats, but the team's defense faltered and D.J. Augustin and Stephen Jackson ran the show as Charlotte won 110-98. Jason Jones and Paul Westphal blame turnovers, but the Kings' turnover rate of 16.3. percent wasn't atrocious. Bad, but not atrocious. The real problem was defense. The Kings simply didn't bring it. The Bobcats had just seven turnovers all game, shot 49 percent from the floor and made more free throws (25) than Sacramento took (21).
Cousins had his sixth turnover on the first possession of the third quarter. Westphal immediately yanked him. Jones reports that Cousins wasn't happy about it. He ended up with 13 points on 5-9 shooting, 10 rebounds, seven turnovers in 26 minutes. With Samuel Dalembert in the game, the Kings did outscore the Bobcats by three points in the quarter. But the fourth was no contest, as Charlotte dropped 32 points and sewed up the win.
Marcus Thornton made his Kings debut, playing almost 25 minutes off the bench and scoring 14 points on 4-8 shooting (3-5 on threes). His True Shooting percentage, for those who care, was a fantastic .717. He also had four rebounds and just one turnover. A rousing success, despite the loss. (Except, perhaps, for the fact he was a team-worst -14; the bench defense was especially bad Friday.)
Check out Aykis' recap at SB Nation Bay Area. Rufus On Fire recapped the game from the Bobcats' perspective, too. After the jump, Thornton's first points as a King. And on my favorite type of shot, too!
Fading 21-footer with a hand in your face, step right up!
Jokes aside, the Kings desperately need aggressive scoring off the bench just like the brand Thornton offers. Welcome to the team.