I understand that the Spurs haven’t exactly been world beaters in recent years, but I’m still getting used to feeling like a Sacramento Kings team should pick up a road win in San Antonio. The Kings (28-21) had twice as many wins as the Spurs (14-37) heading into tonights matchup, and all of that just looks backwards in a way I am enjoying quite a bit.
With the NBA set to announce All-Star reserves tomorrow, it’s fitting that Kings candidates Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox looked like the best players on the court for either team tonight.
Sabonis started this game with one of the most dominant quarters of basketball we’ve seen him play since his Sacramento arrival. Domas dropped 17 points and secured 5 rebounds against the Spurs in the first quarter alone, and would finish with a season-high 34 points on 15-20 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Thankfully for the Kings, De’Aaron Fox was able to finish what Sabonis started with another dominant, clutch 4th quarter. He finished with 31 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals on 13-23 shooting in a team-high 38 minutes. I also want to give Fox his flowers for some really strong defensive possessions. He brought a lot of energy to that end of the floor tonight.
I’m allowed to nitpick for a moment, the Kings didn’t make this look as easy as my heart rate would’ve liked. Sacramento was excellent in the paint all night, but they had two major problems: they couldn’t hit a 3-point shot (8-27), and outside of Malik Monk, who was great, Fox and Sabonis got very little help from their supporting cast.
If any of Kevin Huerter, Terence Davis, Davion Mitchell and especially Chimezie Metu and Keegan Murray, performed well tonight, this could’ve been a lot easier.
For several minutes in the 4th it looked like the Spurs might take this one, and it would’ve been one of the more disappointing Kings losses this season, but it didn’t happen. Fox made all the right plays down the stretch. Malik Monk his several important buckets. The defense held up. Kings win 119 to 109.
I’m going to assume Sabonis is a lock for the Western Conference All-Star Team when they announce the full roster on TNT tomorrow night, and De’Aaron Fox’s performance tonight is his best case. Nobody in the NBA is delivering in clutch moments like he is this season, and that should be rewarded.
Next up for the Kings is the Pacers in Indiana on Friday night. I can’t wait.
“Remember the Alamo!”
nice to win with two players plus one reserve. Two starters were left in Minnesota I think and HB was only so-so. But that’s what a good team does- plays on and overcomes bad games.
Keegan and Huerter can come back on Friday.
Kings caught a break when 2 SAS starters left early with injury.
oh, yes, sweet sauce on top of cake–duds lost in OT to T wolves without Gobet and KAT. Could not make a hoop, lost a double-digit lead. So sad. That did not stop them from whining on post game.
Yeah, it was a win, but I don’t feel great about this one. I follow the games online on the L*kers official home page (nba.com), and like the last game it looks like FTs had a lot to do with the win. We got 19 FTs and made 15, and the Spurs only got 7 and made 5. That’s the difference in the final score right there. Tonight the team had to fend off the Spurs and also their own bench’s offensive stagnation. Bench was outscored 69-33. Nice to get these hard-fought close wins but this one was too close for my comfort. Not gonna beat playoff-caliber teams with this kind of performance.
The bench wasn’t really the problem – the Spurs bench numbers look gaudy because 1) tanking teams play their bench a lot under normal circumstances and 2) they lost 2 starters to injury so their bench got a even more minutes than normal.
The problem tonight was just ice cold shooting by everyone besides Fox/Domas/Monk. It happens. They still won by 10. Getting overly invested in single game results across a season isn’t terribly helpful. At CleaningTheGlass, the Kings WinDiff – the difference between their actual record and the record their efficiency numbers would predict (quantified luck, basically) – is 0.0, suggesting they are exactly what their record says they are.
Said it better than I was planning on.
Yes. Good team beats bad team when good team plays badly (except for Fox, Sabonis, Monk). I’ll take that. ????
I actually never thought that the Spurs would take the lead and cement and hold it for that long. Something about how Domas was being aggressive and looking to score, and Fox got things going before the 4th quarter tonight. They never had to claw back from being down double digits. Sure, the the other starters weren’t great and Monk was the only bench guy to really contribute, but it just felt like a solid win over a scrappy team with some decent talent that didn’t have a star player to finish the game.
Well put.
I wouldn’t really call it a solid win, San Antonio is pretty atrocious. We’re really getting lucky this year with all the injuries piling up in the West combined with load management combined with the warriors having a championship setback year
I don’t know. Maybe Boston, Milwaukee, Philly and Denver are good enough to be elitist about the quality of their wins. After that, any NBA team beating any other NBA team (especially on the road) if probably a solid win.
I keep hearing this, but I’m not really seeing any actual evidence (outside of that Kings players actually, you know, play) to truly support that the Kings are luckier than anyone else. They just seem to have guys who play every night where a lot of guys in this league just simply don’t now.
What I am seeing is the Warriors lose to the Wolves without Gobert while they still are playing Steph, Dray, Klay and Poole. What I am seeing is the Grizzlies losing to the Blazers at home (even without Steven Adams) and losing 5 on the road in a row. What I am seeing is that the Nuggets have guys they are relying upon that have fragile health (like Porter). What I am seeing is that the Clippers depth can’t replace the star power Leonard and George provide them. And Leonard and George aren’t capable of playing 75 games a season at this point.
What I am seeing is a bunch of reason to doubt the Kings, but based mostly on history. What happened last night was not a function of the Kings playing poorly but most of their roster outside of their top 2 guys (and the 6th man) playing well. Thankfuly, the Kings also had the 3 best players on the court for either team and it led to them winning the actual game.
So, yeah, I’m just going to have to really go ahead and just flat out completly disagree with you on this notion on every conceivable level.
Another thing that bothered me last night were some comments on Kings Herald that wanted to trade Fox for Pascal Siakam. I hope after watching Fox last night you might have a change of heart. The kid can play basketball ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR. He is becoming a team leader not only by example but vocal also.He is right now the best clutch player in the NBA. Nuff said.
I disagree with that particular poster who said he would do that trade, but, I don’t think Siakam is the right guy for this team either. Toronto isn’t very good in the halfcourt, that’s why they play the style they do. Siakam is probably their best option but he’s not a great halfcourt option.
We’ll see. I think the trade market will settle back down once teams (and in particular owners) realize that the Gobert and Murray trades are not often but in the rarest of circumstances.
Don’t let opinions bother you.
Jack- we agree. Siakem is a nice player, but Fox has been special. Special > nice.
We have had good fortune on the health front, aided mightily by the fact that Sabonis is a cyborg.
Sabonis, Fox and Barnes have missed something like 5 games total. Zion / Ingram / McCollum (for example) have missed 63. I think that the core 8 (starting lineup plus Monk, Mitchell and Lyles) have missed a grand total of 18 games, and I think that 4 of Lyles’ 6 games were coaches decision.
I don’t think that we are benefitting from opposing players being out more than any other team, but opposing teams sure aren’t getting the benefit of not facing Sabonis or Fox.
Williamson and Ingram miss games every year, though. Every single year. I know Sabonis and Fox missed a lot of games last year, but there was a specific reason for that. I don’t think Fox’s injury was as serious as people have sometimes said, and I sure as hell dont think Sabonis’ was. That dude is playing with a broken paw right now! He’s an absolute cyborg, but that used to be something players in the NBA did.
Brandon Ingram has played 75 games once: (His next highest was 62 in the bubble year.) His rookie year in LA. Zion Williamson played 61 games his 2nd year in the league. If he plays every game from here on out, he’ll only be at 59 games played on the season.
This is a feature of building around guys who miss games. Fox and Sabonis have missed games in the past, but not because necessarily they couldn’t play. There were ‘other’ reasons why (last year in particular).
Barnes is rather amazing in an era of load management he doesn’t miss games. Throw Mikal Bridges in that group as well. Buddy HIeld, too, although he’s not as valuable as HB or Mikal.
I just think the Kings are doing something right playing guys, and in conjunction there are also guys who simply play when for other organizations they might not play. To me it’s a bit of column A and B deal with the Kings health ‘luck.’
I used NO as an example. My guess is that if you run the numbers for the NBA, whether it be for top players or core rotation, the Kings are on the far upper end of good health fortune this year.
The Kings are probably #1 in the NBA (or top 3 at worst) in games played by their top guys.
But I also think they aren’t getting credit for that. It’s not just luck, there’s more to it than that IMO.
Minny is missing a top 3 guy in KAT, but have they been worse off for it? Probably not. Clippers were always going to load manage, New Orleans too. Memphis has guys with notable injury histories, so does Denver.
I just don’t agree the Kings have just been lucky in terms of health. Maybe this take will age poorly, but we shall see. We always do.
The median for the top 13 teams in the West is 33 games lost to injury. The Kings are at 5. I call that extremely good fortune, again aided by Sabonis playing through an injury that could easily have had him on the shelf right now.
I agree about Domas, but I consider his thumb to be a nagging thing he can play through. I do think he deserves a tip of the cap playing through it when you consider how many guys (and organizations) wouldn’t play through it or allow guys to play through it.
I’m assuming the 5 missed games applies to the top 3 players for each team. Which is fair. So……..that’s got to be Fox, Sabonis and Barnes for the Kings.
Denver’s top 3 is Jokic, Gordon and Murray. Jokic has missed 7 games, Gordon has missed 5 games and Murray has missed 8 games total. I’m guessing that’s the next highest (20 total) to the Kings missed total.
Memphis’ top 3 (IMO) is Morant, Bane and Jackson. Morant has missed 8 games, Bane has missed 22 games and Jackson has missed 16 games (46 total).
You’re welcome to pick the top 3 for the Clippers but mine is Leonard, George and Zubac. Leonard has missed 28 games, George has missed 17 games and Zubac 2 missed games (47 total).
Dallas same thing as LAC as far as the top 3, but mine would be Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith. Luka has missed 6 games, Dinwiddie 1 game and Finney-Smith has missed 14 games (21 total).
I won’t go through every team because that’s just longer than this comment section can really tolerate but…..how many teams had guys whom they could realistically rely on to play 80% of their games in their top 3?
Golden State? Phoenix? Lakers? Clippers? Portland? Memphis? New Orleans? Dallas? Denver?
To me, the Kings had a much better bet than anyone on this list to have their top 3 guys play 80% of the Kings games coming into the season just based on history. I know Fox has missed alot of games, but some of that was simply COVID, organzational dumbfuckery and what not. Sabonis has hit the 80% games played mark every year but last season. When it was obvious he could have played at least another 7-8 games than what he did. Fox probably missed at least a dozen last year, in 2020-21 he probably missed another half dozen that year that puts him at that 80% mark.
But for the first time in a long time, the Kings have reason to play their players every night if they are available. Other teams are having availability concerns with players that….have generally had availability concerns in recent history. That’s why I’m pushing back on the whole “Kings are so incredibly fortunate with health” narrative. I don’t think it’s quite so linear as that. Especially when you look at how often Harrison Barnes has played over his career. Out of the 850 games HB has been eligible to play, he’s played in over 93% of those during his career (797 total).
This is definitely a YMMV and what not type conversation. I do think there’s always luck involved with health, too. But I also think the Kings and these players are doing something right and it’s a great story being mostly filed under the header of luck at this point. These players deserve credit for being available and this organization deserves credit for not subscribing to the load management nonsense that has taken the league by storm.
Another thing to point out — sure NOLA when healthy is and could be a better team than the Kings. No doubt about that. However, the best ability is availability. Lakers/Clippers/Pelicans have been extremely rattled with injuries. And to say that they all have superstars on their team that can carry them on any given night is understandable as well.
BUT they took a risk building around injury prone superstar level players, as we took a risk building around a C and PG that can’t shoot (allegedly) and can’t play defense. Somehow we are winning games.
Point is, it is what it is. Injuries are part of the season and moreso for other teams. Thems the breaks.
I’m still getting Kings vibes from the past (defense, dumb turnovers) but also see that this team has improved a lot (offense). So not totally convinced but I’ll take it at the moment. The big test will be if we can replicate a similar year moving forward
For me:
feels kinda weird to believe (and your evidence supports this) that the Sacramento Kings (not Kangz) are an actual competitive good NBA team.
…I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop
after 16 seasons of disappointment, climbing out of that basement is a welcomed but uncomfortable step.
Whether they both get named or not – The Fox and The Ox are All-Star caliber players. They played like that last night as they carried the Kings to victory (with Malik Monk). That’s what All-Stars are expected to do and are supposed to do. That’s why they’re named All-Stars. Of course, from the other side, it’s nice to be paid like an All-Star (see McCollum, CJ comments from last week).
my biggest worry – if De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis are named All-Stars – will they be placed on “rest” with their newly earned status
I hear ya. Believe or don’t, if the record is truly what you really are, I think the Kings will be okay.
I thought this was a 45 win team, a top 7 team by ORtg and avg to low 20 DRtg type team and even I’m a little surprised by what they are doing. Mostly by how quickly they are doing it.
But I’m at 45 wins for this team is where my expectation was. At times I’ve felt like this could be a 50 win team, and I think that’s possible. Start doing a schedule breakdown for the top 12 teams in the West. Just for the Kings alone, I’ll save you the trouble.
The Kings face the Nuggets once more (game 82 in Denver). They don’t face Memphis again.
They face the Clippers twice in late February and early March and that March game will be the 4th matchup. They are currently 1-1. The first Clippers games in LA will be on a SEGABABA (Clippers have that rest advantage), and it will be before the Kings go to OKC for a 2 game set. This will finish out the matchup”s against OKC, as well.
They have yet to play Dallas or New Orleans although that will be rectified over the next 9 days. But they play Dallas on a b2b in Sac next Fri and Sat (Feb 9th & 10th). The Kings play New Orleans Sunday, Mar 6th in Sac and April 4th in New Orleans again. (They also play Dallas on April 5th on a SEGABABA which will be the 3rd of 3 matchups.)
They play Phoenix 3 more times including @Phx Feb 14th (the last game before the ASB). They also play @Phx Mar 11th and home Mar 24th.
They play Minnesota Mar 4th on a SEGABABA for both teams (Wolves in LA playing the Lakers, Kings in Sac playing the Clippers). They also play Minny again Mar 27th on a SEGABABA for the Wolves (@GSW the night before).
The Kings don’t face the whining crab dribbling LeBron’s again.
Kings only face the Dubs once more but that’s the last home game of the year Apr 7th.
They face Portland 3 more times, once at G1C Feb 23rd (first game after ASB and front half of a b2b where they end up against the Clippers), and twice in Portland Mar 29th and 31st.
Summed up another way, they face the following at home:
Mavs (x2)
Blazers
Clippers
Wolves (x2)
Pelicans
Knicks
Bucks
Celtics
Suns
Jazz
Spurs
Warriors
Anyways, I’m not that worried. That’s even with the Kings missing De’Aaron Fox tomorrow because of (I’m assuming – it’s being listed as out for personal reasons) his baby being on the way.
The Kings are at 28 wins. There’s no reason to believe they can’t figure out a way to get another 17-22 wins on the season with the schedule they have. Unless of course you think the Kings have been here before (like 2018-19)…and I would suggest looking at that team and this one before making that comparison.
Well said Hobby.
Popovich doesn’t mind losing a game in a rebuilding year, but he sure doesn’t give it away. His teams have a game plan and they work hard to execute it.
I was wrong about Fox and D.Bone, thought they were soft fringe All-Stars going into season but have proved themselves to be tough competitors and legit All-Stars. This win shows how they may still even be underrated, carrying this team on their own with a pretty average supporting cast to 3rd in the West after 50 games, amazing run!
I like the D Bone nickname for Domas. It conjures up images of a junkyard dog. It’s aggressive.
Nope, D Bone and Foxy for nicknames must go.
Saboner and GoFoxYourself?
I’m 8 years old.
We’ll find out today if De’Aaron can be Star Fox. I like the Domanator graphic they pulled out last night on the telecast.
Only 2 games behind the Grizzlies in the loss column.
I guess Ja isn’t as good in the West as he thought he was.
Right?
The season is about two thirds done, at some point very soon some of these teams mired in the six to ten range are going to run out of time to climb into home court advantage. If the Kings can just maintain, I like their odds, and I cant imagine any team, regardless of pedigree, that wants to play a game seven in Sacramento in the first round.
It’s the beam. They skerred of the beam.
Ja is as flashy as anyone in the league, and a pretty good player, to boot, but it’s Adams corralling all of those boards that moves Memphis from pretty good, to legit contenders.
What Steven Adams does is incredibly valuable, even if it never makes a highlight reel. It’s glaringly obvious why the Grizzlies are struggling, and why I have a number of WC guards ahead of Morant as far as earning an all-star spot. The teams of the other top guards suffer tremendously when their star is out, but not Memphis. I don’t have numbers, but my recollection is that the Grizz had a pretty great record when Morant sat last season. What Ja produces is much easier to replace than Adams’ impact.
Morant is very good, and rather overrated as far as being “that guy.” Without Adams, Ja hasn’t been able to highlight dunk Memphis to wins. That’s not nothing.
????️ ????️ ????️ LIGHT THE BEAM!!!
1 more win to match last season’s win total of 30.
Two more and we surpass last season’s win total!
stack the beam?
Is canny the opposite of uncanny?
or is it like flammable vs. inflammable?
there is canny and uncanny (both adjectives), but there is only canned (verb) and not uncanned.
You can or cannot bottle up your Kings hopes and uncork some joy (I recommend doing the Can-Can)
“Unboxed” never used to be a word, either, but we’ve gotten dumb enough to make it a thing.
Hi Dr. Nick!
I also want to give Fox his flowers…
This got a good lol from me!
How expectations have changed. I get that everyone wants to win every game by 20 going away. But these are NBA teams and that isn’t going to happen on a nightly basis, especially on the road. Kings won by 10, covered the spread in what was a very typical NBA game. Teams play tight until the 4th and then the better team locks in the win. Some players had a bad night but the Kings depth allowed them to lean on Monk, Sabonis, and Fox to carry it across the finish line. Kings are now 2-1 on this road trip. I went in hoping they’d go 4-3, so they are on track for another winning road trip.
I’m looking forward to seeing Sabonis and Hali go against their old teams on Friday. Should be fun.
It kept occurring to me last night just how close to really tough 50-52 win team the Kings are. I think the coaching staff is top notch, not just the rigor and tone setting from Brown, but obviously Jordi and Triano and others are good at what they do. Brown seems to be a talent collector, and it shows in how well this team is performing.
The play of Sabonis and Fox has obviously been top notch, I think I enjoy the leadership of both just as much. The vets in Huerter, HB, Monk, and Lyles all fit well in this system and seem properly utilized. Keegan and Davion are contributing in their roles and have plenty of room for growth.
Getting a bench big who can contribute more consistently than Metu would be a real boost to this team, as would getting a veteran wing to soak up some minutes, be a little more versatile defensively, and make smart decisions with the ball, its hard not to watch last night and imagine what the team would look like J-Rich playing 18 minutes a night.
I really like TD, and had hoped he would contribute more, but he should go to a team where he can be playing and getting some shots up so he can play into a contract offer next season. Same with Holmes, thanks for being a bright light during the dimness of Walton’s tenure, but whatever the reason he couldn’t get minutes after putting up 16-11 in a big win in LA, it’s done and the team needs a big who can hold down the fort, or ideally, be able to play a bit with Sabonis against teams with size.
Bench was a nice surprise at the start of the season but has regressed to its mean. Davion is… fine? Great defender, little impact on offense. Monk is a microwave, but only heats up every other game or so. And the middle and wings off the bench are sieves. Not sure who the Kings should/could target, but if they can address the 3-4-5 spots off the bench, they can really solidify their playoff seeding and prospects. The West is wide open right now and they should try to take full advantage.
Is Davion a great defender though? What numbers are there to support that claim? I see him out there guarding, getting scrappy, etc. but is it effective based on defensive metrics? Not being snarky, just like to see data on that claim.
There’s an NBA on/off tool here:
https://www.fantasylabs.com/nba/on-off/
Everybody in the main rotation except Fox has a defensive rating that is just *miles* better when Davion is on the floor with them.
(I suspect that Fox’s problem is that lineup sticks him on a bigger wing)
There are some bigs out there that could be gotten without giving away the barn and not disrupting the apple cart. They say we need a better fit at wing. They say we need better defense at the wing. IMO if we can get Matisse Thybulle on a good trade he would really help on the defensive end. He doesn’t score a lot but we have players who do. But him along with Davion in certain situations and we can stop a lot of straight line drives to the basket. IMO this is one of our major lapses although if Fox and Monk play like they did last night on a regular basis we will be alright.
Jack- the world is upside down- we agree. I like Thybulle. I would trade for him- not a first rounder or HB or anything like that but go get him.
Kings won without Huerter or Keegan
All NBA teams are played with the best basketball players in the world. You need to face the fact and play the best basketball you can every night.
I like seeing how coach Brown actually teaches during the games so his players can see what they are doing and can correct the problem. He has been such a good fit for this roster, same with assistant coaches.
I got <3 for Coach Brown and his staff. They are doing a super job. IMO, the biggest win of last week was the extension of Monte McNair and Wes Wilcox.
A Head Coach and coaching staff are only as good as their GM and the GM is only as good as their Head Coach and coaching staff. (again, IMO)
Indeed, perfect fit and just a breath of fresh air watching hands on coaching by the entire staff.
Great win considering how bad Keegan and Huerter were, and happy to see Monk getting the Huerter minutes. I would advise Metu to stop shootings 3s.
Metu looked really bad last night.
I’d have pulled him after his second foul in fifteen seconds. I generally like what Metu does, but he got angry and went full bonehead.
Holmes might have been the better play tonight. Or just Lyles at the 5 and play a bit smaller
Had you told me before the season began that the Kings would win both games in San Antonio – both by double digits – I would have happily accepted those terms.
I happily accept these terms.
Todays the day we find out if Fox and the Ox make the all star game
As I’ve been saying for awhile Ox makes the game today and Fox makes it as an injury replacement although I think his case is better than Dame’s whose statistical season is better. Won’t find anyone out there that agrees with that.
Plus, I want to see All-Star rosters increased to 15.
I want complete chaos: Rosters set at 15, and one player selected from each team.
Want chaos x 1m?: Keep the rosters at 12 and don’t give spots to the 13-15 teams. Suck it, LeBron!!!
I like the chaos. I’m cool with chaos.
How about this idea:
The coach of the team with the 3rd best record in the conference drafts their All-star team.
They pick whoever they like to be on the team. No fan input. No player input. Just the coach of the team with the 3rd best record as of today getting the input in who makes up his team.
Rather than head coaches running the All Star teams, throw in a little kerosene on the chaos wood and the third place team’s Assistant Coach heads up the NBA team…a Futures Coaches game so to speak.
I actually think Fox might make it as one of the last spots. Ox is a lock
Yeah, I’m inclined to agree with you on this one more than I’m not. There’s certainly enough smoke for Fox to make it and he’s not like Jaren Jackson or Aaron Gordon (who should also be there IMO). \
I like Zion, but I don’t think you should be there if you can’t qualify for a leaderboard. Starter or not.
I mean even embiid got snubbed and he’s arguably 2nd to Jokic in MVP voting
Yeah but it wasn’t egregrous like Williamson’s inclusion. It was just simply there are 4 legit starters worthy of being there for the East. Unless we are claiming that Antetokounmpo, Tatum or Durant aren’t All-Star starters?
The pundits on the pundit shows are pontificating for De’Aaron, so that’s a big plus.
And I asked one of the Kings assistant coaches and he said that Fox and Ox are Locks, Luke.
I think Dame will make it. As will Ja and Shai. If they select 6 guards then Fox is competing with Booker and Ant for the last spot.
I believe it’s pronounced “Shai”. Not “Shai”.
nm
kajagoogoo. I get it! (…hush huh, eye to eye.)
Oh I think Dame and Ja belong in the game. Statistically and from a team performance, Booker too. He just hasn’t played enough. Ant’s last month has been awesome but the first 8 weeks weren’t. And it’s not like the Wolves are a top 4 team either.
Shai should be there regardless of team performance either way. IMO Fox belongs from a statistical AND team performance perspective.
My only issue with the game is the requirements to make the game, and while I get it’s an exhibition, it’s also a major recognition. You can’t play half your teams games and be in serious consideration for an All-Star game. You have to qualify for a leaderboard (which is the only issue I have with Booker and Lillard at this very moment) or you’re not in my game.
It’s not up to me. That’s probably a good thing since I don’t give much of a damn about All Star weekend. Mainly it’s because it’s not up to me.
Anyone know why the broadcasters aren’t on this trip?
Inflation?
Could you imagine the energy bill on that beam?!
Would fans that jump on the bandwagon this year be called Baby Beamers?
Beamy Babies?
They have SMUD so it is cheap, but if they had PG&E they would have to raise ticket prices 30%…
Saw this today and I doubt any Kings fan would disagree:
Referees missed an obvious foul committed by Jayson Tatum on LeBron James at the end of the Los Angeles Lakers’ eventual overtime loss at the Boston Celtics this past Saturday.
James was irate on the court and his comments have suggested that the Lakers have been treated unfavorably by referees.
“It’s been building,” James added of his frustration level following several recent last-second non-whistles. “You guys have seen some of the games we’ve lost this year with late-game missed calls. We had an opportunity to literally win the game. … I don’t understand what we’re doing. I watch basketball every single day. I watch these games every single day, and I don’t see it happening to nobody else. It’s just weird.”
But according to research completed by Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, the Lakers actually rank second in receiving favorable calls during the last two-minute reports released by the NBA.
The NBA deemed its officials had missed a total of 34 calls or no-calls in those games, and 21 of them (or 61.8%) had favored the Lakers.
What?! The Lakers getting more breaks than the Kings?? I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you!
Listening to LeBron whine about calls is like listening to a member of Congress whining about their guaranteed lifetime health care benefits.
For sure and it ain’t like the Lakers are where they are record wise because they’re getting screwed by the refs.
Nearly 11,000 FTs for that cockwad, but “unfair!” Jeebus, LeBron.
I can’t stand the dude. Whines about everything, complains to media, and still gets preferential treatment.
yep. Whine, whine and whine. The Kings get hosed and we know it and the stats validate.
The season is about two thirds done, at some point very soon some of these teams mired in the six to ten range are going to run out of time to climb into home court advantage. If the Kings can just maintain, I like their odds, and I cant imagine any team, regardless of pedigree, that wants to play a game seven in Sacramento in the first round.
From MichealMack-
Agree- a couple of the 4-12 teams will get it together and make a run. All of them believe that it is they who are anointed with this fate. But all of Suns, Wolves, LAL, LAC, NOP, duds, Mavs, OKC, Jazz, Blazers etc. cannot be right. I thought 1-2 would emerge. While that is still possible, a perhaps more likely result is that they all just beat the heck out of each other, and the West ends up flat as Nebraska. The Kings can avoid this fate by winning- one at a time, one at a time. Maintain the current slight margin at #3. Some are likely to fade- Blazers, Jazz and OKC- and a couple don’t mind. But 3 of them will end up with a playoff berth at 4-6.
I would love to play duds or LAL at home in playoffs and win but the psychological risk is just too great right now.
Fox got snubbed. I don’t think PG13 should’ve made it or even Zion. PG only played in 37 of 54 games. Whatever, hope he proves everyone wrong in the 2nd half of the season.
My biggest gripe, and I’ll keep saying it, is that there should be a minimum games to qualify for the game and there should be 15 spots.
I knew De’Aaron would get snubbed, and I knew a lot of people would be ticked (rightfully so IMO). It’s just….the All Star process is an absolute joke.
Absolutely. I just think that the selection process for the reserves are better than what they do for the starters, since literal NBA coaches are the ones voting. But like I said, I won’t lose sleep over it. My main concern is making the playoffs and (hopefully) having home court advantage at least for the first round.
And with Fox not getting in, I hope he lights it up after the all-star break.
Wouldn’t bet on this. He’s at worst the 2nd snub on Adam Silver’s list (Aaron Gordon being the top snub) and I’d be very surprised if all of Curry, Doncic, Williamson, George or Lillard play.
They fucked Fox.
Were you expecting different? I wasn’t. I’m not mad that I was wrong, if anything it’s just proof why I don’t take the All-Star game seriously.
The lack of Siakam is most surprising to me.
No disrespect to Jrue and Demar but Spicy P should have been in.
Speaking of Jrue Holiday, he’s now a 2x All Star. If it weren’t for all the missed games, there’s no logical reason that’s the case. He’s a Hall of Fame talent IMO.
He provides too much of his value on defense for the All-Star game. That only really works for bigs. And only sometimes. He’s also just solidly in that fringe tier, where it isn’t TOO egregious to be left off even if deserving. As you say, there are more deserving players than roster slots.
I think it would be interesting to see folks around here submit a 15 man All Star roster using a minimum games played requirement (mine would be 40 at the time of announcement or 47 at the time of the game) and what not.
It would get hard if you actually had to pick 15 guys without using some of the bigger names who are being load managed.
Yep. I’d put Siakam in over DeRozan but both are deserving IMO. I’ll keep harkening this to the same point: Too few roster spots, need a game requirement.
And there will be people who will argue that Siakam is an egregious snub. He is….but I think Fox has a better case personally.
But, I think the All-Star process is an absolute joke.
I know this is blasphemous, but I’d just as soon do away with All-Star Weekend all together. Just let the players have a short break (and probably align that break with the trade deadline) and get back to the games that matter. Especially in the age of load management, it makes zero sense to me to have top players put more unnecessary mileage on their bodies. Well, no sense from a competitive POV. It obviously makes perfect sense from a maximizing profits POV.
I’d be glad to get rid of it, also. It’s an absolute waste of time.
I whole heartily agree.
I agree .A bunch of NBA players running up and down the court scoring on the average 150 points with the possibility of getting hurt doesn’t do it for me. It’s more important to me that the Kings make the playoffs. I wonder if Fox and Sabonis feel the same way?
If a bunch of NBA players running up and down the court concerns you, perhaps we should get rid of regular season games while we’re at it. Dozens of guys each year get injured in them.
Spoken like someone who isn’t making a shit-ton of money from the spectacle.
And I don’t disagree.
The All Star selection process is a complete joke and it always has been.
The coaches and GMs should select the full rosters, then let the fans choose the starters if they still want fan participation.
and I like the idea of min games played that Kingsguru21 stated above
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