Hey, remember Sunday when the Kings played that really early afternoon game and got bushwhacked by the best team in the East, the then 7-1 Bucks? The Kings lost that game if you didn’t tune in, and they lost it by quite the margin. I’m only bringing it up because now it’s Wednesday, the East has a new #1 seed and the Kings are once again facing off against them! The Kings will spend this evening facing off against the Toronto Raptors: owners of a 10-1 record, the demon currently residing in Kawhi Leonard’s larnyx and a coach whose name is a dead ringer for a D-level Marvel comic book character. Piece of cake, right?

Let’s talk Kings basketball.

When: Wednesday, November 7th; 7 pm PST

Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA

TV: NBCSCA

Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM

For Your Consideration

Who What Where Kawhi How: This seems like the 5th year or so that I’ve come across this thought and accepted it as fact but, this season’s Raptors squad is absolutely for real. Again, it won’t be proven until they can find away not to fold like wet cardboard in a trash compactor, but deep down, I think this Raptors team has a great shot of getting to the Finals. Winning the Finals? AHAHA no. But get there, absolutely. Coach Nick Nurse has his team off to a sizzling start both in the wins column and the stat sheet: they’re currently in the Top 10 in points per game (6th, 117.4 per game) and opponents points per game (7th, 108.0 per game) all while running at the 12th fastest pace in the NBA. Lead by Kawhi Leonard’s 26.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2 steals a game the Raptors have somehow found a way to win while also having three centers in their top 5 scorers (Ibaka, Valanciunas, Siakam). Raptors fans reading this: please explain? I don’t get paid enough for this level of analysis and Ziller’s cat isn’t speaking to me since I ate what I thought was my can of tuna fish.

On the Kings side of things, our boys are currently sitting in 5th place in the Western Conference standings and are going to be hard pressed to find any sort of consistent winning for the next month. A win against Toronto would be huge for momentum with the young guys, especially during the butcher shop that is the schedule for the month.

Things to Watch For Because it’s the Day After Election Day and Will Stayed Up too Late Watching the Results Instead of Pondering The Toronto Raptors:

-There should be some clarity as to the status for Bogdan Bogdanovic for the game tonight. He seems itching and ready to play, so look to the comments before the game. One of you quick whippersnappers will have an update.

-Mr. Leonard didn’t play against the Utah Jazz because of an apparent foot injury and might just sit out this game as well. The Raptors beat the Jazz by double digit points. So, yeah. Don’t panic?

-Willie Cauley-Stein has regressed in the last few games, averaging a little over 10 points per game in his last three contests. IF he has a game like that Wednesday night, a victory is going to be made even less likely.

Prediction

Willie scores 40. Some guy on Twitter takes the prediction serious for the umpteenth time and calls it “odious drivel”. I agree with him and we become good friends.

Kings 119, Raptors 114