Don't ask me questions about him. Ask me questions about someone who is going to be a factor in NBA Live 2012.
THE OPPONENT

THE KEY BATTLE

Jason Thompson vs. Jeff Green. Uncle Jeff torched the Kings in the opener, scoring 24 points on 9-13 shooting, including 4-5 from three-point territory. Brutal. (Not brutale.) But that was, of course, when Sean May was Thompson's partner in crime. Thompson suffered from foul trouble, playing only 30 minutes and taking only four FGAs. He finished with a respectable 11/9, but when the opposing frontcourt (bringing Nenad Krstic into this) finishes with 44 points and 14 rebounds, that ain't going to cut it. Given that Durant has become otherworldly (in other words, pencil in 20 and hope he only overshoots that by 50 percent) and Westbrook is dangerous with the pass and the drive (and the drive-and-pass), letting Green explode is trouble.

THE KEY BATTLE PART 2

The Kings bench needs to obliterate the Thunder bench. It's a race against time for Donte Greene's other shoe (when's it gonna drop?), but some combination of Greene and Omri Casspi should be able to break through to double-digits. The Thunder have two legit perimeter stoppers in Westbrook and Sefolosha, so thinking that the starting five for Sacramento can whip the Thunder's first line is overly optimistic. It's likely the Bench Mob will have to lead a comeback, one which is hopefully small.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

I mentioned this in the Sunday night recap, but it bears repeating: if the Kings win, they will be .500 for the first time since Dec. 4, 2006. Almost three years of nothing but losing records. No one expects the Kings to finish this year at .500 — heck, those tossing out 30-win predictions have been called Pollyannas. But it's a minor measure of improvement we can all embrace. To .500! Huzzah!

KINGS TALK

DETAILS

This will be a 7PM start. We didn't make it to NBA TV, but there will be other opportunities. Have faith. CSN and KHTK will have the game. Game thread at 7, post-game thread at 9:45, recap on the 11th day of Christmas.