Kings open new arena with visit from Spurs
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento Kings waited a long time to kick off a new era of basketball, especially considering the franchise's recent fortunes.
Symbolically, they will step into the future Thursday when they open their shiny new arena.
The San Antonio Spurs may find that to be the perfect backdrop as the continue into their new era of basketball, one that kicked off in a way reminiscent of the old one.
Sacramento's new pad, the $557-million, 17,500-seat Golden 1 Center in the city's downtown area, will become the franchise's ninth home. It will be the Kings' third arena since moving to Sacramento in 1985.
The Kings simply hope they can win there. Sacramento finished 18-23 in its final season at Sleep Train Arena and hasn't been above .500 at home in a season since the 2007-08 campaign.
A win against San Antonio would add to the good feelings the Kings stirred up in a 113-94, opening-night win at Phoenix on Tuesday. Center DeMarcus Cousins scored 24 points, and forward Rudy Gay scored 22 with four blocked shots as a Kings team that allowed an NBA-worst 109.1 points per game a season ago held the Suns to only 38 in the first half.
A victory for Sacramento on Thursday also would be the punctuation to a night of celebration that is supposed to mark a new path after 10 seasons of turmoil without a playoff appearance.
"The first thing we've got to do is learn how to compete, and the second thing then is to learn how to win," Sacramento coach Dave Joerger told the Sacramento Bee. "We're not a young group, so if we can get through stage one quickly, then we can get to stage two."
The Spurs should feel right at home against a rowdy crowd. San Antonio laid a 129-100 beating upon the two-time Western Conference champion Warriors on Tuesday in Oakland, Calif., spoiling forward Kevin Durant's debut with Golden State and taking the air out of an arena overflowing with enthusiasm.
San Antonio also showed that life without Tim Duncan might be just as full of winning as it was with him. The Spurs are playing without Duncan as a regular part of their lineup for the first time since the end of the 1996-97 season. The Hall of Fame-bound center retired in June after a 19-season career during which San Antonio won five championships and never won fewer than 50 games in a full regular season.
With Duncan, the Spurs won 13 times in their past 14 visits to Sacramento.
Without Duncan, San Antonio hardly missed a beat in its opener. The Spurs didn't need him on the glass, outrebounding Golden State 55-35. They also seemed to have no issues finding replacements, running up a 54-16 advantage with their reserves. Guard Jonathon Simmons turned in a 20-point effort.
Guard Kawhi Leonard supplied the scoring with a 35-point night that included 15-for-15 shooting from the free-throw line. Only Duncan (twice), guard George Gervin and center David Robinson ever scored that many on a perfect night at the line for the Spurs, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
"If there was an outcome I wasn't expecting, it was this one," San Antonio's Manu Ginobili said after the game. "A 29-point lead against a team like them? I truly didn't expect it."
Optimism from a new arena aside, the Kings aren't sure what to expect during the season's early days. They jumped to a 19-point halftime lead against the Suns and looked dynamic at times. However, the contest was the first of 11 in the season's first 17 days, eight of which they will play with only one true point guard (Ty Lawson) wile fellow point guard Darren Collison serves an eight-game suspension after pleading guilty to domestic abuse.
Lawson played 36 minutes against Phoenix and finished with nine points, seven assists and six rebounds.