But he is the former Kings coach, the man so long associated with the organization’s only era of success and all that was once good about this product. And if the spirits are ever going to rise up again in the once-vibrant building known as ARCO Arena, that means he eventually must be exorcised. This winning workout was a good start.
The coach in his third season with Houston sat frustrated on the losing bench Friday night, his Rockets having fallen 109-100 to an upstart Kings bunch that won its fourth consecutive game and – no typo here – can actually boast a winning record for the first time since December 2006. And for the first time since Adelman left that summer, the crowd on hand was more intrigued by the notion of a bright future than it was any nostalgic musings about the past.
“It’s starting to get loud in that building – I like that,” said first-year Kings coach Paul Westphal, who has drawn so many comparisons to Adelman based on résumé and coaching style. “That was a very good team, a very tough veteran team.”
The Kings indeed brought the house down late, with the noise level worthy of sellout status, even if the actual announced crowd was not (11,762). They out-toughed one of the grittiest teams in the league, a group that entered 5-3 despite losing stars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming because they played, as one national basketball writer espoused, “a five-man symphony.”
But the Kings had one of their own. After Shane Battier scored 11 in a row for the Rockets – including two inexplicably wide-open threes and a free-throw version of a three-point play – Houston cut a lead that was once 14 points to three (97-94) with four minutes left. But Andres Nocioni countered, burying a 20-footer from the right elbow over Battier’s outstretched hand. Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes teamed up for a rebound on the other end that was all on hustle, then Nocioni continued the late string of low-percentage looks-turned high points when his 22-foot fadeaway from the same spot was good for a seven-point lead. Tyreke Evans, who had started the outing off right with 12 of his 20 points in the first quarter and dueled with Trevor Ariza (28 points), finished it off. With 1:27 left, Evans coolly pulled up on Aaron Brooks for a 17-footer that was true. The comical capper came with 52 seconds left. Evans juked himself on a cut to the right from the top of the key, and he stumbled left while nearly losing his footing and his dribble. With the shot clock winding down, Evans launched a three that banked in and all but ended it.
“Time for a change; time for a change,” Evans kept saying as he dressed at his locker afterward. “It’s time for a change.”
This is precisely the change the Kings wanted back in June. Their call for toughness showed once again on the boards, as they outrebounded the Rockets 54-35 while scoring 21 second-chance points. There was perhaps no better reflection of the way in which they competed than this: Rockets forward Luis Scola – who had 20 points and nine rebounds – spent much of the night on his backside not by his own will but because a Kings player had put him there. He wasn’t alone, either.
Kings guard Beno Udrih and Evans spent yet another game complementing each other’s game, and Udrih finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Kings second-year forward Jason Thompson continued his impressive run, scoring 27 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
“It’s exciting,” Thompson said of the team’s style of play.
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