The Kings were outrebounded 55-36 and it did them in last night in Houston.  Tyreke Evans led the way for the Kings in this game with 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.  Isaiah Thomas (13 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal), Francisco Garcia (11 points, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) and Donte’ Greene (11 points, 8 rebounds and 1 blocked shot) also pitched in for the Kings in this game.  The Kings are now 4-8 on the season.

The Kings’ rookies aren’t shooting too well for them so far this year.  22-year old SG Jimmer Fredette has played in 11 games (2 starts) for the Kings so far this year and he is averaging 24.2 minutes, 8.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.  He is only shooting 35.4% from the floor this year and an awful 31.1% (14 of 45) from three point range.  He is going to have to start shooting better if he wants to get more P.T.  22-year old guard Isaiah Thomas has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Kings so far this year and he is averaging 12.5 minutes, 5.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  Like Fredette, Thomas is having issues shooting the ball as he is only hitting 35.3% of his shots from the floor so far this year.  21-year old small forward Tyler Honeycutt has only played in 1 game this year for the Kings, working 4 minutes in which he scored 2 points and grabbed 1 rebound.

The Kings outscored the Raptors 35-28 in the 4th quarter to surge to a nice road win tonight.  Tyreke Evans (29 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals) and DeMarcus Cousins (21 points, 19 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shots) led the way for the Kings in this game.  Isaiah Thomas was outstanding off the bench in this game with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal in 24 minutes off the bench.  Jimmer Fredette pitched in with 10 points and 2 rebounds in 26 minutes.  The Kings are now 4-7 on the season.

The Kings only shot 39.5% from the floor while the Sixers shot 56.6%, which helps explain the beating they took.   DeMarcus Cousins led the way for the Kings last night with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocked shots.  Tyreke Evans (15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals) and Jason Thompson (13 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist in 17 minutes on the floor) also pitched in for the Kings last night.  The Kings are now 3-7 on the year.

22-year old shooting guard Tyreke  Evans is looking good this year for the Kings.  He is taking better shots, but not nearly as many as he did last season when he was playing hurt.  Evans has played in 9 games (all starts) for the Kings so far this year and he is averaging 34.0 minutes, 17.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Evans looks more mature this year as he is starting to put the team first.

The Kings played hard last night, they were just overmatched a little by the Magic.  Tyreke Evans led the way for the Kings in this game with 28 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.  DeMarcus Cousins (16 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots) and J.J. Hickson (14 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) also had outstanding games for the Kings last night.  Marcus Thornton (13 points and 6 rebounds) and Jason Thompson (10 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes) also had solid games for the Kings.  The Kings are now 3-6 on the year.

The Kings will be without starting power forward Chuck Hayes for the next 3-4 weeks due to a dislocated shoulder.  He has played in 8 games (all starts) for the Kings so far this year and he is averaging 25.4 minutes, 5.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  J.J. Hickson will likely benefit the most from Hayes’ injury.  Hickson has played in 8 games (3 starts) for the Kings so far this year and he is averaging 22.1 minutes, 6.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Hickson might not give Hayes his job back.

The Kings were down 21 points at halftime, but new head coach Keith Smart fired up his troops and made good adjustments.  The Kings outscored the Bucks 66-42 to surge to a huge win at home last night.  The Kings outrebounded the Bucks  55-31 last night and that played a huge part in the big comeback.  Marcus Thornton (27 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals) and Tyreke Evans (26 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot) led the way for the Kings in this game.  DeMarcus Cousins looked energized last night as he finished up with 19 points, 15 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.  John Salmons pitched in with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.  The Kings are now 3-5 on the year.

You have to think that Paul Westphal’s firing had a lot to do with his handling of 21-year old center DeMarcus Cousins.  Cousins recently requested a trade and I think it’s partially because the old man was a tad too hard on him.  Cousins has played in 6 games (4 starts) for the Kings so far this year and he is averaging 26.0 minutes, 13.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.7 blocked shots per game.  Keith Smart’s first job as the Kings’ new head coach will be to get Cousins to act his age and not his shoe size.  That should be fascinating to watch as Cousins could be one of the best centers in the NBA right now if he were properly focused and motivated.  Cousins has a huge upside.

The Kings have fired 61-year old head coach Paul Westphal.  The Kings were off to a rough 2-5 start to the 2011-12 season.  The Kings were 51-120 (29.8%) under Westphal in his two plus years on the job.  The Kings didn’t take too well the Westphal’s old school style of coaching.  He has a 318-279 (53.3%) during the regular season in his NBA career and he is 27-22 (55.1%) in the post season.  The Kings have replaced Westphal with 47-year old Keith Smart on an interim basis.  Smart has a 45-77 record (36.9%) in his first two years as a head coach in the NBA.  The Kings hope that Smart will be able to relate to the players as little better than Westphal did.

UPDATE:  The Kings have removed the interim tag and have signed Keith Smart to a 2-year deal.