Well this week has sucked. First the Kings end a good road trip with a loss, then they come back home and lose to the worst team in the league in embarrassing fashion. Then they fail to make any move at the deadline aside from acquiring some extra pocket change. Thankfully, they can turn things around starting tonight at home … against the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Great.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Friday, February 9th, 7:00 PM PT
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Last Time
The Kings actually have a 1-0 record against the Nuggets this season, beating Denver 123-17 at the start of December. The Kings had a huge 2nd quarter, outscoring the Nuggets 39-20 in that period. De’Aaron Fox had 26 points and a season-high 16 assists, and Malik Monk added 26 points of his own off the bench. The Nuggets were without Jamal Murray, but Nikola Jokic played and had a big triple-double with 26 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds as Denver’s comeback fell short.
Three in the Key
Renewed Focus
Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, perhaps the Kings will be a little bit more comfortable and themselves knowing that they aren’t at risk of being shipped off. Like it or not, these are your Sacramento Kings the rest of the way. Wednesday’s effort against the Pistons was absolutely inexcusable, and Mike Brown and several players said as much after the game. For whatever reason, these Kings tend to play down to their level of competition like they can afford to coast for large stretches even when they’ve proven time and time again that they can’t. Thankfully there opponent tonight won’t require them to stretch their imagination in terms of quality because the Nuggets are about as good as it gets, and they’re fully healthy this time. This is the first of two games the Kings will play against Denver over the next week leading into the All-Star break. The Kings need to get at least one, especially considering they’ll be facing Oklahoma City and Phoenix on the road in between. This could be an 0-4 stretch if the Kings aren’t careful, and given how tight the Western Conference playoff race is, that’d be disastrous.
Stop the Supporting Cast
Nikola Jokic is going to kill the Kings tonight, that’s inevitable. He’s too big, he’s too skilled and he is going to get his. We are amazed each night at what Domantas Sabonis does, and Jokic is somehow even better. The key will be making sure he doesn’t get a ton of help. The Nuggets are a deep team with a great supporting cast, particularly Jamal Murray. The Kings can’t afford to have Jokic go off AND guys like Murray, Michael Porter Jr. or Aaron Gordon. It will be a long night if they do.
I will not be there
Perhaps the biggest key to Kings victory is the fact that I will not be in attendance. For some reason my presence this season is akin to the clock turning to midnight and the team turning into a pumpkin. I attended both the Charlotte and Detroit losses, the Clippers beatdown, and my sole victory wasn’t even in regulation as the Kings struggled to beat a Portland team at home in overtime. I’ll be in attendance against Houston and New York in March. I apologize in advance.
Prediction
I don’t know man, we just lost to the damn Pistons. But the Kings don’t do typical so we’ll probably win by 50 or something stupid.
Kings 154, Nuggets 99
My post trade deadline wish is to see Mike Brown play with lineups more. One thing I’d like to see is Harrison trade places with Lyles. We need to find a way to optimize our lineups better if we’re going to find improvements.
I thought to myself this morning if we’d see some different rotations and minutes from guys now that it’s post deadline. If someone like Mitchell doesn’t play or they stop feeding Barnes in the post, does that give some credence to teams “showcasing” players prior to the deadline? For instance, it would be telling if Keon Ellis starts getting all the minutes over Mitchell.
I am not sure Brown even knows what he’s going to do with rotations.
Most overrated CotY imo…he was the coach that got the kings over the hump of the drought but I don’t think it was because of any great coaching thing he did, just finally had a lot more talent then previous teams. I feel he does a terrible job with rotations, don’t see many solid adjustments, and is absolutely atrocious with his challenges…
This just in: Keon Ellis signed to a 3 year deal. Possible to see an uptick in minutes if they’re giving him this vote of confidence midseason.
Then maybe there IS something to the theory?
I don’t disagree with the sentiment; but I have a hard time seeing it come to fruition after the contract they gave Barnes. I suspect next year they will push to have Barnes take a bench role and try to bring in another starting-caliber forward – and I would be all for that!
In reality they have no ability to bring in a starting caliber forward. The only players likely available for trade are Barnes, Huerter, Lyles, Sasha, Mitchell and Jones. Any combo of those guys isn’t going to bring in much unless you kill the depth by trading away both Barnes and Huerter. If they miss the playoffs and retain their 2024 pick, they won’t have the ability to trade any future picks until 2028.
IMO, making the playoffs is a must in order to convey the pick to ATL and free up future assets. Only then can the Kings add some significant draft capitol to trades and bring in a starting caliber player. And no, if the Kings miss the 2024 playoffs, this year’s late lottery pick is not worth much as the draft is considered incredibly weak. It also can’t be traded until the pick is made.
Offseason will be do or die time for Monte
I say this but I really don’t want Monte to go anywhere. I am a bit envious of the Spurs and Heat front office/coaches who have remained staples for years and years. It would be nice to have continuity, if only it would come with positive consistency.
Monte is NOT the problem, he is who accumulated the talent to get us over the playoff drought
This 100% needs to happen and it’s not a knock on Barnes, it’s actually to get him more looks imo. He is behind Fox, Huerter, Murray and Sabonis for touches/looks in that starting group rightfully so. We need a guy like Lyles that is better imo defensively and rebounding but still competent at spacing the floor in the starting group. Then Barnes can come in with Monk and co but as a top 3 option with the second unit.
Fully agree. Not a Barnes knock. Just perhaps takes pressure of Monk to contribute heavily from the bench every night. I’m sure the defensive focus is on Monk when the bench is in, with the lack of threats around him.
bingo. It simply balances the groups out and it’s a shame that MB either can’t see it or doesn’t have the stones to make the call.
Totally agree with Lyles as a starter and Barnes as a major bench contributer . Still waiting on the improved Defense we were sold .
The Nuggets again are top tier.
It’s good that that this contest is here.
A Kings win would be sweet
With a game that’s complete.
Give us Kings fans a reason to cheer!
+1 Sink Denver!
I expect the Kings to come out firing on all cylinders tonight. The “f-you to the people that thought change was needed” game. (I was one of those people, and will gladly take the middle finger if it means they start playing better).
Could be the Kings had the yips in the Detroit game not knowing the potential future of their teammates. With the dust settled and everyone sticking around. maybe they starting hitting a positive stride
Honestly, I think their bodies may have just been telling them it was time for bed, not tipoff. They’d spent almost the entire month prior on the road. Hit the road Jan. 8th, came back for about a week in the middle, and then came back for this game on Feb. 7.
Combine that with the trade deadline looming, and, well, no excuse to lose at home to the Pistons, but these guys are human, even if they’re superhuman athletes, so it really doesn’t surprise me (especially with their track record of struggling in such situations this year).
Lookit who’s bottom of the list
Hoping the Denver trend continues. Jamal Murray may have something to say about it this time around.
Time for another 4 game win streak, starting tonight
There has to be a stronger more intense word for disappointed. My head exploded Weds night. At this point of the season, we don’t need the same lineup every night. Look at the schedule, so who we are playing, then match up with that team and their line up the best way we can.
Sometimes we’re a bad match up for the opponent, but more times than others, they’re a bad match up for us. If this is the team we’re riding with, then we have to get creative or we’re going to continue to get blasted…by a team like the f*cking Pistons.
Match ups I like/find interesting:
Michael Malone vs. Mike Brown
Jamal Murray vs. De’Aaron Fox
Michael Porter Jr. vs. Keegan Murray
Reggie Jackson vs. Malik Monk
DeAndre Jordan vs. JaVale McGee/Alex Len
Tougher parts of the match up:
Jokic vs. Domas
Kentavious vs. Kevin
Aaron Gordon vs. Harrison Barnes
Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther vs. Trey Lyles, Chris Duarte, Sasha Vezenkov
Justin Holiday revenge game?
I was present for the December W. I’m here right now. We got this.
Go Kings!
Go 9ers!
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