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The Kings overcame a very rough second quarter with a gritty defensive effort in the 2nd half and won 103 to 100.  The Kings trailed by 21 at the start of the second half, but continually cut in to the lead until overtaking the bucks with less than a minute remaining.  Demarcus Cousin, Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton all had big games.  Demarcus has 19 point, 15 rebounds and 2 steals before fouling out in the 4th.  Tyreke looked like a superstar with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.  Marcus Thornton overcame a cold first half to finish with a team high 27 points.

The Keith Smart era is now 1-0.  The Kings were tenacious on the boards and finished with 55 rebounds.  John Salmons finished with 13 points.  Chuck Hayes was lost in the 2nd quarter to a dislocated shoulder.  No further information is available on the injury at this time.  The Kings have 2 days off before they face the Magic on Sunday.

Keith Smart started his Kings coaching career with a victory.

Demarcus Cousins was banished from the game by coach Westphal, and the  Kings responded without him by beating the New Orleans Hornets 96 to 80 on New Years Day.

Westphal had this to say before the game, “When a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.”  This apparently stemmed from a trade demand from Demarcus following last night’s embarrassing loss to the Knicks.

Here’s the official press release from coach Westphal:

Here’s a video of Westphal addressing the media, courtesy of http://www.cowbellkingdom.com/:

Back to the game… Tyreke Evans looked the part of a superstar in the second half with several impressive drives in to the paint the resulted in baskets for himself and a couple assists. Marcus Thornton was also quite impressive. Together Marcus and Reke totalled 52 points. This was easily the best ball movement for the Kings of the early season although the assist total was only 16. The Kings also shook their early season free throw shooting woes going 18 of 21 from the line.

The lack of Demarcus Cousins wasn't a problem for the Kings on Sunday night.