The last time the Kings played the Pistons, it changed the entire course of the Kings season. Mike Brown got fired, De’Aaron Fox later ended up traded, and here we are several months later looking like an entirely different team. Meanwhile, Detroit has had the bounceback year of bounceback years, firmly in the Eastern playoff race and with nearly 30 more victories than they had all of last year.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Monday, April 7th, 4:00 PM PT
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
TV: NBA TV, NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
What a turnaround for the Pistons. Last year, after winning just 14 games (their 5th straight year of not even reaching 24 wins), the Pistons set out to make some big changes, bringing in veterans like Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. to shore up their depth. Those vets have made a big difference, as has new coach J.B. Bickerstaff, but the biggest improvement has been the emergence of Cade Cunningham as a true star. Cunningham hasn’t ever been bad, but he had been oft-injured and surrounded by little help in the past few years. This year has been completely different for Cunningham, averaging 25.7 points, 9.1 assists and 6.2 rebounds in 35.1 minutes a game while shooting better than ever. The improved supporting cast has really helped open up his playmaking, as well as made it easier for him to score, and he earned his first ever All-Star selection as a result earlier this season.
The Pistons added even more depth at the deadline, acquiring Dennis Schroder and Lindy Waters from the Warriors in order to help facilitate the Jimmy Butler trade. Schroder has been a good addition to shore up Detroit’s guard depth with Jaden Ivey out for the season. Schroder hasn’t been shooting well since joining Detroit (37.7%) but the Kings have proven time and time again to be a bad shooter or bad shooting team’s ultimate salve.
For the Kings, they are coming off an improbable victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, completing the sweep of the East’s #1 team. The Kings will once again be without Keegan Murray, who is out with back soreness. Murray likely would have gotten the primary responsibility of guarding Cunningham, and without him or Jake LaRavia it will be interesting to see how the Kings decide to matchup with him. Keon Ellis is Sacramento’s best defender, but Cunningham has the size of a Small Forward in a Point Guard’s body and will likely prove to be a tough matchup. Yesterday the Kings started Trey Lyles in Keegan’s place, and will probably do the same tonight. Whoever gets the primary task of guarding Cunningham will still require a team effort to slow him down.
Where the Kings could have a serious advantage themselves is on the inside if Jalen Duren is unable to play. Duren is listed as questionable coming into today’s matchup, and if he doesn’t play, the only real size the Pistons would be able to throw at Domantas Sabonis is 6’8 Isaiah “Beef Stew” Stewart and 6’9 Paul Reed. Now Stewart has shown he’s got the heft to guard much bigger guys, but still, this is a matchup the Kings should use to their advantage.
With the win over the Cavaliers tonight and the Suns and Mavericks both losing, the Kings magic number for securing a spot in the Play-In is now just two. That means a combination of any two Kings wins and Suns losses for the rest of the season will guarantee the Kings make the Play-In. Right now the Kings are also a half game ahead of the Mavericks, so homecourt in the Play-In for the first game is also in play. Winning tonight would generate some nice momentum for the Kings as they come home to finish out the rest of the regular season.
Prediction
DeMar DeRozan gets fouled right before the buzzer on a three, makes it and the free throw. Kings win.
Kings 118, Pistons 114
I’ve stubbornly stood by my playoff prediction all season, until they lost to the Wiz. Now they beat Cleveland at home and my head is spinning. They need to back it up with another win today for me to find faith again, even if the Cavs are the best team in the league.
Has any team in the league won more games they were supposed to lose and lost more games they were supposed to win than the Kangz? I mean, how does a team lose to the Wizards, who sat their “star” in Poole for the 4th, then beat a totally healthy Cavs team, while missing Keegan, in 4 days time?
It’s inexplicable. It really speaks more to professionalism than talent.
I think the answer’s at the arc. 10-16 from deep in the 2nd half for the Kings is about 13-14 pts. over what their season avg. has been. Meanwhile, Cle was about -12 from 3 compared to their season avg. That’s roughly a 25 pt. swing.
When LaVine’s on a heater, it kind of works. But he’s been highly streaky & inconsistent in a Kings uni (or invisible at times), and this team has far less of a chance when he’s not contributing offensively
Yup, I was gong to say something similar to that in the recap thread. Cavs had a poor shooting night, and it really wasn’t because the Kings were playing better defense. The Cavs were wide open. On the flip side, the Kings shot above their averages. It’s basic math.
The OKC – Laker game I refer to above is supportive of that:
LAL: 22/40 (55%)
OKC: 12/37 (32.5%)
That’s a 10 differential. As is said often, it’s a 3 Point League. The Thunder had 90 field goal attempts and made 39, LAL 84 FGA, and converted 46. The customary LA free throw advantage was only there by a margin (17 FTA vs 12).
Consistency for sure – but figuring out how to score when your shots don’t fall from deep is part of the art of coaching. Boston overcomes this by sheer volume on some nights, and having a herd of hoisters helps (Peyton Pritchard and Sam Hauser are on the bench and at the ready, for example). Who are the Kings 3 point shooters? on 3PA/game, 3FG%: Zach(6.9, 42.8%), Keon (4.0, 43.4%)… and??
Monk (6.7, 32.6%), Keegan (5.9, 34.8%), Lyles (3.4, 33.9%), DeRozan (3.3 34.2%), Jake (2.7, 38.5%). Is it being a King? Even Kevin Huerter is now up to 36.6% for the Bulls.
Sacramento has made their way all the to 19th, after a 28, 29 for the first (Mike Brown, De’Aaron Fox) part of the year.
Where do you go moving forward?
Question for Adamsite. Did you watch the game last night? One of my favorites to start at point guard next year for the Kings is Ty Jerome. Posted 20 points playing only 23 minutes. Also in the running for sixth man of the year. What is your opinion on him? I value your thoughts.
I like him. I think he could be a valuable member to the rotation, but not sure how he’d currently fit with Monk, Keon, Zach and DDR. He’s another combo guard in the same style of Monk. He’s not pure PG facilitator, but he is a better shooter. There is also a question of cost. He’s about about to hit free agency in a relatively shallow pool of FAs. That means he’s going to get paid. The Kings have no ability to pay him and no position to play him. If the Kings were to somehow move on from Monk and make Ty your 6th man, then sure.
Thanks for the review. IMO this summer the Kings might go for a rebuild not a complete redo. I can see Sabonis, Monk Derozan and probably Carter moving on. I have an idea what might happen with these 4 but will wait until later to comment. Just one idea. If Monk is moved then IMO Jerome would be a good fit at point guard. Keon isn’t a point guard but I see him as a sixth man playing a substantial amount of minutes. If this is the case he might even be in contention for sixth man of the year. Could happen. If we would go after Jerome couldn’t, we use our mid level exemption of 12 mil to use as a way to retain him?
I think he gets more than the mid-level this summer. He’s Monk level in production and 6th man value. Many of us thought Monk came back on a rebate of $17M per year. I’d expect Ty to get around the same or a little less, especially if he is a factor in a deep Cavs run in the playoffs.
Talked about this in the recap (which is easy to skip over since we needed to get the preview up early today too):
The hallmark of good teams is being consistently good. Every team in the league looks great at times, it’s the good ones that don’t have prolonged lapses throughout games. Kangz so mid.
That’s been true for 3-4 years, probably longer. The faces change, starting lineup changes, bench rotation changes, coach changes, but the inconsistency remains. That’s why I didn’t really understand the handwringing after the Fox trade — the way this team wins when expected to lose, and loses badly to teams when expected to win, it’s been almost a given since opening tip that they’d win 40-42 games this season (with or without Fox), make changes in the off season (big or small) …. then come back next year and win 40-44 games. How does a .500 team begin tanking overnight, mid season?
Sabonis got hurt — they played better without him, for a while. He comes back, they’re losing by 20-30 points to also rans. Rinse & repeat.
It’s a really weird breadown:
Vs. .600> teams: 5-9 (36%)
Vs. .500-.599 teams: 6-14 (30%)
Vs. .400-.499 teams: 13-9 (59%)
Vs. .399< teams: 13-5 (72%)
The line that sticks out to me is the record vs. the .500-.599 teams. I mean, the other lines could stand to be better, but that’s the one that really stands out on the graph. Even putting that number at a pedestrian 9-11 or 10-10 would put it on a proper curve, and it would put the Kings at more of a 43-44 win pace. Still a disappointment, and it probably still leaves you as the 9 seed, so the correct answer is probably improvement across the board. The home losses to the bottom feeders are especially crushing.
Correction – my numbers did not add up –
6-12 vs. .600+ (33%)
9-14 vs. .500-.599 (39%)
10-9 vs. .400-.499 (53%)
13-5 vs. .399- (72%)
That 2nd line still stands out, but the 3rd line comes into play more. Maybe a win or two more vs. the elite, play a little better than .500 against the next tier, get fatter against the 3rd tier, and maybe don’t spit the bit against the tankers at home. That probably puts you in the upper 40s for wins, maybe sitting at 46 with the Dubs, Griz, Clips and Wolves with two to play. That would be something.
The concern of course, is that all of those current 46 win teams are (a), already there, and either (b) younger than the Kings or (c) in a more attractive FA market than the Kings. It’s really hard to see a way up for this team at the moment.
Cade is the poster child for not writing off an early 20s kid too soon. Thought in some circles to be a bad pick just a season or two ago, he has blossomed into being one of the league’s young stars.
In watching him last time these teams played I was blown away with how effortless the game looks for him. He has that “it” factor where the game has slowed down for him. Paolo Banchero is another one on that path. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if those two dudes are MVPs one day.
Yeah, big guys with athleticism and that ability to operate on a higher level than everyone around them. Fun to watch. Would love to have one someday.
Whoever lands Cooper Flagg is going to have that next dude. Sure would be nice to get a player like that.
Seriously. Good thing we tried to keep winning after trading Fox instead of looking at a rebuild strategy. Definitely don’t want our own lotto pick this year. Or San Antonio’s lotto pick this year.
I didn’t think he was a bad pick, but I did think he was being miscast as a number one option. I thought he’d eventually be best as a second or third option, like when Aaron Gordon left Orlando. But he’s continued his upward trajectory in a really impressive way and I have to acknowledge that I was wrong and he’s absolutely capable of being a number one option on a good team.
I think he’s sniffing All-NBA first team, and should be a lock for All-NBA second team.
Are there 5 guys having a better season than him? Jokic, SGA, Giannis, Tatum, and…?
I’d guess Steph gets first team over Cade. I agree though that Cade is a lock for at least 2nd team.
Agreed. I saw him as a Robin, not Batman.
Let’s see if the Kings can piss off the pissed ons!
What a great sprint to the finish of this NBA season in the Western Conference. Warriors, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Clippers with the exact same record and Nuggets just 1/2 game ahead. That Laker win yesterday was a shocker – worst game I’ve seen OKC play all season, they couldn’t put anything together.
This will be an amazing week of basketball. The schedulers have to be going crazy? Which teams will have home court? You look today and at this time next week the order could be completely different.
As De-troit – a 30 win turn around is simply amazing! Big Ups to JB Bickerstaff – it shows what the right coach in the right situation can do with the right mix of players. One could argue that Sacramento is the counter to that.
And yes to Motor Cade Cunningham. He’s one of my favorite rising stars to cheer.
Light the Beam! Go Kings! (might as well shoot for the 9 spot at this point)
Yeah, may as well get that one home play-in game at this point.
Magic number for 9th seed is 3.
You just don’t get an NBA HC job w/o knowing the game (except maybe Luke.) Larry Legend said 3 yrs max for any coach. Mike Brown was good for one.
I think even the worst coaches in the NBA know the game at an extremely high level. Even Luke Walton! He played in the league for a long time and has been part of several successful teams as a high-level assistant. I think Luke Walton is probably a really smart guy when it comes to understanding basketball. But knowing the game isn’t enough. We’ve seen lots of guys who played and then spent years as assistants, and they just can’t handle the head coaching role (Darvin Ham is another than jumps to mind). Knowing the game is just one part of the role, you also have to be able to apply that knowledge, convey that knowledge to others, manage rotations, make adjustments, manage egos, and motivate a group of millionaire elite athletes. I criticize coaches often, mostly when they do inexplicable things like benching Keon Ellis for no clear reason, but I do believe being a coach is a very difficult job.
I put Luke Walton in the Bridges category: POS
I beg to differ.
I’ll have you know that not only have I watched basketball for decades, that I have also read The Kings Herald for quite some time now.
Not only can I coach, absolutely wonderfully, as I am undefeated(!), but I also referee at an alarming correct rate.
I believe these qualifications place me at the highest level of the game. Above Scout, Video Analyst, Development Coach, Assistant coach, Head Coach, Lead Official, General Manager – I can direct a team, with my vast experience, at the same level and resumé as a Team Owner/Governor. The only thing separating me from making all the major decisions to bring a team to perhaps a Championship level (Summer League, G-League you name it) is just some availability of liquid cash reserves.
One last road back-to-back to endure.
Detroit’s playoff appearance is sure.
They have turned things around
We could use what they’ve found
As our season has turned to manure!
+1 That Cunningham kid brought happy days to Detroit!
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Yeah, but The Fonz is gonna jump over a shark!
Are you trying to bait Rik to post another flaming poo emoji?
Is it a coincidence that the season after trading away MB3, the Kings unexpectedly made the playoffs; and now the Pistons have made the playoffs a season after trading him away? Anyone care to bet that the Wizards take a leap next season?
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Bagley is a free agent after this season. Genuinely wonder if he’ll be on a minimum deal or if he’ll even be in the league anymore.
I’m not sure why anyone would give him a deal, even at a minimum. He’s proven nothing with his time in the league. Kings legend Thomas Robinson played in more NBA games in 4 years than Bagley has in 7. Let that sink in.
If there’s one thing Bagley has proven, it’s that he can somehow convince a team to give him a huge $37.5 million contract to sit on the bench.
Cavs win energized me big time. Lets go get them playoffs!
Your fandom is pure Kangz energy, we are so delusional.
Well hello Sunshine! Lol
“They don’t have much of a foundation for the future, and they’re not very good right now.”
Thanks nba.com for this gem, pretty much sums it up. When they win, I’m not that excited about our upside and when we lose I’m not that hopeful for our potential rebuild. Does it always have to be like this lol…friggin Kangz Life
They also say that SaBonis, LaVine, and DeRozan have been bad on the floor together, so much for our starts and finishes of games haha. It’s really DeMar and MaLik that gotta go IMO, get some damn 3 and D wings with size sheesh.
This was the fuck our lives part for me:
We’re old and we suck.
This is what my bathroom mirror cries out to me every morning.
The Kings not fouling a three point shooter is like telling a four year old to not eat their favorite candy placed in front of them.
Keon is questionable for tonight.
Well there goes our DEF. We better shoot well tonight.
Never saw Fox get as hot as Lavine is now. Damn, 4 straight 3s. All net.
Badge Legend