March 19, 2009

Rashad Explodes for 30, Tweaks Ankle

After his best offensive performance of the season, Rashad found himself headed to the trainer's table on Wednesday night.

No. 7 shot an astounding 50 percent from the field (10-of-20, 5-of-8 from 3PT) in a 104-88 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, finding himself in the starting lineup after an injury sidelined Sacramento's Kevin Martin.

With the game well out of reach, No. 7 left the contest at the 4:41 mark.

“I did it in the first quarter and just kind of shook it off a little bit...But it kind of came back to haunt me, fighting through the pain and all.’‘

The Sacramento Bee's Sam Amick characterized Rashad's performance with glowing praise.

There weren't many shortcomings from McCants, the Asheville, N.C., native who shone less than three hours from where he won a national title at North Carolina in 2005. He hit 10 of 20 shots after starting 0 of 4, buried 5 of 8 three-pointers and showed a commitment to defense while grabbing two steals.

Rashad played more minutes than he saw over the weekend. In the past two games, he’s averaged over 28 minutes and 17 points.

In Tuesday night’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, he saw over 19 minutes of playing time and went 2-6 from the field.

The Kings face the New York Knicks Friday at 4:30 p.m. on News10 TV and Saturday at home against the Philadelphia 76ers at 7 p.m. on CSNCA. These two games are the only chances the Kings have to avoid becoming the first NBA team to go winless against the other conference.

RELATED STORIES
Kings at Hawks Boxscore (NBA.com, March 18, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090317/SACATL/boxscore.html
Kings at Hawks Recap (SI.com, March 18, 2009)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/viewcast/2009/03/17/inde...
Wallace, Bobcats beat short-handed Kings 104-88 (NBA.com, March 18, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090318/SACCHA/recap.html
Kings at Bobcats Boxscore (NBA.com, March 18, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090318/SACCHA/boxscore.html