Kings outlast Suns for fourth straight win

The Sacramento Kings looked like they were going to let yesterday’s game against the Phoenix Suns slip away. The Kings’ 18 turnovers led to 22 points for the fast-paced Suns. High amounts of turnovers usually spell disaster for the Kings, who trailed by as much as 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Still, they kept the game interesting down the stretch.

After sitting on the bench for three games , Omri Casspi helped the Kings by scoring all of his seven points in the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer and two breakaway dunks. Teammate Marcus Thornton hit the three-point shot that put the Kings up for good.

The Kings beat the Suns for a third time, winning 116-113 and dampening the Suns playoff hopes. The Kings have won four straight games and five of the last six.

Kings guard Tyreke Evans had a near triple double in his third game back from injury, posting 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 26 minutes off the bench. Thornton finished a double double with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Kings owner outraged by city’s letter to Anaheim

The City of Sacramento took another step in trying to keep the Maloofs from moving the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim. City Assistant Manager John Dangberg sent this letter to Anaheim City Manager Thomas Wood making three requests:

“Do not authorize issuance of ($75 million) in lease revenue bonds…”

“Cease negotiating with the Kings.”

“However, if Anaheim insists on continuing the negotiations…Anaheim must contractually require and condition bond issuance…to the Kings honoring their approximately $77 million financial obligations to the City of Sacramento…”

It’s no secret that Joe and Gavin Maloof are trying to move from Power Balance Pavilion to the Honda Center, but the letter regarding the Maloofs’ financial obligation to Sacramento was sent to Anaheim, even though the Kings co-owners are ahead of their loan payments, according to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Kings earn first overtime win over Sixers

The Sacramento Kings had a three-point lead in the final seconds of regulation. They were on the verge of winning their third-straight road game and earning a 4-1 road trip.

All that seemed to disappear when the Philadelphia 76ers’ Lou Williams hit a desperation three-pointer to send the game into overtime. The Kings had lost all five of their overtime games this season but they weren’t done playing the role of spoiler like they did in Milwaukee and Indianapolis.

The Kings rose to their challenge, scoring 14 points in overtime against the sixth place team in the Eastern Conference, beating the Sixers 114-110. The win snapped the team’s six-game losing streak to Philadelphia.

The Kings’ Samuel Dalembert had 13 points and a season-high 19 rebounds in his return to Philadelphia, the city he played in for eight seasons. Dalembert was traded last year to Sacramento for Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni.

Jason Thompson, who grew up near Philadelphia, had 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Kings.

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