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On his night, Tyreke Evans put on a show, notching his first career triple-double and the first for the franchise by a rookie in the Sacramento era.
What made the Rally for RekeROY Night especially encouraging for Kings fans, however, was seeing the first-year leader guide the Kings to a well-rounded, decisive 113-90 team victory.
While Evans finished with 19 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, becoming just the third rookie this season to tally the double-digit trifecta, his teammates showed, like Sacramentans, they’re rallying the Kings back to an exciting brand of basketball. The team may be out of the playoffs this season, but united, the Kings plan to be back in the postseason picture soon. In the meantime, they’ll happily disrupt a few opponents’ playoff aspirations.
Beno Udrih notched a game-high 24 points and eight assists, combined with his rookie backcourt mate, the pair dished more assists than Toronto, as a team (15). Dontè Greene — smiling, encouraging, celebrating and supporting, as always — tallied 15 points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block while making life difficult for the Raptors’ frontcourt on defense. Carl Landry posted another solid outing with 15 points, thanks to 7-of-8 shooting to finish the game, and six rebounds of his own, as Toronto discovered first-hand how difficult an Evans-Landry tandem is to defend.
Coming off the bench, Francisco Garcia and Jason Thompson did their part to give Sacramento’s second unit a boost. Garcia scored 12 points while shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and corralling five rebounds. Thompson, meanwhile, put together a 10-point, five-rebound effort while being a significant factor in the team’s ability to limit All-Star Chris Bosh to 14 points on 6-of-20 shooting from the field.
With seven-point, eight-rebound and eight-point, six-rebound outings, Spencer Hawes and Omri Casspi, respectively, may not have had the best shooting nights, but along with their teammates, the young stars helped the Kings double the Raptors on the offensive glass (14-7) and dominate the defensive boards (38-26).
In less than 14 minutes, forward Sean May scored three points, grabbed two rebounds and swiped nearly half (3) of the Kings seven steals. Even newcomer Garrett Temple had a part in the Kings 20-plus point win, making his ARCO Arena debut.
In their first of a five-game, 11-day home stand, the Kings won by a season-high 23 points, which included a remarkable 43-point third quarter where the team shot a blistering 75 percent from the field. With its incredible 73-point second half outburst, the team improved to 16-15 at home and an impressive 7-9 in the second game of back-to-back sets.
Now with a day to rest, the Kings gear up for a rematch against Brandon Roy and the Portland Trail Blazers, who held Sacramento to a season-low 81 points the night before the Kings steam rolled the Raptors. In honor of the team’s well-deserved day off, check out the litany of links below celebrating Evans’ dynamic play, because even though it was a team win, the Kings rookie’s tremendous talent is making Sacramento shine, once again.
And They Called Him R.O.Y. – Sactown Royalty
How’d He Do That: Evans’ Triple-Double – NBAPlaybook.com
Curry Not Serious Contender to ‘Reke – Cowbell Kingdom
Triple-Double Has Fans Standing with ‘Reke – SlamOnline.com
Tyreke Evans’ Crowning Achievement – Blogcritics
Evans Get Triple-Double in Kings Win – Sacramento Press
Tyreke Evans May Have Clinched Rookie of the Year – FanHouse
Creat-A-Caption: We are All Tyreke Evans – Yahoo! Sports
Evans May Become Biggest Star of 2009-10 Class - SI.com
Ranking the Rookie Point Guards – SI.com
Kings Promote Evans for Rookie of Year – Sacramento Bee
Mayor Johnson Talks About Evans, RekeROY Rally – Sacramento Press
