The Sacramento Kings cling to life in the NBA Play-In race, currently in the 10th seed with a 1.5 game lead over the Phoenix Suns, who will be without Kevin Durant for at least one game after a nasty ankle turn Sunday against the Rockets. But the Kings can’t take anything for granted, especially as the Dallas Mavericks have returned to life and overtaken the Kings for the 9th seed. Will this team actually show up? Or will we get a repeat of Sunday’s performance?
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Monday, March 31st, 4:00 PM PT
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
Both teams are entering this game close to full strength. The Kings will be without Jake LaRavia, and without Devin Carter who has been ruled out with a right shoulder injury. Carter had surgery to repair his left shoulder over the offseason. While another shoulder injury is concerning, at least it isn’t the same shoulder. The Pacers will be without Bennedict Mathurin as he deals with a calf injury.
Anytime the Kings and Pacers play it’s an opportunity for fans and pundits to rehash the Tyrese Haliburton/Domantas Sabonis trade yet again. I grew weary over the years, as it was tiring to defend what seemed to be such a win-win trade for both teams. And yet, while I stand by that assessment based on the facts at the time, it’s hard not to revisit that trade in the wake of the Kings trading De’Aaron Fox. The primary reason the Kings cited for the trade was that Fox wouldn’t sign an extension, or at least threatened not to sign one. One of the biggest arguments against the Kings in the Haliburton trade was giving up such a talented player who would be under team control for many more years. That critique certainly seems more valid now. Add in the growing speculation that Domantas Sabonis could possibly ask for a trade as early as this summer, and the trade grows harder and harder to defend. Haliburton could continue to thrive in Indiana long after both Fox and Sabonis are no longer Kings.
Speaking of Tyrese, he’s been playing great lately after starting his season off slowly. In the month of March he’s racked up 112 assists and just 10 turnovers, while also averaging 20 points per game. He’s also been back to shooting over 40% from 3 for each of the last three months. The Kings will need to find a way to slow down Haliburton and once-almost-a-King Pascal Siakam to have any shot at winning this one.
Prediction
The Kings flip a coin. It comes up heads, meaning they’ll show up for this game!
Kings 140, Pacers 138
Shouldn’t it be “in gear”?
Right. This is the second article in a row with an error in the title. Sorry for being cranky…I need more sleep.
Still better than the team that is being covered.
Sorry for messing up titles, I’m running low on give-a-shits as we wind down this season.
Isn’t Giveashit the Ranadive child that no one talks about?
I get it. I ran out fucks to give a few weeks back. Didn’t bother buying anymore until the offseason, but that too may have to wait with the way things are going.
And I don’t blame you.
But I can’t help myself and am compelled to point it out.
“It” is a pronoun that takes the place of “their ass.” The long version of the title would be “Can the Kings get their ass in gear?”
Kings win a little. Mavs win a little more. Suns set in the West. Kings play Mavs in Dallas. Lose. And lose the #12pick in the process.
There may be a better scenario.
Kings. Pacers.
Next.
Question:
Do you think the Kings would remove someone from G1C in a shirt that says “SELL”?
Yes.
I was reading an article in The Athletic this morning on the A’s, and this popped up in the article:
So yeah, I think that these cockwads would remove you with great prejudice and expediency.
And what if the friend said they’re not walking out, saying, “I’m not moving my legs at all beyond this seat?”
You think they would drag someone out in a SELL shirt?
Well, either way it would bring some much needed eyes to Sacramento so everyone can see the shit show that has been happening for the past 12 or 13 years with Vivek. He hates being seeing in a negative light.
I think that they would forcibly remove the person. Would you expect anything different from this organization? They run roughshod over local media and have always shown great hubris when it comes to the fan base.
Now, if a large amount of people wearing those shirts showed up to a game, is there any way they would remove…100 people? 200 people?
I would bet money that they would make each and every person to change out of the shirt (or at least turn it inside out) or leave.
And what if that person said from their seat in the middle of a section, “I’m not changing my shirt and I’m not moving my legs”.
Do you think they would drag them out of a lower level seat?
They’d never be allowed back. Just check out what’s happening in NY.
You mean all that publicity? 🙂
Yes. Compliance > geography. I don’t think “drag” is the right word, but I could see it escalating to an arrest if the person did not comply.
This is a country where the haves have stopped pretending to care about the have nots. As far as the dismissive little chap is concerned, we are all disposable commodities as guests in his house. And if people stop showing up, he can take his ball somewhere else. That is the naked, unapologetic mindset of the entitled. And we’re just along for the ride.
Put it this way, during the relocation saga I had some tasteful, yet point driven, signs for the Maloofs to sell. I wasn’t allowed in the arena with them. In fact, the picture in my profile is of me and a buddy with a large sign that simply read “Sacramento.” It was confiscated shortly there after. I also started some chants in my section, guided with handouts for all around me to get on board and follow along. I was told to stop or be removed.
Yeah sure, controlling the media is definitely going to lead to more wins. Solved it!
Tell your friend that they probably have nothing to worry about.
The Pacers have been on a tear
While our Kings are going nowhere.
Prob’ly know by the half;
Keep from crying—so laugh.
Tune it out if it’s too much to bear!
+1 Keep up with the Pacers!
&ct=g
Maybe this team will show a little heart, if not: see above
Like this if you want them to lose.
You may break the all-time record (whatever that is).
Told someone how long I have been a Kings fan for and they told me I broke the all-time record for self-loathing.
Sadly, I don’t think losing right now is going to help with Durant going down for the Suns. The Kings are really going to finish is the worst possible position of the 10th spot. They will be too bad to make it out of the play-in and too good to keep their pick.
They really are about to thread the needle of continued irrelevance. It’s comical at this point.
Let’s be real. They don’t need to lose the pick for continued irrelevance. Even with a top 3 pick they can thread the needle just fine.
And this is a foundational problem with the NBA still. The play-in has dissuaded some teams from quitting earlier in the season. But the smart teams still do and fans are actively cheering for teams in play-in contention to lose.
And it makes sense, because the league “punishes” teams who try to actually win and rewards teams who try to lose.
I’ll be a broken record till the day I die, they just need to go back to a completely flat draft. Encourage teams to build up and try to win. Sign vets and create a good base.
And at any moment you can get a top 3 pick until you are in the playoffs. Really think it would be an exceptionally rare event for a team to tank out of the playoffs in the last 10 games. You wouldn’t have this embarrassing resting of young players you do now (maybe rest some vets to avoid injury and develop young players).
And we had it before the Magic landed the #1 pick the year after getting Shaq. But Shaq-Penny was exciting and one of the best things to happen to a lottery team. Sure beat the Cavs getting LeBron, one #14 pick (Luke Jackson), and then being a playoff team without a #2.
Even setting aside us, I would much rather see the Bulls, Heat, Suns, Blazers, etc. get Flagg, Harper, and VJ than teams like the Jazz, Wizards, and Hornets. Why are we rewarding blatant tanking?
It’s completely illogical and you can do all the other tinkering on the edges you want to try to encourage teams to win, but as long as you have a 1% higher chance of landing a generational talent by thumbing your nose at the league, teams are going to do it.
There will always be tanking basketball because it is the one sport where one generational superstar, often drafted in the top 5, can lead a team for a decade or more because there are just 5 players on the court for each side. It’s not like football where a star plays just half the game or baseball where he hits just 4 times. One superstar in basketball is a billion dollar cash cow.
IIRC, I read somewhere that 40 of the last 45 NBA champions had an MVP, prior MVP, or soon to be MVP.
Cold hard truth: Only 3 players taken outside the lottery have won the MVP. They are Nash, Giannis, and Jokic.
YOU HAVE TO BUILD THROUGH THE DRAFT
You think you won the trade? SELL!!!!
Well, at least we can watch the A’s for the next few months while this clusterf*ck of a Kings season is coming to an end. 😉
Crossing my fingers the rain holds off this evening.
Just looked at the tickets. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a MLB game, but $100 to watch a game? Geez. When I was a college kid at Berkeley, we used to pay five or 10 bucks to get in the cheap seats at the Oakland stadium.
I didn’t think the price was still that cheap, but hell, if I took my family to one game, it would cost me at least $500 for the “cheap seats” and a few hotdogs.
Hessing wasn’t kidding when he was talking about the haves and the have-nots.
The have-nots can’t even watch a stinking baseball game.
I imagine trying to catch a team like the Dodgers will cost more than an arm and a leg.
Do we actually want them to get it in gear at this point? Their highest gear isn’t that great. The more obvious how poorly constructed this roster is the better.
Things to look for as the game goes on:
Zach’s disappearing act
Domas takes a shot to the face, refs make no call
Murray takes a charge, gets called for a block
Fultz for 3
DeRozan’s 100 dribble possession
Keon’s offense (as in he, too, is looking for it)
Jonas being nice to other teams now that he’s a King
DeRozan’s 100 possession quarter
Kings play some effective defense
Kings can’t buy a bucket
Keon heats up
Zach shows up just in time to freeze Keon but can’t do enough in time
Kings lose.
Things to look for before the game:
It’s 4 PM here on the West Coast. Should I watch the Kings game or do something that is unlikely to raise my blood pressure?
Giants at 5, A’s at 7. Get your laundry done and enjoy some baseball.
I don’t care about the final record or the pick. I am disappointed in the way this team, and coaching staff has failed us as fans, down the stretch. I have been stubbornly predicting the Kings will make the playoffs, and haven’t completely given up hope, but I no longer believe it will happen. I liked the Fox trade, and all the talent on the roster, but I feel it’s been badly mismanaged. Wouldn’t mind if DC were fired today. No one on this team deserves any commitment, at all, going forward, unless it’s Keegan. I’m so pissed I wouldn’t mind hearing boos at G1C. I’ll be disgusted if they bring the beam back next season. I’m now bored and largely disinterested, and when I go to the Suns game to round out the year I’ll try to shut up, and not clap!
Pacers-Kings, in gif form:
nice to bring in the actual AMC version (the flower power stickers are a bonus)
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