February 26th, 2011 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Jason Thompson (left), Zach Randolph (right)
As I had alluded to in the game preview between the Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies earlier today, both teams at one time were very similar in terms of their youth and inexperience.
Both teams still share that trait, but the Grizzlies – despite their relative inexperience – have made great strides as they are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff chase, whereas the Kings are languishing at the bottom of the conference.
Nevertheless, both teams met Saturday night at FedEx Forum for 48 minutes of basketball.
Memphis’ scoring punch came to light in the second half as they outscored Sacramento by 21 in the last 24 minutes, earning an easy 120-92 win.
Beno Udrih and Jermaine Taylor helped the Kings take an early eight-point lead, with Udrih scoring 14 in the first quarter. But the Grizzlies closed the first half with an 8-1 spurt to take a 56-49 lead into the intermission.
Memphis would outscore Sacramento 33-17 in the third, making 15-of-26 shots and would go into the fourth up 89-66. The Kings wouldn’t put up much of a fight for the last 12 minutes of the game.
Six Grizzlies scored in double-digits, led by Zach Randolph with 23 points, along with 12 rebounds and an assist while Marc Gasol added 21 with 6 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Darrell Arthur came off the bench to score 17 with 3 rebounds while Hamed Haddadi earned a double, scoring 10 while grabbing 10 boards.
The Kings were led by Udrih with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists while Marcus Thornton added 15 with 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. DeMarcus Cousins chipped in 14 with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block.
Memphis (33-27) plays again on Sunday when they travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs while Sacramento (14-43) returns home to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.
Tags: 
