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

The NBA schedule makers have decreed that we get all of our Pelicans games out of the way in a four game span.  After just playing the Pelicans in Sacramento on Saturday, the Kings are now in New Orleans for back to back games in the Big Easy.  After getting swept by the Pelicans last year, now would be a good time for the Kings to return the favor, as Sacramento has won the previous two matchups against the Pelicans this season and has a chance to enter the All-Star break with momentum if they can get both of these.

Let’s talk Kings basketball!

When: Wednesday, February 12th, 5:00 PM PT
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM

For Your Consideration

The Pelicans have lost 9 straight and are sitting dead last in the Western Conference.  On the one hand, that’s good for their chances to add another high profile lottery pick to a team lacking direction but with some nice (albeit often injured) pieces.  On the other, this was never supposed to be how their season went.  Still, the Pelicans are dangerous, especially against the Kings who arguably should have lost both of their previous matchups to them this season.  In their first matchup this year, the Kings won by just two points thanks to a Malik Monk block of a Dejounte Murray jumper.  And on Saturday, the Kings went down 29-9 to start the game before the bench came in and righted the ship, and then the Kings took their own big lead in the 3rd quarter, only to see it whittled almost all the way down before they managed to keep the Pelicans at bay and win 123-118.

Normally, playing a 12-40 team is something most teams would and could take for granted, but not against this team and not by the Kings.  The Kings have a notorious history over the last few years of playing worse when any of the following is true:  it’s a lottery team, it’s a team missing a lot of key players, or it’s the Pelicans.  All three happen to be true tonight.  The Pelicans are going to be without the services of Brandon Boston Jr, Herbert Jones, Dejounte Murray and Kelly Olynyk tonight, and Kings-killer CJ McCollum is also listed as questionable.  McCollum not playing would be a huge blow for the Pelicans, especially since he plays as if he is possessed by the ghost of Genghis Khan every time he plays the Kings.  In his last five regular season games against the Kings, McCollum is averaging 29 points on 58.2% from the field and 62.8% from three (on 9.8 attempts a game).

Yet, McCollum might not even be the most dangerous opponent on the floor for the Pelicans, as Zion Williamson exists.  The Kings have absolutely no answer for Zion Williamson, and that was abundantly clear on Saturday when he went for 40 points on 16-21 from the field in just under 28 minutes.  He’s too big and strong for guys like Keegan or Ellis to guard, and he’s too quick and explosive for Sabonis, Lyles or even Valanciunas.  Williamson attacked the basket relentlessly and the only answer the Kings had was beating the Pelicans up when Zion sat.  Thankfully for the Kings, Williamson is still on a minutes restriction, and he doesn’t play in back to backs, so the Kings only likely have to face him on one of these matchups, which is great news for the Kings as they have only ever held him to less than 60% from the field once in his entire career (when he scored 17 points on 6-13 from the field in his sophomore year).  I’m not sure many teams have an answer for a healthy Zion, but the Kings most definitely do not.

For the Kings, they’re entering these final two games relatively healthy with no injuries to report.  Newcomers Jonas Valanciunas and Jake LaRavia came up big off the bench in Saturday’s game against the Pelicans, and both will likely see plenty of time tonight as well.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Coach Doug Christie continue to experiment with the dual big lineup of Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis that he played in the 4th quarter on Monday against the Mavericks;  The Mavericks didn’t have much size in that game after Daniel Gafford went out with an injury, and the Pelicans won’t have much either aside from rookie Yves Missi.  The dual big lineup outscored Dallas 21-14 to help get the Kings back in the game, and what was even crazier was that during that stretch, the Mavericks didn’t get a single rebound on either end of the floor. Not a one.

Speaking of newcomers, hopefully Zach LaVine can start to get going a little bit in one of these two games.  LaVine has really struggled with his outside shot since coming to Sacramento, shooting just 19.2% on 6.5 attempts a game after making 44.6% of his attempts in Chicago.  It’s really the only part of his game that has been drastically different, as he’s still shooting well on twos (57.9%) and free throws (88.2%).  I’m willing to give LaVine a bit of slack here, as he is coming off moving across the country (right after the birth of his third child) and having played in 4 games in 6 nights (and it will be 6 games in 9 nights before a well deserved break), all on a new team with no practice time.  I thought the team did a better job of getting him involved in some off ball movement in the last couple games, and it should hopefully look more cohesive with more reps.

Despite the opponent’s records, these can’t be considered gimme wins for the Kings, but they’re still incredibly important to get.  The West is a brutal landscape, and the Kings have a real chance to make up some ground on the Dallas Mavericks now.  The Kings are only a half game behind the Mavericks for 8th place, with the Warriors and Suns close behind (not to mention the Spurs as well).  Sacramento’s schedule after the break is a gauntlet, and that stretch run will be hugely important, but right now the Kings have two winnable games in front of them and they need to take advantage.

Prediction

DeMar DeRozan keeps on cooking and drops another 40 piece, but so does Zion.

Kings 125, Pelicans 117