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Kings vs Jazz Preview: The Last Dance of the Year

The Kings are at home and taking on the OTHER surprise team in the West.
By | 15 Comments | Dec 30, 2022

After splitting a pair of games against the current top seed in the Western Conference, the Kings are sticking close to home to square off against the Utah Jazz and their band of has-beens and castoffs. That is NOT an insult, it’s an absolute miracle what Danny Ainge, first time head coach Will Hardy, and the entire squad of Jazz players have been able to build in less than half a season from the rubble of a team that was blown apart just this last off-season after trying, and failing, to reach their goals the last half decade. Can Lauri Markkanen continue to play at an All-Star level? Will Danny Ainge use the second half of the season to ship out all of his remain vets for draft chips, or just come really, real close to it?

Let’s talk Kings basketball!

When: Friday, December 30th, 7:00 PM PT
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140

For Your Consideration

Auld Lang Syne: Well, here we are at the close of all things 2022 – last game of the year, folks. At this same point last season we were getting ready for a whipping by a Luka-less Dallas Mavericks squad in a game in which we scored 39 in the first quarter and didn’t break 100 for the entire game. Alvin Gentry coached that game, Tyrese Haliburton and Marvin Bagley were the two leading scorers and we’d all walk hand and hand into the new year with a 15-22 record. When you’re doing some accounting of your life and the things in it, use that dead-eyed look you saw on your face remembering yester-year and meditate on just how quick things can change in this world for the better. Your favorite team, your favorite family member, your favorite you – might be a couple of risky, well thought out decisions away from being right back in the thick of it.

Or, instead of meditating on sixteen years of crap, do what the Jazz did – Hold a fire sale of all the nice crap you have, get rid of the wise and reliable leaders in your life for a younger, unproven somebody, try to crash everything around you for a couple years and wind up instead in a better, more exciting spot than the one you left! Life has no set rules! We’re all throwing lead darts with our eyes closed following the directions of ghosts scared of being unseen for eternity!!

The Jazz are a wonderful mix of chaos and fun, spun together from trade filler and the remnants of a team who just last season was going through the motions of annual second-round-knockout bait in the Western Conference playoff hunt. They’re an offensive oriented squad, 4th in points per game and offensive rating, who attempt the 4th most shots from deep and hit them at the 10th best percentage in the league. They’re 9th in the NBA in offensive rebounding, 10th in assists and for all the fun they have, they’re 24th in the NBA in turnovers as well.

On the defensive side of things, they’re 23rd in opponent points per game, 26th in defensive rating, 16th in both blocks and steal and are in the bottom ten in fouls per game and defensive rebounding. Don’t get me wrong, they do have decent defensive pieces. Guys like Jarred Vanderbilt, who leads the team with 1.2 steals a game, and Walker Kessler, who averages 1.9 blocks a contest, can absolutely dictate a game if a team is not careful with the ball. The Jazz as a team hold their opponents to the least amount of three point attempts in the NBA, and are 7th in opponents percentage from deep – teams shoot just 34.8% from deep against them.

Lauri Markkanen has had a fantastic season for a Jazz team that was never expected to be anything more than a batter bit of debris floating to the bottom of the Western Conference standings. His play, along with former Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson, has catalyzed this Jazz team into a fantastic agent of chaos, playing spoiler to many, supposedly better teams looking for an easy night.

They’re a good team, that are a Danny Ainge trade or two away from being a terrible team – but tonight, they’re good. Fingers crossed the Kings see them as such.

Prediction

Walker Kessler is going to block like 6 shots, Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson are going to go for a combined 70 points and the Kings are going to trudge along to an ugly 13 point victory. Sabonis gets a double-double in points and assists.

Kings: 123, Jazz: 110

 

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TheBaker
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December 30, 2022 10:57 am

End this year on a high note!

Klam
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Nostradumbass 18
Nostradumbass 19
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December 30, 2022 12:09 pm
Reply to  TheBaker

“Yes!”
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Kosta
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December 30, 2022 12:54 pm
Reply to  Klam

Hmmm… Is he available to sign?

sacm3bill
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December 30, 2022 1:35 pm
Reply to  Kosta

So you have a high opinion of him?

Jman1949
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December 30, 2022 11:05 am

End the year with a new Jazz session—
A team that’s made quite the impression.
Expected to tank
They’re still play-in rank.
Let’s avoid any regression!

andy_sims
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December 30, 2022 11:46 am

Honestly, I have no idea about what to expect for this one. Could be a blowout, but by which team?

Put KZ on Markannen if he starts to heat up? Sentence fragments? Yeah, sure.

alec26
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December 30, 2022 12:04 pm

The Kings are #7, the Jazz are #9. The Kings should treat tonight’s game like a play-In game.

TerzoM
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December 30, 2022 12:08 pm

So Domas will play through his injury (I guess until he can’t), and then an option is to have surgery which will put him out for 4-6 weeks. It seems rest of 22-23 season could be rough, what do you guys think?

Kosta
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December 30, 2022 12:53 pm
Reply to  TerzoM

Just hack the thing off and be done with it!

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Jman1949
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December 30, 2022 1:28 pm
Reply to  Kosta

He only needs his left hand anyway!

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Adamsite
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Nostradumbass 14
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December 30, 2022 12:58 pm
Reply to  TerzoM

I’m wondering that with each day that goes by the pain and risk of further injuring diminishes. He’s just in the rough and possibly dangerous stretch of the first few weeks. All fingers are crossed right now that he can make it through.

Jack
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December 30, 2022 1:08 pm
Reply to  TerzoM

In my sons junior year of football he broke his finger, the one next to his thumb.The doctor put a cast up to his elbow. He asked me what I would do. I told him it was his decision. Next morning the cast was gone. We taped his two fingers together and he played. He never told the coaches. By the way we won the championship that year. The finger healed and nothing was never said. Would I have done the same thing? You bet.

Want2win
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December 30, 2022 1:43 pm
Reply to  Jack

Cool they won the Ship! I fractured my ankle shortly after HS graduation and got a cast, left for my first trip to Hawaii for graduation a few days later. After two days of being in Hawaii we decided to cut my cast off and I never had issues. I’m now 53 years old, My hairline is receding, I’m overweight, but no issues from where I fractured my foot, my wife says I have mental issues but hey, I’m happy go Kings

TerzoM
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December 30, 2022 3:22 pm
Reply to  Want2win

Domas could increase his assist numbers while avoiding post up moves where a defender can hack down on the ball. Fingers and thumbs crossed 😁 it works out, surgery or not. Go Kings!

Klam
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December 30, 2022 2:55 pm

Looks like Coach Brown is back for tonight’s game.
https://twitter.com/JandersonSacBee/status/1608947709809131521

Last edited 1 year ago by Klam

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