Kings vs. Pelicans Preview: Didn’t we just do this, twice?

The Sacramento Kings have one more game before the All-Star break, and it’s yet another game against the New Orleans Pelicans! 3 out of 4 games, including 2 games on a back to back? Sometimes I feel like a conspiracy theorist in the ways the league doesn’t care about small markets, but then things like this remind me that it’s not paranoia if it’s true. But even as a scheduling afterthought, this game matters to the Kings. The margin of error in the Western Conference standings is razor thin, and the Kings will have a tougher schedule following the break, so handling business against the Pelicans remains crucially important for Sacramento’s postseason dreams.

Let’s talk Kings basketball!

When: Thursday, February 13th, 5:00 PM PT
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM

For Your Consideration

At this point the Kings, and Kings fans, know what to expect from the Pelicans. The Kings should get a slight reprieve, as the Pelicans have held Zion Williamson out of back-to-backs this season, so the assumption is that he will not be playing in this one. After being held to just 14 points on 17 shots last night, I’m terribly afraid of CJ McCollum bouncing back and torching the Kings tonight. That said, after two wins over the Pelicans even with Zion destroying the Kings front line, I expect the Kings to step up and handle their business against a Zion-less Pelicans team.

A few small things I’ll be watching for:

• Domantas Sabonis had foul trouble yesterday, so we didn’t get to see much of the Twin Lithuanian lineups. I’ll be curious to see if the Kings continue to experiment with that combo.
• Keon Ellis was the best King on both ends of the floor yesterday, and had a team-high 27 points, yet he was 6th in minutes. Doug Christie absolutely must find a way to get Ellis more minutes. Doug is far better than Mike Brown was, but Doug still needs to find ways to get Keon on the floor more.
• I’ll be watching to see if new addition Markelle Fultz sees any playing time, or if he’ll make his debut after the break.
• Jake LaRavia had a rough outing yesterday, hopefully he can have a bounce back game.
• Zach LaVine was a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line yesterday on his way to 23 points, but continued his shooting slump from beyond the arc, shooting 2-of-8 from three. He’s shooting 20.6% from 3 since putting on a Kings uniform. I have faith that he’ll return to form, and it might not be until after the break, but it would be great to see a positive regression shooting performance.

Prediction

The Kings continue to find a rhythm together and roll into the All-Star break on a four-game win streak.

Kings 122, Pelicans 105