After a wild offensive burst ripped victory from the jaws of defeat in the wanning minutes of the game on Wednesday night in Minnesota, the 11th seeded Kings are back on the West coast and will have to go through a young but injured Blazers squad if they hope to get back to .500, and back into the playoff hunt. The Kings record is too lackluster, the team vibes too down to call this a trap game but… when I see a vulnerable, young team with injured vets on a days rest and after an emotionally turbulent victory… I see let down, I see disappointment, I feel a trap.
We’re all still nursing a tryptophan hangover today, so lets get through this one with some expediency today, shall we?
Let’s talk Kings basketball.
When: Friday, November 29th, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Moda Center, Portland, OR
TV: NBCSCA
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
A Win’s A Win: I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and go too hard on the Kings nearly blowing another game with a disaster of a quarter. It was a rare moment seeing the Kings on the other end of a seemingly unstoppable run, it exorcised a bit of the Wolves-Win-A-Close-One demon for us and it avoided a five game losing streak that might have really put a crack in the dam. The Kings performed when they absolutely, positively had to and for that I am (trying to simply be) thankful. My one side note here is that had the roles been in reverse, as they have a few times this season, and the Kings gave up a massive run to finish off the game and extend their losing streak, I’d expect Kings fans to boo as the fans in Minnesota did, I’d feel no ill will to them for doing so, and I’d expect the players, coaches and management to all understand why exactly they were booing.
On to tonight’s affairs: save for difference in coaching abilities, the Blazers are firmly on the Brooklyn Nets level of gamesmanship tonight and the Kings should treat them with a level of respect that they absolutely had no intention of giving the Nets last Sunday. There are no easy games for Kings right now – they haven’t won enough to earn that privilege. Is it fortuitous that Jerami Grant is doubtful with a bum knee? Absolutely. Sure, he had himself a wet fart of a game the last time the Kings and Blazers faced off, but with the Kings headspace so different from the last time around and their personnel a little banged up themselves, who knows when a 40 point game lurks from a Kings opponent? I’ll take the win there. Likewise with rookie block machine Donovan Clingan being out, with Matisse Thybulle and Robert Williams III being out, with the Murray twin himself being questionable. It’s too far into the season now to assume one really good game could finally get the Kings rolling, but an easy win is a win nonetheless and despite this being the Kings, there chances are still better with pieces being unavailable tonight.
Do not, however, feel anywhere close to comfortable tonight. Deandre Ayton always seems particularly irritated and specially motivated by Domantas Sabonis being in the building. The four starters outside of Ayton combined for a total of 30 points, but Scoot Henderson came off the bench early this month against the Kings and had 18-5-4 with relative ease. Likewise off the bench, Jabari Walker had 15 points, 6 rebounds in 19 minutes. Those starters struggled but Simons is a microwave and should be properly feared. Toumani Camara is known more for his defensive acumen, but anytime the Kings three point defense runs up against a guy that shoots 37.2% from deep and just doesn’t usually take a ton, I immediately flag him as a potential oops-I-scored-thirty candidate. Oh, speaking of oops, Shaedon Sharpe is back in action for the Blazers, leading them in scoring and highlight reel additions. He’s shooting 43% from the field and 30% from long range, and yet again, I get that burning feeling in my stomach that he’s one meeting with this Kings defense away from upping that number into respectable territory.
The Blazers are supposed to be bad and they’re only sort of bad. The Kings are supposed to be very good and they’re passable. Anything can happen in the NBA and given enough time, everything in the NBA will happen, but nothing that can or will happen to the Kings can or will surprise me at this point, so… guard your hearts and approach this game with caution.
Prediction
Kings struggle mightily to shake off their Thanksgiving meals through the first three quarters and then come alive in the fourth all thanks to a Keegan Murray slump busting fourth quarter outburst from deep.
Kings: 118, Timberwolves:107
The Blazers were right on our tail,
Pulling close as we started to fail.
The pundits predicted
Our future’s restricted.
Kings must win so their fans don’t bail!
+1 Extinguish the Blazers!
For anyone who may care, should the Kings win tonight they barely stay alive in the NBA Cup Tourney, but they will still need help from other teams later on and work on their point differential. Should they lose, they will be eliminated.
What is the prize or value in winning the Emirates Cup?
Homecourt advantage in a playoff series or something like that? I have not been following it.
$500,000 bonus for all players on the winning team, and an MVP award to add to a player’s accolades.
I wish it had Playoff incentives to make it even more worth winning such as being the ultimate tiebreaker.
Tiebreakers would go in this order:
1) NBA Emirates Cup Winner
2) head-to-head record
…etc
So if I’m fighting for the 7th seed to get out of the play-in but have a 3 way tie with 7th, 8th and 9th, My Emirates Cup winner status puts me at 7th even though 8th and 9th had a better head-to-head record than me or division/conference records..
I agree that it would be awesome if it had some real incentives.
I have always thought it was like soccer tournaments. A way to advertise more and to pay players. Mostly to get irrelevant teams in a “tournament” to create some fan following for a moment or two.
Totally agree having it as the default tiebreaker would be perfect. Enough of a boost that it would have serious playoff implications, but not anything that would render the rest of the season pointless in any way.
I follow the Blazers a lot this season, and this is a good preview.
To add to that; Simons is a hot/cold player. But if you give him too much space to get comfortable on the perimeter (not that is likely) he can really get hit and burn you. Banton is another hot/cold microwave scorer off the bench. Same for Sharpe, but more with drives than long distance shots. He has a bit of a loose handle and still lacks the savvy to fully utilize his skills, but his athleticism is on an eye popping level.
All three have a tendency to get tunnel vision. Especially Simons should be hunted defensively, because he’s really bad on that end of the floor.
Ayton is an annoying player. Doesn’t really set picks, avoids contact as much as possible but still can get 18 and 10 somehow.
Scoot is a pure PG but hasn’t really found a good way to harnass his skills (yet). He has a strong drive to the hoop and some craftiness, but is a work in progress.
Camara is their defensive bulldog, a tall player who is a real ballhawk. Started the season strong as a 3 and D player, but not hitting his shots lately.
Deni Avdija is the glue guy/connector of the team. A swiss army knife who cand defend position 2 to 5, he tries to push the ball up the floor and make the extra pass. The Blazers offense seems to flow a bit bett- eh less worse, when he gets into a flow.
With Clingan out and Time Lord doubtful, the Kings should be able to feast inside.
PDX has so many nice young pieces in Sharpe, Scoot, Clingan, Camara, and Avedji. That’s a solid young 5 right there. I have to think they’ll be selling off their vets by the deadline.
Blazers fans are clamoring for it, but they are not very complementary of their GM and owner….
So help me, if this is the second year in a row I see the Kings in person lose in Portland the day after a major holiday . . .
Enjoy and light that beam!
That is a fun place to see a game. I am jealous.
Lately, I don’t feel comfortable with any Kings game no matter who they are playing or how much rest anyone has had. Until DeRozan gets healthy, I don’t feel like we can regularly count on anyone other than Fox, Sabonis, and Monk scoring points. Keegan looks unsure on offense most of the time and Kevin looks downright terrified putting up pretty much anything. Keon at least regularly brings the D, but his shooting is the very definition of streaky.
The only things that give me hope are that before DeRozan starting having back troubles, he was a nightmare for defenses and Keegan has started out cold before and eventually got his shot back. I still think we can end up being somewhere around a 6 seed team, but I really hope Monte is active around the trade deadline if not before.
If Keon shoots as often as Huerter does he will be fine. He simply refuses to play offense. Odd because most new players refuse to play defense and discover that in the NBA they cannot score more than four a night.
Keep Huerter on the bench, give Monk 30-35 minutes every night, Keeg hits some 3s, Kangz win.
No DeRozan again. Still out with a sore back.
Brown must address the minute distribution and quick.
We have 4 players in the top 16 in minutes per game. Fox at 2, Keegan at 7, Domas at 15 and DDR at 16.
So we make up 25% of players logging the most minutes. Not good.
The Knicks only have 3 in the top 25 list. Brown is the new Thibs.
He has been gifted enough flexibility to maintain normal with the addition of Crowder. The problem is that normal is not good. With Monk back and Isaac playing some good minutes last night he should be able to spread the minutes amongst six or seven players. Last game he had three players over thirty minutes and three players over twenty minutes. Keegan is unfortunately a necessity to play. If we had another forward his production could easily be replaced if not improved.
I love the idea of Keegan busting free of his slump!
The Blazers are a team we need to be beat to maintain relevance and show that we are at least a .500 team. Hoping to see some more good contributions from the bench tonight. There was a very pleasant surprise in Isaac the other day.
Is Derozan down still?
Fox, Monk, Crowder, Keegan, and Sabonis
Or hopefully Fox, Monk, Derozan, Keegan, and Sabonis.
It’s Black Friday – can Sacramento ring up a win without discounting an injured young Portland too much?
Two teams who’ve lost 4 of their last 5, so who knows?
I see a lot of pre-Mike Brown Kings in this Blazers team. Younger guys trying to find their place in the League, learning to be selfish so they can show their skills and value, because you are not realistically playing for worthwhile wins: they are not headed to the playoffs but are lottery bound which is a conflicted goal – you don’t want to lose yet winning doesn’t really help you. Your best players are constantly mentioned in trade rumors (and other teams are raid tombers).
They will try and raise the hot hand: Chauncy Billups is like a former Laker now coach: Coach Luke Walton. Coach Byron Scott, Coach Kurt Rambis (no Pat Rileys). He’s fine, but forgettable. DeAndre Ayton is Miami Heat Hassan Whiteside (gets his stats but never really has his head in the game for very long). They were smart to grab Clingan, who looks good, IMO. Simons, Sharpe are going to shoot to score for their next contract. Billups has his 7 highest use players between 26.5-32.1 minutes. Simons leads them in scoring with 16.5 ppg.
It’s a 3 Point League:
Portland is one of the few teams that has Sacramento-like 3 point shooting (34.9 to Kings 34.8 3FG%) and both around 35 3PA/game. Good thing those glass backboards are reinforced. 19 of those 35 3PA are by Simons (30.4), Sharpe (31.7) and Grant 34.8).
My biggest hope for tonight is a delicious helping of rewarmed leftover beam.
Light that Beam! Go Kings!
Put some extra gravy on the left over beam. Not as dry as a left over.
wanning minutes…
Kings: 118, Timberwolves:107…
Anything else?
Definitely didn’t expect the Hawks to beat the Cavs twice in a row, and this time in convincing fashion! Makes me feel a little less upset about our recent close loss to ATL.
Am I trippin or are Isaac Jones and Jae Crowder exactly what this team needs?
Isaac Jones is awesome!!
Definitely a Kangzgiving u were right about that. Why would you start any of the guys you signed and developed through camp and beginning of season when you can sign a washed vet and have him jump the line. Basically saying a rando washed vet is better than all the guys I kept on the roster even though I had the whole offseason and camp to bring in any washed vet I wanted. At least that washed vet would’ve been acclimated. But ya a washed unacclimated vet is better than everone on your roster and should start that makes sense.
MB is currently on the level of all the trash coaches I have seen come through here since Adelman. Do him and Monte even talk at all about building a roster together because they couldn’t seem to be less on the same page? MB sees vets as the answer everytime, zero development given to guys trying to make a name for themselves. Makes this franchise look like a joke. I saved this rant because they barely won last game but gimme a break this is insanity.
I will say one thing, Crowder has been known for the one thing Sac has absolutely none of: Toughness. People on here who think Domas is tough are blind. He’s big and strong, plays hard but not tough at all. By which I mean offensively agressive or clutch or nasty. He hesitates and shrinks in big moments. Exact opposite of tough This roster is 100% SOFT! Has been our biggest problem for years. Bring in some nasty bad ass dudes who get after it, especially defensively.
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