The Kings are 5-4. The Suns are 8-1. Kevin Durant won’t be playing in either of today or Wednesday’s game in Sacramento. I’m still lightly annoyed at that godforsaken game Friday night. Okay. Moving on.
Let’s talk Kings basketball.
When: Sunday, November 10th, 5:00 PM PST
Where: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
TV: NBCSCA – Mark Jones (play-by-play)
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
Clank: This is for a Sunday game at 5 pm so we’re gonna make it short and snappy. Kevin Durant is the star by which all has rotated for the Suns this season. Averaging 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists, he very well could be the MVP through 10 games, and he is not playing tonight. All stats, trends etc. are rendered moot by the calf muscle of the slimmest of reapers.
So here’s three things to look out for if you’re watching tonight:
– Though they’re 8-1 and toast of the conference to start the season, the margin of victory of Phoenix of late has been slim. Like, slim slim. Over their last six games, they’re winning games by an average of 3.7 points, so stuff is coming down to the wire. Hell, their highest margin of victory so far is 12, their only loss was by 7 – everything has been close for them. They’ve beaten teams like Portland and Philly in tight games, they’ve beaten Miami and Dallas in tight games. So take that either direction you want to go: they play to the level of their opponents and thus, the Kings have themselves a good shot at a competitive game this evening, or, team’s raise their competition level to play a team as good as the Suns are and despite their best efforts, the Suns know how to close out a game and are perfect in clutch situations so far this year.
– Mike Brown and Monte McNair have themselves a fatal flaw with this team that, if not fixed, is going to absolutely kill them later on in the season, and the source of that issue isn’t immediately apparent to me. The bench is pretty much a non-factor outside of Monk and occasionally Keon Ellis and is that because “Mike Brown doesn’t trust his bench, giving them far too short a leash, leading to high minutes for the starters and scared, jittery production from the bench”? Or is it more “Monte McNair built an unsustainably bad bench, forcing Mike Brown into playing his starters for far too many minutes to avoid getting killed when the end of his rotation comes into the game”? Either way, the Achilles heel of this team isn’t the three point shot just yet (despite the Kings being garbage from there to start as well) but it is the lack of solid options off the bench. Monk’s been a little funky to start this season, Keon is playing like someone with severe lineup whiplash and the rest have been bad to horrible. I can’t fully commit to the bit yet, with the Kings having not yet played even ten games this season, but the trends are heading out of the small sample size and something might end up having to change pretty quick.
Okay that’s it for me today.
The Small Stuff
But Will You Said Three: Call me the Sacramento Kings baby, I too actively avoid making three points.
Prediction
Devin Booker goes absolutely bonkers tonight with 40+ points and 8+ assists. Nurkic and Sabonis get into a little tiff and Grayson Allen does something to remind you that yeah, you really wouldn’t like him on your team after all. Keegan comes alive late and wins it for the Kings on a deep ball in the closing minute.
Kings: 118, Suns:115
Off to Phoenix to face rising Suns
Where we’ll have to lock down their big guns.
They’ve got things together;
The question is whether
We’ll deliver an upset that stuns!
Let’s all watch the Suns set!
Eclipse the Suns
it means to moon them so much you cover their shine. It’s a delight.
I guess my comment failed. Oops!
I anticipate this team will play hard, and the other team will play just as hard, and one team will win and regardless of which, there will be 5-7 people who insist that it was not because our players are any good, the other team wasn’t any good either and therefore our team is twice as bad, and no one will be happy.
It’ll be glorious!
SPORTS!
Playing against a division rival without their big star, right after an embarassing loss?
A good time to show your mettle, Kings.
It was not more than two months ago that all of the KaNGz fans were bragging about how screwed the Suns are for the next decade because of Beale. Funny how having valuable players and making deals can quickly turn things around. Emotional connection and forever hanging on to trash hoping they will be the fantasy they are not is not a thing in Phoenix.
Brown needs to find at least two more bench players that take the physical load off of the core guys. Fox needs to play as a distributor not an individual scorer. Let Sabonis and Derozan be themselves. Hoping Huerter can put up twenty plus and Keon can get to ten off of the bench. This game can be won. The Kings will need to earn it even without Durant.
The NBA elders are ballin’ out this season.
KD is in his 17th season but playing like it’s his 7th. His absence in this game should be notable. He has clutch won well for PHX this season.
James Harden (35) seemed strong and able, Norman Powell (31) is having his best beginning.
Anthony Davis is a hard traveled 31 1/2 in his 12 seasons.
Lebron is a flat out freak of nature.
The Kings DeMar DeRozan is 35, in his 16th season, and is the Kings minutes and points leader. On the minutes side
DeRozan 340, Murray 339, Fox 333, Sabonis 330 out of 437 team minutes played.
Coach Mike Thibobrown has to figure this out. As for talent- I dunno, I saw Toronto, Portland, Lakers and the Clippers do more with less. Case in point: Davion started and balled: would he get many minutes on this roster? Jordan McLaughlin’s minutes (33 total, 5.5 mpg), most likely.
It’s a 3 Point League
On the upside: 1st in FT%. 5th in FG%. Imagine if in place of 29th (!) they were …
15th, middle of the middle. That would likely make them top one or two in FG%.
Such a fantasy is not reality. Ok.
Drive and kick and toss a brick
(that’s the reality)
The last time Suns played Sac, it was late in the season, (March 24.2023) and Kevin Huerter’s 29 points led them to a 135-127 win carried by a blowout 45-26 3rd Quarter.
I hope this version of Sacramento rises from the ashes today to snuff the Suns.
Light The Beam! Go Kings!
Hope the Kings show up and not the Kangz.
Badge Legend