NBA Roundup 20th March: Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets win (Part-2)
Sacramento Kings 127 – Minnesota Timberwolves 95
Sacramento Kings romped to a 21-0 run, bridging the ending moments of the third quarter and preliminary minutes of the fourth, to thrash Minnesota Timberwolves 127-95 at Target Center. The Kings snapped a five-game road skid in
doing so and also handed Timberwolves their worst home loss in three years.
Samuel Dalembert had a double-double with 26 points and seven rebounds while Beno Udrih and Marcus Thornton combined for 42 points to overthrow Minnesota. DeMarcus Cousins had a rough night as he managed to land only 3 points in
over 20 minutes of play time.
Luke Ridnour was the top performer for Timberwolves. He clinched 22 points and dished out four assists.
Minnesota clutched an early advantage with 14-9 run, however the visiting team lifted the momentum after that and raced to 57-48 lead as the game progressed into the halftime. Timberwolves were absolutely crushed in the second
half of the game with a 21-0 run that included three blistering 3-pointers. Kings sealed a comprehensive 102-75 advantage with seven minutes remaining in the final buzzer. Sacramento showed no signs of retreat and concluded the night with a massive 32-points
margin victory.
Phoenix Suns 108 – Los Angeles Clippers 99
Phoenix Suns sustained their surge for the playoff run in the Western Conference after prevailing over the lowly Los Angeles Clippers 108-99 at the Staples Center on Sunday night.
Steve Nash clinched a game-high 23 points and doled out 13 assists while Channing Frye joined the action with his 19 points. The Suns domination was reinforced by their bench that supplied 51 points in the game. Chris Kaman and
Mo Williams combined for 39 points while Blake Griffin landed 17 points for the Clippers.
An interesting fact about Phoenix’s play was they landed 27 points in all of the four quarters. Nash scored his 15 out of 23 points in the first half of the game to spearhead the visiting for 54-49 lead. On the verge of cutting
down the deficit, Griffin retaliated stoutly in the third quarter by scoring 10 points as Clippers succeeded in reducing the deficit to 78-81.
The home team failed to capitalize the situation in the final period. Frye landed two scorching blows from downtown in the defining moments of the play to escort Phoenix for an outstanding 108-99 victory.
Houston Rockets 110 – Utah Jazz 108
Kyle Lowry clinched his first triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to spearhead Houston Rockets in a thrilling 110-108 victory over Utah Jazz. Kevin Martin also impressed with his team-high 34 points to put
Rockets in the 9th spot, one win behind Memphis Grizzlies for the Western Conference playoff run.
Paul Millsap was spectacular with the ball as he sealed a game-high 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Jazz. All the starters scored in double figures for the visiting team however the bench failed to propel any sort of momentum.
Al Jefferson who scored 17 points and gathered 19 rebounds said after the game. "We made a lot of mistakes, and still had a chance to win. A lot of little mistakes cost us in the end."
The Jazz were comprehensively outscored in the first quarter 30-19 which provided a huge advantage to the home team. Millsap strived to cut down the deficit however the Rockets landed four scorching blows from downtown to ensure
8 points lead in the halftime.
Utah responded after the break and buried seven blistering blows from beyond the arc in the second half of the game. The team managed to bring the game towards a close finish, however they couldn’t contain their fouls. Jazz supplied
a number of fouls as Houston landed their last 13 points on free throws that helped them to seal an enthralling 110-108 victory in the end.
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