Tyreke Evans has had a great rookie season for the Sacramento Kings this year, but there is another rookie in the state of California that is starting to gain some ground on him.  Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors has improved rapidly over the course of the season, and has solidified his spot at number two for the Rookie of the Year Award.  Still, Tyreke Evans has been much more consistent than Curry and was an impact player the first game of the season.  Curry took a little while to adjust to the speed and physicality of the NBA, but now that he has he is putting up some impressive numbers.  Unfortunately for both rookies, they are on some bad teams.  However, since they are on some bad teams it has given them the opportunity to get a lot of playing time and gain valuable minutes.  Evans season is more impressive than Curry’s though, despite Curry’s flashy and great play the past two months.  Evans has the consistency (and the scoring average) over Curry, so he will likely still win the ROY Award.  This season Evans is averaging 20.3 points, 5.4 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals.  While Curry’s numbers are nearly identical to Evans in most categories, he is only averaging 16.0 points compared to Evans’ 20.3.  Both Evans and Curry will be stars in this league for years to come, but Evans has had the better rookie season.

The Kings only shot 32% from the floor but it was good enough to beat the Rockets on the road last night. Carl Landry led the way for the Kings against his old team with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals. Beno Udrih pitched in with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists despite only shooting 5 of 15 from the floor. Omri Casspi scored 10 points and he grabbed 5 rebounds in only 18 minutes last night. The Kings are now 21-40 on the year.

The Kings shot 53.9% from the floor but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Thunder last night. Tyreke Evans led the way for the Kings last night with 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Carl Landry had another solid game for the Kings last night with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Beno Udrih (13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Francisco Garcia (13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) both helped out the cause for the Kings last night. The Kings are now 20-40 on the season.

The Kings have lost center Jason Thompson for at least the next two weeks with 2 non-displaced transverse process fractures in his lower back. Thompson has played in 55 games (50 starts) for the Kings this season and he is averaging 32.0 minutes, 12.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. This hurts the Kings bad as Spencer Hawes is in Coach Westphal’s Dog House and even Thompson’s injury might not be enough to get him out of it.

SG/PG Tyreke Evans is the current favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award in the NBA. He has played in 52 games (all starts) for the Kings this season and he is averaging 37.1 minutes, 20.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. With Kevin Martin now in Houston I look for Evans to really excel the rest of the season as they didn’t seem to play well together. Small forward Omri Casspi has really be a find for the Kings. He has played in 55 games (26 starts) for the Kings this season and he is averaging 28.1 minutes, 11.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Power forward Jon Brockman was recently injured but he has played good basketball for the Kings also this season. Brockman has played in 44 games (4 starts) for the Kings this season and he is averaging 13.6 minutes, 3.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He is shooting an impressive 51.1% from the floor this year.