Kings solve Clippers

No matter how well Kevin Martin finishes his season, there will be no Most Improved Player award waiting for him.

But make no mistake, the Kings shooting guard is still getting better.

Martin scored 26 points with relative ease Thursday night at Arco Arena, where the Kings pulled out a moral victory and an actual one against a Clippers team that had pestered them all season. Their 110-98 win was the first in four tries against the Clippers, who spent most of these past few months among the dregs of the Western Conference only to look nothing short of elite when it came to the Kings.

To wit: If the Kings had swept the Clippers in four meetings rather than ending with a 1-3 mark in head-to-heads, they would sit above the .500 mark coach Reggie Theus has so long discussed.

The Clippers, who fell to 3-17 without center Chris Kaman (sprained ankle) this season, needed more than Elton Brand, in his second game back from knee surgery, to slow Martin, who hit 8 of 14 shots overall and 4 of 5 three-point attempts.

"It's been a while," Martin said of beating the Clippers, who downed the Kings in the preseason and had last lost to them April 15, 2007. "It started to feel like they were the Boston Celtics or something."

For more than a month, Martin's output has been consistent no matter the opponent. His surge began Feb. 29 following a week of frustration between him and Theus, and just before they collaborated as never before. After Martin's 22 minutes against Atlanta capped a week in which he struggled with his production and some inexplicably long absences from the floor, Theus asked Martin to provide a list of requests that would help his play and his happiness level.

Martin assured Theus that he was committed to working with the first-year coach in a sign of faith. They began working together one-on-one more often, with Theus – the renowned scorer during his playing days – teaching Martin how to use his hands to get open, as well as working to improve his footwork.

In 17 games since, Martin has averaged 26.2 points on 48.1 percent shooting overall (125 of 260) and 42.4 percent from three-point range (28 of 66). He ranks seventh in the league in scoring at 23.5 points per game.

"He's starting to adapt to the game now," Theus said. "I'm seeing things offensively now from Kevin that I had not seen before in terms of using the offense. He's being more patient in the offense. That was a big part of some of the frustration for Kevin early was he always would look to short-cut the offense, and now he's allowing the offense to work for him and he's finding the easy shots."

When Martin burst into the class of the league's best scorers last season, he spent December through March as a leading candidate for the Most Improved award only to fade at the end. His numbers and his minutes dropped as the playoffs were no longer a viable goal, with Golden State's Monta Ellis winning.

"I felt like that was tainted," Martin said of his quiet finish to the 2006-07 campaign. "We were out of the playoffs, and coach (Eric Musselman) still felt like I was a younger player, but they looked at me as the leading scorer and so my minutes weren't there.

"Now I've just got to finish off strong and keep listening to the coaching staff. They know defenses and … they stuck with me, and that showed a lot to me the last month."

The Kings led by 22 points, with the youth movement reaching a new level yet again from rookie center Spencer Hawes (26 minutes, 11 points and four rebounds), second-year forward Shelden Williams (11 minutes, five points and six rebounds) and Quincy Douby (19 minutes, five points). Third-year swingman Francisco García, who is looking to finish off his career-best year just like Martin, continued to do so by scoring 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting.

About the writer:

• Read Sam Amick's Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.