Coming off the heels of a much needed win against the upstart Houston Rockets, the Kings are in Memphis today to test their newfound mettle against a Memphis Grizzlies squad that has won six of their last seven games. Can the Kings find a way to match a resurgent Grizzlies desperate to put last season behind them? Can Kings hold focus for a second game in a row and execute a winning strategy against a superior opponent? Will someone remind De’Aaron Fox that he can just do that against any team in the league, and preferably, tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies starting at around, oh, 5:07 Pacific Time?
Let’s talk Kings basketball.
When: Thursday, December 5h, 5:00 PM PST
Where: FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN
TV: NBCSCA
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
Not Out of the Woods: Before I get into anything else, Wednesday’s win against the Rockets was a good, solid, quality win with maybe the most even keeled performance I can remember seeing from a Kings squad. Truly, when was the last time you’ve seen a game where everyone who played over 12 minutes scored in double figures and all but one doing it shooting above 44% from the field? When was the last time you saw a Kings game where the opponents tried to get a little extra physical and the team as a whole didn’t fold like cardboard in a pool? Sacramento’s the team that let Chimezie Metu get ragdolled into a broken wrist without a response, and yet, here they are, getting chippy, dropping shoulders into chests, trying to cat scratch some eyes out and getting mouthy at center court with an opponent to the point of needing referees and players to interfere. Sometimes, it’s okay to be the asshole, especially if its to another asshole, and any game with Dillon Brooks featuring, means in all likelihood, you’re morally in the right. Kings were in the right and more importantly, in the win column.
That being said, there is still a great deal of damage to be done in the Western Conference and while one win can shift the vibes, it can’t undo two weeks of disastrous play. Tales of Sacramento’s demise were a bit hasty sure, but so too are the calls for immediate ascendency. The sound the Kings heard at the end of the Rockets game was a collective sigh of relief, not a sign from the fanbase that trust in this squad has been fully restored and they can slide back into the habits they’ve set for themselves this season. We’ve seen now what they can do when everyone is locked in and on the same page – now the onus is on them to replicate it, night in and night out, for the 60 games. I don’t need the Kings to win all 60, coming in and playing like that is enough for me too root for.
So, on to their first test, stepping out of “it’s over” and into this new era of “we’re so back” – a Memphis Grizzlies squad essentially tied for third in the Western Conference standings and currently on a hot streak against mediocre teams. Not to take anything away from the team, they’re winning games that the Sacramento Kings haven’t proven they can, but in mentioning they’ve won six of seven, I neglected to mention that those six in a row were the Sixers, Bulls, Blazers, Pistons, Pelicans and Pacers. So two teams crushed into oblivion by injuries, a couple of teams too new into the season to know they should tank, and a Pacers squad whose fate rests literally on the broken back of Tyrese Haliburton. Would I have expected the Kings to go 6-0 there? No, I’ve been a fan long enough not to trust the franchise with grabbing me a gallon of milk (or design a retro mascot) without messing it up somehow. I’m just saying, that six wins is six wins, but there’s room in there to squint and see that the Grizzlies, while starting the season hot, aren’t infallible.
So let’s get to what the do night in and night out: for one, they score the rock and they do so with speedy precision. Currently the 6th best team in terms of offensive rating, the Grizzlies score the 2nd most points in the NBA at 121.4 a game, while running at the 2nd fastest pace in the NBA. This is the make up of a squad that Monte McNair is talking about wanting for the Kings in press conferences. (No, Monte, I didn’t forget that you said there’s no reason the Kings shouldn’t be Top 5 in pace this season.) The Grizzlies are 1st in the NBA in assists, 4th in offensive rebounds, 3rd in overall field goal percentage and 4th in free throw attempts. Their three point percentage is a very pedestrian 18th in the NBA at 34.9%, but knowing the Kings, that descriptor isn’t an insult, but more of a pedestrian-on-bath-salts-with-a-knife-running-towards-you kind of deal. 34.9% is more than enough to beat the Kings. The Grizzlies get after it on defense, as well. While they’re 18th in opponents points per game, they’re 4th overall in defensive rating, 1st in the NBA in blocks, 12th in steals and they hold teams to the 4th lowest field goal percentage in the NBA at 44.2% on a given night.
The good news here lie in three little spots: The Grizzlies are bottom three in the NBA in turnovers and fouls per game, and they’re bottom two in the amount of three point attempts they give up. IF DeRozan and Fox can get these guys into early foul trouble, the calculus changes. IF the Kings can get out in the passing lanes and overachieve on their 12th best in the NBA standing on second chance points, the calculus changes. If the Houston Rockets game and specifically Sacramento’s 14-30 from three was an indicator of a shooting slump being broken and the Kings get hot, the Grizzlies are going to give Sacramento the green light from deep all night.
Fox and Ja Morant will be a battle. Sabonis and JJJ will be a battle. Sacramento native Jaylen Wells is going to want to show out against a hometown team. Desmond Bane is going to be hunting his shots (and a Kevin Huerter arm or two) all night. This should be a dog fight. But the Kings are backed into a corner, with a smidge of new found confidence and maybe, just maybe, that confidence isn’t entirely unfounded. Either way, the Kings are going to be in a much different spot momentum wise after 48 minutes of basketball tonight. Here’s hoping for the best.
Prediction
50 point blow out. Ja with 0 points and 3 references to firearms. Jaylen Wells scores 40 and we’re all very happy for him. DeRozan with 9 triples. Pandemonium in the streets.
Kings: 150, Grizzlies: 100
The Grizzlies had been on a roll
As Ja’s mostly under control.
Although Edey’s been out,
Their defense can be stout.
Need to win and climb out of our hole!
+1 Say hello to Ja and his little friends!
Kings or Kangz?
I choose the purple pill.
…which is nexium. Lol
Precisely this. Which team is going to show up today?
Without Edey, I expect Domas to take it straight through JJJ’s chest. Beat them on the glass, get second chance points, and don’t let Ja drop 30+.
The Roy Al libel shall not stand.
We need more Roy Al!!!
I won’t rest until we get the Kings mascot cage match at halftime. “Ladies and Gentlemen, IT’S TIME for a BATTLE ROY AL!!”
They should have made him a villain, and let Slamson be the hero that thwarts/defeats Roy Al. Every couple weeks have some interaction with the two mascots. Kings social media can “leak” what Roy Al has been plotting, and have the result play out in the arena one game.
Like the old school Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego show from yesteryears.
I’ve been saying for a while, the Kings need to somehow sign Robin Lopez and take this mascot fight to another level.
Kings Legend Robin Lopez*
Robin Lopez is one of the happiest dudes ever.
Change my mind.
All I can say about Memphis is I don’t like that team, the barbecue is amazing, I never thought a Bass Pro Shop could be a tourist attraction, and every person in America should visit for the National Civil Rights Museum.
Beale Street is also underwhelming if you’re not tanked.
Solid review. It’s on my list. Better or worse than Nashville?
Never been to Nashville, so I can’t make a comparison. All I know is, for all my travels through the South, there’s never been a second where I felt like I was back West.
I hear that. I was in St. Louis this year and that was pretty interesting but not sure that’s really considered “the South”
Driving from Memphis to St. Louis took me through the hardest rain I’ve experienced in my life, the metal of the car loudly pinging hundreds of times a second, nothing visible beyond the front of the hood. I finished that drive on pure adrenaline, my hands practically frozen to the steering wheel by the time we reached St. Louis.
And it was made all the more difficult (and creepy) by the fact that, unlike all my years of driving the West Coast, there were no other cars on the highway. Sure, some trucks would come and go every 20-30 minutes, but I cannot recall ever driving any stretch of I-5, I-80, CA-99, 101, whatever where I was the only car. Not day, not night, sun, rain, anything. For probably the first time in my life, more than any forest, beach, or national park, I truly felt I was in the middle of nowhere down there in that southeast corner of Missouri.
Anywho, St. Louis was a real treat, especially City Museum! Would enjoy getting to explore it more sometime.
That is one of the most diplomatic things I’ve ever read in my life and you sir should take pride in achieving a level of emotional maturity few can realize.
Now go eat a six piece chicken tender meal from Piggly Wiggly and tell the kids to stop fishing in my ditch.
I’ve covered 24 states and DC in my life, there’s a level of tact one figures out when you feel like a stranger in a strange land in your own country.
I’ve covered 46 states I think, living in five on both coasts. Visiting my dad and sister’s family in their new South Carolina home crushes my soul each time I visit. There is only one region of this country I would refuse to live in and that’s it.
I would pick Nashville because it’s closer to the mountains but that’s not much of a reason. If I had to live in TN I would try real hard to make it Knoxville, but even then going to the grocery store would be depressing every….single….time.
My soul is clear, West Coast best coast. Seattle to San Diego, I’m good.
Why would going to the grocery store be depressing in Knoxville?
I moved to Tennessee a few years back, about 50-60 miles south of Nashville. I don’t miss the Sacramento/Bay Area traffic and lifestyle that I mostly lived in for 30+ years.
Nice and quiet out here in the country. People are friendly. Some are a little…odd, but its nice to not have the hustle and bustle happening all the time.
To each their own, glad it works for you!
if you’re going for nightlife, Nashville. lots of live music. rooftop spots. Memphis is interesting also and yes the bbq is amazing. if you like delta blues, the gems I found were south of Memphis in Mississippi, but those gems might have been right place at the right time occurrences.
Copy that. Thank you for the comparison!
Please play basketball again.
Please win for my sake, Kings! I’m sick with a cold and need something to make me feel better!!
Force fluids and get some rest. AKA drink until you pass out.
Feel better!
Until you pass out and piss out.
I have an uncle who swears by drinking tequila as soon as he starts to feel like he’s coming down with something. Says tequila can kill any germ. I’ve never seen him sick, but have often seen him drunk.
I too once knew someone who swore they beat “Montezuma’s revenge” when they visited Mexico by taking a shot of tequila right after every meal.
Lol I love it. I suddenly feel like I’m coming down with something…bust out the Don Julio!
Even though that was iced tea I still believe Belushi could have chugged that fifth for real.
The team could never “turn the corner” last year. Hopefully they can this year.
New Fox video:
Hmm, every time I check the box score we’re up by 1. Just imagine how much we’d be up by if we actually hit a couple of 3s.
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