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Spurs home cooking brings them out of funk NBA Playoffs Spurs lead series 3-2 by Joe Cronin and Ken Gimblin May 2, 2006 |
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The Sacramento Kings, who lost Game 5 to the San Antonio Spurs 109-98, at the SBC Center in Downtown San Antonio, were in it from the very start. If anyone thought the Kings were going to lie down and die after tying the series in Game 4, that couldn't be further from the truth. The Kings in the match did everything they could to prove everyone wrong and they could have won Game 5 as well as they lost just by 9 points. The Spurs who won game one by 34 points and just won Game 2 in overtime knows one thing the Kings are going to stay stubborn tough. There is no doubt the flight back to Sacramento, Tuesday Night has to be a long one but the Kings talked about regrouping and getting the show on the road or at home as the case maybe and facing the Spurs for Game 6. Game 6, is two words that some people in San Antonio would never think of saying. They were almost sure that the Spurs would walk away with this first round with the Kings in five or six games. The Kings have put on a pretty good show. The winner Tuesday night after the Kings tied the series on Sunday would be the winner of the series. The Spurs might loose on Friday if they do they have home court advantage for Game 7 and should win that one on the home floor at SBC. Right now for San Antonio even if they loose, they go back home for Game 7 in San Antonio and could wrap it up there. Definitely one would have to favor the Spurs in the outcome of things. Bonzi Wells had 38 points for the Kings and for Ron Artest he had 24, for the Kings both players have been huge in the stretch drive of the playoffs. Artest came during the regular season and picked them up and made them a better team. The Kings had some help in the last weeks of the regular season when New Orleans began to fade as well as Utah in the end which helped the Kings slide into the final and eighth spot in the Western Conference. The only criticism of Artest right now is that he's handling the ball too much and the pressure is all on him to get the ball in the hoop. There is no question that his leadership has helped the Kings. Bonzi Wells has been amazing because it appeared that this would be it for him, and that this would be his last year in Sacramento and Wells would play somewhere else next season but the way Wells has played in the playoffs Wells has been almost unstoppable and tonight Wells has been very impressive. The Kings don't see him going anywhere next year and he might have earned a stay with the Kings for another season, and the Kings will have to up the ante with him. Wells has really proven his worth and of the players offensively Wells has been the most difficult for the Spurs to stop. Wells has been a real surprise and he gets a lot of credit for his offensive play against the Spurs and for the fact the Kings have made a strong showing. The Spurs top scorers for Tuesday night Manu Ginobili 27, Tim Duncan 24 points, 9 rebounds, five assists, and Ginobili went 9-12, Tim Duncan finished second in scoring with 24 and Tony Parker had 21. Without any one of those three the Kings win the game. Kenny G and JC's Game #5 footnotes: The top three guys that have meant alot to the Spurs in Game 5 Tim Duncan it goes without saying has been a real big part for San Antonio and Duncan has contributed for the last several years. As for Parker and Ginobili the Spurs would not be the team they are without those players and all of those players have done a great job. The Kings Chances: Whenever you play on your home court it's worth it whether its baseball, football, hockey and now basketball the home court advantage in the NBA is worth it and it could mean 10 points. In talking to NBA players, in the past about the home floor, the travel makes the difference. If your at home your don't have to travel and your working in familiar surroundings. The crowd emotionally you feed off of that and that could help you and for the Kings where the crowd is very, very pro Kings. The enthusiasm has got to help and the years the Kings did extremely well with Chris Webber and Jason Williams. Tip off is at 7:30PM PDT at Arco Arena for Game six. Series lead goes to the San Antonio Spurs 3-2. Series Summary Game 1 Spurs 122 Kings 88 Game 2 Spurs 128 Kings 119 (OT) Game 3 Kings 94 Spurs 93 Game 4 Kings 102 Spurs 84 Game 5 Spurs 109 Kings 98 Game 6 at Sacramento 7:30PM May 5th Game 7 at San Antonio TBA (if necessary) Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin co-host Sportstalk on Saturdays on 1690 KFSG Sacramento. |
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