The Sacramento Kings are back in action tonight as they take on the husk of a Portland Trail Blazers squad that the Kings just held to 80 points on their way to a playoff-clinching 40 point win on Wednesday night. Will the Kings start some strategic resting their players knowing full and well the playoffs are a lock? Will Keegan Murray get to 200 three pointers this season after breaking the rookie record the other night? Will someone kick me in the face and wake me from this dream of a season or will I get to spend just a little more time in this unlikeliest of places?
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Friday, March 31st, Â 7:00 PM PT
Where:Â Moda Center, Portland, OR
TV:Â NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
For Your Consideration
Bald Face Lies: I’m a guy with very little left to say right now. With every sports publication great and small putting out exemplary pieces on the Kings and just what it means for the franchise, for the fans, to clinch after so long in the cellar, I find myself stuck in a whirlpool of emotions. Hell, look at any of the articles below this on the Kings Herald front page, read them and tell me you don’t get that tingle of frission rolling down your spin. I’m not Robby Beigler, I need this whole damn regular season to end before I can digest where the hell we are as a fanbase of a truly successful and competent regular season team.
Tonight’s game has some stakes attached: with a Kings win and a Suns loss (playing the Nuggets no less) the Kings could wrap up third place and their first Pacific Division title since before I could sprout red facial hair, or insane basketball opinions, from my face. This is no small feat – it won’t get folks doing the Griddy around the planters at DOCO, but it should get some sort of banner in the rafters.
The Kings are in the playoffs and not by some fluke, not by falling ass backwards into a hot streak to close the season. They’re ten plus games above .500, they have a historically good offense and they have talking heads annoyed about their pre-season predictions.
I’ve never been particularly stats driven in my writing (go see the other Will’s excellent previews on a whole other site if you’re looking for great numerical analysis), but I really have nothing to cite today in regards to this game. The Blazers are starting their bench as they prepare for the draft, and next season, while the Kings are playing the waiting game in who they’ll match up with in the first round. I’m still figuring out what its like to be proud of the franchise I root for.
I’m still taking it all in.
Prediction
Many more, many better words are written in the waning games of the season. Kings slip a bit today as they rest the big timers in the second half, but the support players pull it out.
Kings: 116, Blazers: 109
I’m not ready to start resting any starter as long as the two seed is in play.
Once the Kings have a firm lock on the highest seed possible, whether its two or three, then by all means go deep bench for as much rest as healing as possible.
But Sacramento is only two games behind Memphis with six to play. Let’s not take the foot off the gas quite yet.
Besides, they’ll get at least five days of rest during the play-in tournament.
I wish I had read yours before I posted mine. I could have simply typed “rec’d” and moved on.
It’s a point so nice, we post it twice
The six games to go plan:
don’t get injuries
secure 3rd in the West/Pacific Div Champs
don’t get injuries
give time to the second unit, third unit (I’ve noticed that Keon and Queta are listed as out)
don’t get injuries
Don’t lose by 41 to the Celtics – ooops! What was that all about last night?
Will Griffith?
One more game with the Blazers up next.
Kinda’ looks like Dame has been hexed.
Though he stayed in place,
They dropped out of the race.
Get this win or Kings fans will be vexed!
The games still mean something until the Suns are eliminated and the Griz are out of reach. There will be play-in games in between the end of the regular season and the playoffs, which will get the team some well-earned rest. Until such time that their seeding is locked, the Kings should continue with business as usual.
Another thing I just thought of: the two seed gives the Kings a matchup with a team that played in an extra game or two in the play-in, while the three seed means they play a team that also gets five days of rest.
Probably does mean much, but I’ll take any marginal advantage Sacramento can get.
Also just realized that those five days of waiting for the first round to start met end up being the five longest days of my life.
Heh. There were no games of vital note last night, and I didn’t know what to do with myself.
I agree with your assessment. As tight as the West is, the higher seed is still the higher seed, and the 1 and 2 seeds benefit at least slightly from getting teams coming off the play-in.
You could watch the slegnA lose!
Let’s clinch the Pacific Division and catch the Grizzlies!
This isnt meant to be contrarian…. but it’s a legitimate issue IMO. These guys are at their career high in minutes like Sabonis who is 250 minutes over his next closest total, near their career high like Huerter who is about 100 total minutes away and Fox who is about 250 minutes away from his career high, Barnes is at 26,200+ minutes and counting for his career and counting even this season will be a season high in total minutes played for Barnes.
Murray is at 2200 total minutes and counting, Monk is at 1700 and that’s coming off the bench. Managing minutes, especially for your stars, can be tricky. I won’t argue that. But I think if injuries happen (hello Julius Randle!), workload is the first thing that gets discussed.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t go for the 2 seed or injuries can’t happen managing loads of players. But it’ll be interesting to see if they give days off here or there starting next week on the 2 game trip in New Orleans and Dallas.
The 2 seed would be great, but Id rather these guys be as healthy and as fresh as you can have them for game 1.
Hey – there is the 2nd round and possible WCF advantage by placing 2nd over 3rd
They can also, possibly, influence the outcome of seeding – maybe a Dallas win puts Lakers from 10 to 11 and so on.
Of course, the priority is take care of your own. Load management, playing time for the bench, adjustments on how to play whatever scheme they are considering, it’s sure beats wondering if they are going to get the 6th pick or the 7th in the Lottery.
It’s not a right or wrong thing, it’s more something to consider if anything else.
It also might hurt them more to not play, too. So I dunno. There’s lots of ways to slice this. If they win 2 more games they will clinch both the Pacific and the 3rd seed. So that’s certainly a consideration also.
Boy listening to all these opinions is hard to digest. All I know I’m going to go along with my grandson when he said the team going into the playoffs the hottest will do the most damage.
I will not be at tonight’s game, but damn, I’ll always have the memories of Wednesday.
May every die-hard purple jersey rocking 916er trekking through the rain to the Moda Center tonight have a party of a night!
Hey fam, have you watched the new episode of BR’s Hero Bell yet? Just brilliant, especially the end lol.
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