The Kings just finished off a season sweep of the Houston Rockets on Saturday, and now they have a chance to add another sweep if they can beat the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks tonight. A win tonight also would guarantee a winning road trip, and another game up on an opponent that figures to be right there with the Kings in the playoff race.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Monday, March 3rd, 5:30 PM PT
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
The last time these two teams met in Dallas just a few weeks ago, it was a thriller, with DeMar DeRozan sending the game into overtime and then eventually winning the game with a crazy step through floater between two Mavericks defenders. It was his best performance yet as a Sacramento King as he scored a season-high 42 points on 15-22 from the field and 4-6 from three. 19 of those points came in the 4th quarter and overtime alone as Dallas simply had no answer for DeRozan.
Dallas was shorthanded that night, and figures to be even more shorthanded tonight, as they’ll be without all three of their centers: Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively. PJ Washington is also listed as out. The Mavericks have been using 7’2 Moses Brown as their center of late, with veteran Dwight Powell as a backup. The Kings have their own big injury to deal with however as Domantas Sabonis will miss tonight’s matchup (and likely the rest of the week) with a grade 1 hamstring strain, but fortunately the Kings now have a reliable option to replace him in Jonas Valanciunas. Valanciunas filled in admirably in Sabonis’ absence on Saturday, totaling 15 points, 14 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks in the Kings win against the Rockets. Just a few weeks ago, losing Sabonis would have seemed to be a death sentence for this team, but Valanciunas provides a level of stability that the Kings desperately need right now. Sacramento’s backup options are still pretty thin, but I would expect we see the team play Trey Lyles as a small ball five while Sabonis is gone instead of resorting to 10-day players like Skal Labissiere, who is likely just a “break glass in case of emergency” type of addition.
The big matchup of this game will likely be decided in the backcourt. Kyrie Irving has been playing out of his mind since becoming Dallas’ primary scoring option, averaging 30.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals in his last 7 games. The Kings will need to throw a lot of different looks at him, and I’m assuming Keegan Murray will get first dibs, while Keon Ellis and Jake LaRavia get their turns as well. Sacramento’s best option might be to just get the ball out of Irving’s hands and force one of the other Mavericks players to beat you, but that’s easier said than done. Irving is as slippery and good at handling the ball as anyone in league history, and it will take a total team effort to slow him down.
Irving isn’t Dallas’ only threat. Klay Thompson can still shoot the mess out of the ball, and nearly beat the Kings with a clutch three pointer in overtime during the last matchup. Max Christie has been excellent so far as a Maverick, showcasing his potential on both ends of the floor, and the supporting cast of Naji Marshall, Dante Exum and Spencer Dinwiddie are all solid. Dinwiddie in particular always seems to have good games against the Kings. Still, I’d rather try to have those guys try to beat us than let Irving get comfortable.
Dallas has lost three of five since the All-Star break, with their only wins coming against the lowly Pelicans and Hornets. They’re currently 10th in the Western Conference, but tied with the Kings in games back and only one game out of 6th and a guaranteed playoff spot. Matchups between these teams are hugely important as the season gets closer and closer to the end, and I expect both teams will come out giving their best as a result. The Kings already own the tiebreaker, but they’d much rather be in a scenario where they don’t need a tiebreaker, and whoever wins tonight is going to have a full game advantage and a much better chance at guaranteeing a playoff spot. Anthony Davis will also be back at some point, and you don’t want to have to face the Mavericks in a potential Play-In scenario with Davis and other guys back if you can help it, so win tonight and hopefully avoid that possibility later.
Prediction
DeMar DeRozan continues to cook in Texas, dropping 30+ in the Kings victory.
Kings 123, Mavericks 115
Their best big men have not yet returned,
Yet the Mavs got some wins that they earned.
Kyrie’s been enough;
When he’s up to snuff,
Control him or we could get burned!
+1 Play our cards right for the win!
&ct=g
+1 for the Maverick reference
A fan of the James Garner/Jack Kelly series long before Mel Gibson showed up.
and they never showed the most important family member, Patrick Ewing!
Dallas backwards is Salad (almost).
The one thing i don’t see as often now is when the Kings blitz the opponent PG/ballhandler whenever they step past halfcourt. Keegan and Fox would normally blitz Curry, Ant, etc. and disrupt the offense. I hope we see blitzes on Kyrie, but he is one of the rare specimens that can easily slip a blitz with his wily handles and pass out to a Kings-killer named Klay. Still, i am hopeful we can dominate inside with PITP.
LFG!
Goose the Mavs!
Can we do it without one of our Top Gun(s)?
He’ll be in the whirlpool.
Hopefully the training staff cryotherapy works on his hamstring and turns him into an Iceman
If we can do it without Domas it’S-a-bonus!
They can Do màs without him.
Good news, gang! The move is coming along and I actually had a moment to schedule the game thread.
Can i take off this tinfoil hat now?
Greg ruined my conspiracy theory.
Greg ruined Kings victories.
He certainly ruined some trollish finger pointing.
Nove!
Mavs just announced ticket price hikes for next year.
Kings fans:
Mavs fans:
Sweep?
LOL
Zacramento player of the week!!!
Nice!
Good for Zach (and the Kings).
It’d be nice to see Lyles step up and play the five. Unfortunately, he can’t even step up and play his own position, as is production has fallen in almost every measurable metric for the last 4 years in a row. Too bad the Kings can’t look at reality when then they assembled the roster this year and instead looked at how good a lot of its players were 3-4 years ago.
His offensive production has slipped a bit, especially his shooting, but he’s still right near his career averages. He is who he is as this point, which is basically a 9th-10th man in your rotation. My guess is he won’t be back next season, at least at his current price of $8M. He’s probably a vet-minimum type dude going forward.
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