February 21st, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Usually a NBA roster has anywhere between 13-15 players, depending on roster moves. The Sacramento Kings, going into Friday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, had only 8 players to suit up. But to be fair, the Kings were major players in trade activity before the NBA trading deadline, so their roster was quite depleted. Nonetheless, their ace, Kevin Martin, would put on an offensive clinic; he scored 33 points in leading Sacramento to the 115-106 win over Memphis at the FedEx Forum.
The Grizzlies started well enough as they built an early 6-point lead, yet neither team could take over right away. Memphis’ ragged play on the court – including poor shooting and allowing 10 consecutive points by the Kings – enabled Sacramento to take a 54-50 lead into their locker room, with Martin scoring 15 at halftime.
The Kings would extend their lead at the start of the third quarter as Martin continued to get open looks while the Grizzlies continued their sloppy play, yet Memphis managed to to get to within 3 starting the fourth quarter. Sacramento would build their lead to 94-86 at the midway point of the final period; they would hold an 11-point lead when Memphis would rally to bring themselves to within 102-99 on a O.J. Mayo dunk; But the Kings’ Francisco Garcia drained a 3-pointer, icing the game.
Sacramento’s high scorer was Martin with 33 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals while Beno Udrih added 18 with 2 rebounds, 6 assists; Jason Thompson pitched in with 17 along with 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots while Garcia chipped in 15 with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots.
Memphis was led by Mayo with 24 points with 4 rebounds, 4 assists3 steals and a blocked shot but committing 5 turnovers while Rudy Gay added 23 with 10 rebounds and a steal; Mike Conley chipped in 16 with 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Sacramento (12-44) plays again on Saturday when they fly to Dallas to take on the Mavericks while Memphis (15-40) travels to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.
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