The Kings took care of business against one tanking team on Monday, and now will look to do the same today as they face the Utah Jazz. Utah is sitting their top three players tonight and might be without Walker Kessler as well, while the Kings only injury concern is Keon Ellis who is listed as questionable with an ankle. Regardless, this is a game the Kings should and need to win as the schedule gets much harder from here.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Wednesday, February 26th, 6:00 PM PT
Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
Utah is dead last in the Western Conference at 14-43 and are seemingly doing everything in their power to stay that way. Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and John Collins, Utah’s top three leading scorers, are all listed as out today against the Kings. The Kings are coming off a dominant win against the Charlotte Hornets at home on Monday, and need to do the same tonight against Utah for the start of this four game road trip.
Monday’s performance against the Hornets was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Kings, and in particular, Zach LaVine, who broke out in a big way. LaVine scored 42 points on 16-19 from the field and 8 of 9 from three in just 31 minutes of action. This is the Zach LaVine the Kings had been waiting for and hopefully it’s just the start as the Kings will need LaVine to remain in top form if they hope to make a serious playoff push over these final 20 or so games. Another game against a weak opponent should hopefully provide LaVine and company a bit more time to get and stay comfortable before the difficulty ramps up again.
The Kings put together their best defensive performance of the season against Charlotte, allowing just 88 points. Sacramento’s bench in particular was excellent on that end. Newcomers Markelle Fultz, Jake LaRavia and Jonas Valanciunas did a great job of bringing effort and intensity on that end of the floor. Fultz looks to be a solid rotation player for this team, and he could be in line for a bigger role tonight if Keon Ellis has to miss the game.
Utah still has some weapons even without their top guys available. Jordan Clarkson is a very streaky player but those streaks can get mighty hot if he gets comfortable, and second year player Keyonte George has also shown a propensity for scoring. The Jazz as a team like to shoot a ton of threes, and while they aren’t particularly great at it (35.5% on the season), we’ve seen the Kings give up big shooting games to even worse shooting opponents. The Kings don’t want to let Utah get comfortable from beyond the arc, particularly early on. Ideally the Kings can put this one away early and conserve some energy for the rest of this trip. To do so, they should take advantage of Utah’s porous defense (dead last in the NBA) and propensity to turn it over (dead last in turnovers and opponent points off turnovers). If Walker Kessler also sits, the Jazz won’t have much resistance on the interior either with rookie Kyle Filipowski and two-way players Micah Potter & Oscar Tshiebwe being the only big men that Utah will be able to call upon. This is a rare game where the Kings might actually be bigger than their opponent.
Everything is set up for a dominant Kings victory, but hopefully the Kings treat it seriously and take care of business early. Before they can look ahead to the tougher opponents on the schedule, they need to focus on the task in front of them. There’s no excuses for letdowns at this point.
Prediction
Zach LaVine stays scorching, scoring 30+ in the Kings victory.
Kings 135, Jazz 114
The Jazz have been in Utah all my life. I still think it’s a crime that the team name Jazz is not associated with New Orleans.
It used to be
Silver should fix this:
Utah Pelicans it is!!!
Make it so.
Right. Should have left the name behind. They could have been the Utah Killer bees, or something representing the beehive state
Utah Slopes
Utah Snow
Utah Sundance
Utah Everything Closed by 7pm and Not Open on Sundays
Don’t use Slopes.
I know you were going for ski slope, but that’s an ethnic slur.
Ok, thank you – taking that one off of the list :/
Utah Hive
Utah Man.
Utah Bomb
Idaho, Utah Man.
Utah Meadow Mountain Massacrers.
Too soon?
Utah Honeybees
Utah Salt Lakers
Utah Seagulls
The Lakers have been in LA all my life. Ain’t no damn lakes there.
LA Timberwolves it is!!!
Make it so
They shouldn’t even be allowed that name!
Of course not, but that’s the joke. They stole Minny’s previous team and name, so if they give the name back they take their current team name.
Good one. Sorry to be sensitive, but Minnesota will always be home. The Land of Ten-Thousand Lakes!
The LA Lukas.
The LA Bronnys
The LA Second and Third Quarter Crowds
The LA Your Star Will Be A Laker Soons
The LA Refs Like Us Too
Perfect!
The LA JAM!
As in traffic.
Lakers (excuse me!) is the most esoteric name in all sports. Of all the crimes that franchise is guilty of throughout the decades, none is more offensive than the theft of someone else’s history. No franchise would ever be allowed to get away with it today, and hard to know why they would even want to. My dad’s side of the family is still on the farm in Heron Lake, so it’s very personal for me. I doubt there’s a single player on that team who knows what the name refers to. Curse them forever!
The Utah “Naturals” or maybe the “Buttes.”
This needs to be another statement win. Go beat the Jazz by 30, run an offense, move the ball, give effort on defense, value the ball (in my best Jerry Reynolds voice), and let the starters rest in the 4th quarter.
Come on Kings! Let’s go!
Can’t afford to again fall asleep
While digging a hole that’s too deep.
This Jazz team’s been bad;
There’s a win to be had.
For once we should finish the sweep!
+1 Unleash JV on the Jazz!
&ct=g
Any more news about Keon other than being “questionable”?
Which sounds not too bad.
He’s supposed to be travelling with the team, which is better than him staying in Sac for this trip.
I’d actually prefer he play just limited minutes if only to keep him limber for the tpugher games ahead.
“The Kings put together their best defensive performance of the season against Charlotte, allowing just 88 points”
Honest to goodness question: Was it because of the Kings’ defense or was it because CHA has the worst FG% of the NBA and 4th worst offensive output?
It’s a little bit of we should have beat them like that if we’re a good team, and a little bit of they are one of the worst teams in the league by a good bit and we just out matched them. Either way if we’re legitimately trying for the playoffs these are wins we need
It was a better effort, and the result is what counts, but the Kings defensive execution still looks disappointing.
Yeah, we let them back in the game, cutting the lead to under 10 in the 3rd Q.
I don’t think that was our best defensive performance of the season.
I would nominate our win in Boston 114-97 holding the Celts to 42 2nd half points.
100%, and I’m not surprised they let off the gas in the third. They made it up for it in the fourth, but not because of the defense.
Yeah, the Boston game is probably the best one.
The November 27 comeback win in Minnesota gets an honorable mention. The Kings outscored the TWolves 34-18 in the fourth quarter. The TWolves managed only one made FG in the last five minutes.
I agree. The Boston win was the best defensive performance.
This wasn’t even close to being the best defensive effort of the season.
Hard to execute on defense when you commit so many active-ball turnovers. Monk’s two backcourt TOs within 7 seconds in the third quarter were particularly bad.
A lot depends on Monk’s progress as a PG. The Kings immediate future depends on him and how he is able to control his impulsivity going forward. That, and how/if they can figure out a modicum of defense.
I love Monk, but he isn’t a true starting-level NBA PG and I don’t think he should be held to those standards, it’s just not who he is.
This FO has never been able to put a competitive roster together and they completely botched the Fox trade so Monk ends up as the starting PG by default, its not his fault the FO sucks.
Does anyone really think we should head into next year with Monk as the starting PG?
I’ve never been less impressed by a 42pt win.
I hope LeVine actually hits shots in games we need him to score in. Right now he feels like a Buddy Hield-type player, getting 40 in a game we don’t need his scoring in while he’ll go 2 for 18 against other teams competing for a play-in in the West.
Last chance for a cupcake win. Jazz are 14-43 (kind of crazy our 3 of our last 4 games have come against teams with 14 wins). And if they have the same starting lineup as last game, they will be starting:
Isaiah Collier: 20 year old rookie; BPM -6.2
Brice Sensabaugh: 21 year old 2nd year; BPM -2.1
Johnny Juzang: 23 year old 3rd year; BPM: -2.4
KJ Martin: 24 year old 5th year; BPM: -4.8
Kyle Filipowski: 21 year old rookie; BPM: -1.0
Then off the bench brining:
Keyonte George: 21 year old 2nd year; BPM” -2.1
Michal Potter: 26 year old 4th year; BPM: -2.7
Cody Williams: 20 year old rookie: BPM: -6.5
Svi Mykhailiuk: 27 year old 7th year, BPM: -3.2
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but this could be the peak of Fool’s Gold. Maybe the worst lineup we have faced this season, even worse the the Pelicans and Hornets.
Could easily see another big win, followed by a lot of “we got a couple of practices and figured things out” followed by a couple of losses to the Rockets, Mavs, and Nuggets where we maybe play better but get a bit more of a wakeup call.
Sac was in desperate need of a game like the other night just to get their feet under them. Maybe they catch some forward momentum tonight (Mando!), but we won’t have much to truly celebrate until they begin rattling off wins against some of those teams above.
Gotta handle Clarkson and George if you want to walk away with the Vin.
The Utah Y-Utes
The worst team in the West missing 4 starters. Needs to be a blowout win.
Or it could be a double OT loss incoming?
I wanna call it a “trap game,” but that seems arrogant with the way Sac has been playing, especially the starting 5. That unit still isn’t guarding anyone. Unfortunately, change feels more necessary than inevitable. Even the Hornets jumped on them 8-2, and I don’t see the early substitution thing as a real viable answer just because they turned it around against Charlotte.
That team meeting thing that Doug did after the Warriors game – maybe he can do that after every game…
Success equals playing the same way we played last game. Use the same offense. Play barely average defense but try hard. Show that there is system and a plan. Show that this team can execute the system and the plan.
Extra credit is going to Derozan or Sabonis if Lavine is not hot. Show this team is truly a three headed monster and understands how to be that team.
And stop turning the ball over!
Cue LaVine lazy cross-court pass, followed by Monk and then Sabonis trying to thread the needle in a crowded paint.
Working the inside out game and scoring 42 points was not bad.
Of course, but LaVine had 2 assist/3Tos. Monk had 10/5 and Domas 7/4. Fultz 1/3. Not great.
Lavine’s numbers are really good considering his 42 point game. You don’t score 42 by passing the ball. Monk’ having 10 assists is a sign of progress. It is rare that any Kings point guard cracks six assists. Monk will turn over the ball because he is pushing the offense into the paint instead of playing ISO basketball. Sabonis always has the same assists as an average point guard. Him having three turnovers while trying to feed a player he is not familiar with is expected. Fultz did not play enough to even matter.
The turnovers are not good. The turnovers are a result of a team unfamiliar with each other but still playing an offensive plan and forcing it to happen.
I like your enthusiasm
Lavine has thrown more than one lazy cross court pass. He needs to key on the defensive player before making that lazy pass.
When they are up by 25 or more NBA players take chances. Not good but it is the reality.
True, but Monk has never needed a 25 point lead to begin taking chances.
That is how he plays and always will play. His game works with Sabonis. Set him free. He had 10 assists. That is crazy high for a typical score first player.
I will give Monk one or two turnovers. Compared to his assists that would be good enough. If not then do what Doug did last game. Replace him. Might get the message. Still one of my favorite players even if he plays out of position.
Who do you replace him with?
Fultz is looking like a real possibility by a process of elimination.
I love Monk’s game, always have. That doesn’t necessarily mean he is the right fit for this starting unit. MM has been searching for a All-NBA caliber two-way PG since he got here. He never seemed committed to Fox either. Hali wasn’t it, too soft. Davion wasn’t it, no offense. Carter is the next hope. Monk is more than a stop-gap, but he likely isn’t the long-term starter either, even if he polishes his game to another level, not a strong enough defender. Most of us see him as an ideal third guard.
Monk is not a point guard. He is a point guard just as much as Fox was a point guard. Haliburton actually is an All Star point guard. He has been one twice. The team USA selection is solid as well.
Monk is a better point guard than Carter is. Fultz might the guy to get 20 minutes when playing a team that requires a real point guard.
Thet should never take chances. They are supposed to be professionals.
They are people playing a game. When up big they play different positions. They try different plays. They put different players on the floor in different situations.
The risk is minimal when winning is the focus.
Badge Legend