The Kings and Warriors face off tonight in the final game of their regular season series, and one that could decide playoff status for both teams.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Thursday, March 13th, 7:00 PM PT
Where: Chase Center, San Francisco, CA
TV: TNT, NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
Luka Doncic to the Lakers dominated headlines during the trade deadline, but the Warriors acquiring Jimmy Butler without really having to give up too much might have been the most impactful. Golden State has lost just one game in which Jimmy Butler has played, and just two overall since acquiring Butler. Golden State has the NBA’s 3rd best defensive rating and 5th best offensive rating during that stretch, with the 2nd best net rating only to the Cleveland Cavaliers (currently on a 15 game win streak). Butler has fit in like a glove, giving the Warriors a supercharged version of what they had from Andrew Wiggins, and they’ve been doing all of this without Jonathan Kuminga as well, who just so happens to be coming back from injury tonight against the Kings. And that’s to say nothing of how rejuvenated Stephen Curry looks, as he’s been averaging 29.5 points a game over the last 10 games, including a 56 point performance on the road against Orlando.
The Kings faced the Warriors once so far without Butler, and it was one of the roughest games of the season, as the Kings were blown out 132-108 on their home floor with the Warriors winning every single quarter. Golden State shot 53.8% from the field in that game, including 20-43 from distance. The Kings got 34 points from DeMar DeRozan, but the game was so bad DeRozan was visibly frustrated during the game and Doug Christie held a meeting with his starters after the game, demanding more from them. The Kings responded by winning four straight, but their last few games have been rough. The games against the Nuggets and Clippers both came down to the wire, and both times saw the Kings end up on the short end of the stick. Then the Knicks came into Sacramento and handed the Kings another brutal home loss, 133-104.
This recent stretch has seen the Kings go from being within a hands grabs of the 6th seed to 3.5 games back with not much runway left. The Kings have one of the most difficult stretches remaining. If the Kings want any hope of getting to that 6th seed, a win tonight against the Warriors is almost mandatory, as it would give the Kings the season series and also narrow the gap to a manageable 2.5. It’d still be a long shot but a loss tonight would basically evaporate all hope of the Kings getting into the playoffs without having to navigate the Play-In.
There’s no word from the Kings as of yet on Domantas Sabonis’ status for tonight’s game. Sabonis has missed the last five games (and basically 6 since he got injured so early against Houston), and while Jonas Valanciunas has filled in admirably, he’s not on Sabonis’ level offensively and the Kings have clearly missed having such a key cog of their offense. Getting Sabonis back tonight would be a boon, but hamstrings can be fickle so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Kings continue to play this cautiously. We’ll see if Jake LaRavia is able to play as well as he missed Monday’s game with a sore knee.
Hopefully the Kings head into Golden State with some fire and energy, wanting to get both the bad taste of the Knicks game and the last time they faced the Warriors out of their mouth. Golden State is playing about as well as anyone in the league right now and once again looks like a potential contender. The Kings will need to bring their A-game and then some to come out on top.
Prediction
It’s another Kings-Warriors thriller on national TV.
Kings 141, Warriors 139 2OT
Not feeling optimistic about this one. Prove me wrong! Go Kings!
I am expecting to turn this game off at halftime due to the Kings being down 20. I hope they prove me wrong, because beating the Warriors is truly of the best things as a Kings fan.
Going in we’ve had two days to rest,
But with Jimmy they’ve been at their best.
Last time the Dubs faced us
They swarmed and debased us.
This time we must play with more zest!
Color the Bay fog purple!
&ct=g
The other Jimi! (one gets buckets, the other has kicked one)
If Otis Redding was at the Bay, sitting, and Hendrix on a different pier, would that be a paradox?
Those curtains are freaking me out, man.
Go Kings?
We gonna get Bob Myers again? Ugh.
Hopefully only in the pregame and halftime(which I think he’s okay at) and not on the broadcast itself. I prefer Richard Jefferson.
Or neither. Just saw Klam’s comment below. Get the TNT gang.
On the plus side, don’t have to hear all 4 of Mark Jones’ Kings stories again.
Deuce Mason posted on the 12th…
That’s a good group.
Harlan makes “Monk bringing the ball past midcourt” sound like SuperBowl game winning TD and Game 7 World Series walkoff grand slam all rolled into one. Always shouting
Slight correction to the article: I believe the game will be televised on TNT, not ESPN.
I have B/R sports with Max at the moment, so I can tune in to tonight’s game. Regardless of the end result, I hope it’s a good, entertaining game that isn’t a Golden State blowout.
Thank you! Updated.
Latest injury report has LaRavia now listed as Active. Sabonis is still listed as Questionable, and Lyles is also questionable.
LaRavia questionable too.
Lyles has been questionable all year. Injury or no.
Anyone upgraded?
Dubs win. Kings lose. And we get Kaytesplained about what we don’t understand.
Oh wait – TNT. One less thing!
And don’t have to hear how Jae Crowder was introducing the rookies to the refs
Got a professional basketball broadcasting team tonite . Yeah !
I hate reading it, I hate hearing it, but in this case, it feels right.
I feel like tonight’s game will say a lot about what this team actually is.
The broadcast
teamthough, I already know what they are.I dislike the Warriors as much as the rest of you, but boy do I admire their ability to stay relevant and competitive. In Curry’s 16 seasons they’ve been finished below .500 just 4 times. During Curry’s first 3 years and another when he played just 5 games on the season. They restructured the roster with the likes of Bogut, Iggy, Durant, Russell, Wiggins, and now Butler and are still a very good basket ball team. They’ve know when to cut bait, make trades, and sell off picks all to keep Curry’s window open. I feel like by the time they are done, the Kings will have been the snotty little step bother to them for damn near a generation. It truly is impressive.
On a related note, just read an article about the worst ROY winners over the last 40 years that included this:
I remember wanting us to draft Curry really badly that year, but then thinking we actually got the better player when Tyreke had his 20-5-5 ROY year. My first instinct was right, I guess.
This didn’t help
It was El Pistola that was the desired one, IIRC.
That was some wonderful backcourt draft. Evans, Steph, Jrue, Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, Jeff Teague. Add James Harden if you want. And that’s just the Point Guards.
LOL, sorry. Yeah that draft has made me later want to reach for some draughts. Not to mention the draft two years later when we took Jimmer Fredette over Klay Thompson (and Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler). The Kings’ draft selections in that era really helped make other teams better, particularly GSW.
I gotta say, that 20-5-5 season was pretty magical. I, for one, was on cloud nine thinking we had the next superstar on the roster. Oh well…
(heard from a local radio host)
Yeah, Reke was fools gold for us foolish fans, and probably should’ve been a NASCAR driver instead of a professional basketball player. The ship had really started to steer in the wrong direction towards the end of the Petrie era.
That’s what a good GM and ownership does. Ours, not so much.
That was Petrie. If we hadn’t gone Reke, probably would have gone Flynn or maybe Rubio. Could’ve been worse. Could’ve picked Thabeet 2nd.
Kobe summed-up the Tyreek rookie experience with his “that’s a grown-ass man” comment. He was just so physically advanced, while Curry showed flashes, but was still too frail, and struggled with injuries his first few years. That actually helped give GS a head start on team building, because Curry didn’t merit the max on his first non-rookie-scale contract, while they kept drafting in the lottery. I thought at the time they should have been Co-Roy, but the NBA is seemingly morally adverse. It made perfect sense then, and today, it’s more like a travesty that Curry got no piece of that trophy. Basically, all NBA awards are based on tragically misguided criteria anyway, imo.
635 million the last couple of years is wild.
I agree. It proves having that true 1A/Batman/MVP, whatever you want to call it, makes everything easier.
Having that guy makes filling in players around him less difficult and it does not have to be a perfect fit all the time there is room for error, a bad draft pick or free agent signing or bad trade is not a complete disaster than ruins your franchise.
I’m 100% of the belief that for the Kings to get that 1A/Batman/MVP type player, it’s gonna have to be through the draft. I don’t feel it’s going to happen through trades and definitely not through free agency.
Part of me still thinks Sabonis could approach that level, but he’s gonna need perfect pieces around him and right now we are far from that.
Yep get very lucky through the draft or get very lucky with a trade on a young guy who turns into the true 1A ala OKC with SGA.
I suppose there is a slight chance with Domas still but IMO we are past that point with him. If he going to be that guy I think we would know it by now.
The Kings blew their chance at that guy with Bagley over Luka. Who knows when that chance will come again. There are not many of them IMO like maybe 5-7 of those guys at any given time.
Totally agree, and with no pick this year and a capped out offseason we are in for more the same next year.
I’m at a weird point with this season.
When actively watching I can’t help but want them to do well and win. With my heart, I hope somehow they can get to an actual series and it could happen.
But with my brain I know even if somehow they manage to get a series they might not win a game. So maybe it’s better they flameout and keep their pick and maybe get very lucky.
And if they do flameout then maybe they don’t keep DC who I think has done an amazing job given the circumstances he has been thrown in to. IMO he has earned more time.
So weird times….
I completely feel you. I still want them to win. We are fans after all, but part of me wants them to completely tailspin for benefit of the long game of the franchise. What I absolutely do not want is continued mediocrity that leaves us all wringing our hands together every year.
Sabonis 1A!? lol!!! Will NEVER happen.
Boooooooooooo
DDR vs Butler. Who wins senior meet?
A guy who is a ball stopper. Or a guy who
lead a mediocre team to 2 Finals and 3 EcF in just the last 5 years alone. Hard decision. Kings will
be lucky to get to the playin. The other Will at a minimum lead the Dubs to at least another WCF.
OT: Now it’s official, Fox fixing that pinkie up.
Smart move.
Absolutely. That thing was looking gnarly.
He can still give the Kings the finger
Makes sense. Going down the rabbit hole it makes me wonder if this conclusion couldn’t have been drawn while he was in Sac. I also wonder if the Spurs even make the trade had they known Wemby would be shelved for the foreseeable future.
Domas out tonight.
Soft
They brought Skal back up from Stockton after sending him down yesterday. He played 29 minutes in their game last night.
Skal’s 10-day contract expires soon so they’ll have to make another move to stay at the minimum roster size.
From what I understand, they actually have to add someone to the permanent roster because 2-ways and 10-days can’t be on the team come play-in and playoffs (Ha! if that’s even happening).
Incoming scheduled back to back losses. Keeping my expectations low.
It will either be utter doom or all our problems will be solved!
Lol! This for sure Spackler!
I like the Kings chances tonight. I’m expecting a bounce-back performance.
Go Kings! Fuck whining inefficient Luka!
Luka is a Laker and the GSW are revived again. National media must be wetting their pants.
They’ve set this national TV game up as a celebration for the Warriors. “Steph hits 4000th career 3 in blowout win on home floor.” What could be a better feel good story than that?
That’s why I want nothing more tonight than to watch the Kings piss all over this parade. They’re down now, but there’s plenty of time. Get back in this one, boys, keep fighting.
Take. Their. Joy.
Those drinks are strong. Bad hangover for you tomorrow. Kings are not even in the same planet.
Curry and Jimmy combine for 17.
Kings got waxed. In a complete and utter blowout.
Keep on loving that Lavine 50 million
and Ball stopping Demar. They will provide plenty of nice highlight reels and plenty of losing.
Kings don’t have the culture. Talent, ownership or management to take any contenders joy. That’s real talk.
Playoff Jimmy and Curry combine for 17. Kings get obliterated.
Comically bad.
The best part. Kings get 2 more years of Curry and Jimmy.
Monte, How is that Chicago reunion feeling? Better yet. That 50 million albatross called Lavine. lol!!!!
Badge Legend