Kings drop Rockets in Las Vegas Summer League final
Unfurl the banner, folks. The Sacramento Kings are NBA champions!
Well, champions of the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League at least...
Led by a 29-point performance from Ray McCallum, the Kings beat the Houston Rockets 77-68 in Monday night's final of the Summer League tournament to give the franchise its first trophy since it won the NBA Finals in 1951, when the team was based in Rochester and 34 years before it relocated to Sacramento.
SAC-RA-MENTO! pic.twitter.com/t1ONMWqWWG
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) July 22, 2014
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) July 22, 2014
In addition to McCallum's 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting, which subsequently earned him game MVP honors, Ra'shad James came off the bench to drop 12 points while the eighth overall pick from this year's draft, Nik Stauskas, pitched in with 10 of his own.
Summer league champs... Good way to start off my NBA career! Love my brothers! #Kings
— Nik Stauskas (@NStauskas11) July 22, 2014
Owner Vivek Ranadive spoke after the final buzzer and delivered a message to all those in attendance.