Kings Blog and Q&A

Last night's game: The Sacramento Kings defeated the Indiana Pacers 92-88 on Wednesday at the Power Balance Pavilion. View the box score.

Game coverage:

• "Exactly how the Kings pulled out this victory was puzzling to their coach and even some of their players," Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) writes in today's newspaper recap.
• "Kings coach Keith Smart prefers to get in a practice upon arrival on trips where his team flies east," Jones writes in today's newspaper.
• Jones, in a blog post this morning, writes about Smith's success going small.
• "Effort, energy and adrenalin rushes remain constants in NBA victories," writes Ailene Voisin (@ailene_voisin) in a post-game blog post.
• "Was Indiana just careless with the ball and cold from the floor, or did the Kings' defense force the Pacers into those mistakes?," asks Tom Ziller (@teamziller) in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Sactown Royalty.
• "The Kings were much more cohesive when playing in the zone than they normally are on man-to-man," writes Akis Yerocostas (@Aykis16) in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Sactown Royalty.
• "The Kings final five against the Pacers was a magnificent bunch," writes Scott Levin (@KingsSLev) writes in a blog post for FanSided affiliate A Royal Pain.
• Jonathan Santiago (@itsJONsantiago) and James Ham (@James_Ham) break down last night's game in a blog post for TrueHoop Network affiliate Cowbell Kingdom.
• The Kings "went to a zone defense and let the Pacers shoot their way out of the game," writes Mike Wells (@MikeWellsNBA) in today's Indianapolis Star.
• "The Kings were a desperate team and that desperation showed up with a boost off the bench," writes Tom Lewis (@IndyCornrows) in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Indy Cornrows.
• "This was a players' loss - all of the players - but, hey, at least they did it as a unit," writes Tim Donahue in a blog post for TrueHoop Network affiliate Eight Points, Nine Seconds.
• View the photo gallery by José Luis Villegas.
• View the snapshot photo gallery by Blake Ellington (@blakeellington).
• View the video highlights at NBA.com.

More news and analysis:

• The Kings have "shown a resilience and cohesion" since the firing Paul Westphal and hiring of Smart, writes Sekou Smith (@SekouSmithNBA) in a blog post on the Hang Time Blog for NBA.com.
• "The Kings as a team have definitely been worse than expected, but if there is one group that has been better than the rest, it's the bigs," writes Yerocostas in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Sactown Royalty.

Arena coverage:

• "Admittedly, it's hard to see how the misfortunes of the Kings can change with the current ownership," writes Marcos Breton (@MarcosBreton) in a column in today's newspaper.
• Giants President and CEO Larry Baer believes a new downtown arena can be built, writes Ryan Lillis (@Ryan_Lillis) writes in today's newspaper.
• Tom DuHain (@kcraduhain) of KCRA reports from the State of Downtown address.
• Listen to Baer's comments at the State of Downtown courtesy of KFBK:

Tweets of the day:

I'm wary of the DMC-Sheed comparison, but Cousins played Sheed-like defense in the fourth quarter last night.

— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) January 19, 2012

Kings have worst shooters in league, but that was a gutty effort on defense and the boards

— Ron Wenig (@RonWenig) January 19, 2012

1957 was last time in Kings franchise history that a team shot 30% and won. @CarmichaelDave was in 2nd grade.

— Scott Moak (@AnnouncerScott) January 19, 2012

Online coverage from The Bee this season:

• LIVE CHATS: Join The Bee's Matt Kawahara for in-game chats during every Kings home game, just before tipoff right through the final buzzer.

• VIDEOS: Find out what some Kings players and coach Paul Westphal have to say about the upcoming season - and much more.

• BLOG: Stay up to date on the team's happenings with Jason Jones, Ailene Voisin and Matt Kawahara on The Bee's Kings blog.

• FACEBOOK: "Like" the Sacramento Kings Corner page and join Bee staffers and fans in discussions about the team and players.

• TWITTER: Follow The Bee's Jason Jones for up-to-the-minute developments, in-game updates and much more about the Kings.

If you see a Sacramento Kings-related story or blog post that we should feature, e-mail me at nmiller@sacbee.com or send me reply on Twitter at @journalistnate.