The Sacramento Kings are back in action tonight and after being gifted three days rest for being one of the worst teams in the NBA Cup this year. They’ll be looking to take advantage of the time off and prove they can beat the Pelicans at least once in a season. Are the Pelicans down a million key role players? Sure. Have they lost 17 of their last 19 games? Absolutely. Can they still beat this Sacramento Kings squad? You bet your sweet ass they can.
Let’s talk Kings basketball.
When: Thursday, December 12th, 5:00 PM PST
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
TV: NBCSCA
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
New Orleans Nuisance: Alright we’ll start right here, right in the thick of it, because I’m a little nervous that a win against the Wemby-less Spurs and against a 5 win Jazz squad have got a good number of us feeling a certain kind of way. Yes, the Pelican’s squad is missing Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Jose Alvarado and some other bench pieces and yes, of course, they’re sporting the worst record in the West currently. But this is still the Kings squad that was desperate for help, that we were all chomping at the bit to make changes for, that dropped a bundle of anxiety on our shoulders just 11 days ago after losing six of seven games. The win in Houston was a good solid win, the loss in Memphis was more of the same we saw in November and these last two 140+ point victories have been nice, but ultimately rather hollow. I’ll gladly take the W’s, but lets remember a bit of the context here before walking right into the trappiest trap game of the year. Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III are more than enough to match the Kings this evening. It’s more than enough shooting, enough playmaking and enough defensive ability to pull out a victory against a Kings squad that’s spent countless years underestimating opponents, allowing wiggle room where there shouldn’t been and ultimately getting beat by those inferior teams. I hate that writing (and reading) previews this season has been a bit of Sisyphean task, in that I get behind this keyboard, warn about the opposing opponent being better than the general consensus and then watch the Kings give up a winnable game to them, while some wonder how it could go wrong. This Kings squad has not impressed upon me that they’re changed and are fully out of the woods and headed in the right direction.
Strangely enough, a win against the team with the worst record in the West will do more for me than the last two teams they’ve played. Call it PTSD from last season if you like, tell me I’m ignoring the stats or haven’t watched enough of the Pels to full understand how bad they are, but know, I do NOT trust the Kings much more than I fear the Pelicans. CJ McCollum might be shooting 31.4% from deep this season, but he hasn’t met a Kings three point defense that has absolutely bled points from deep all season long. Much coveted wing Herb Jones is sitting at 29% from deep and if he hits 8 threes tonight, will you really protest or call it an outlier? Same goes for Trey Murphy, whose averaging a career high 18.0 points per game, or Brandon Boston Jr. who is currently giving really good minutes off the bench in an expanded role. The Pelicans attempt the third least amount of threes and shoot them at the fifth worst percentage at 32.7% and how much would you bet tonight that the Kings hold them within 3% of that, or 5% or, hell, 10%? They’re the lowest scoring team in the NBA at 105 points a contest, is three days of rest and practice, combined with winning three out of the last four, enough to give the Kings the wherewithal to actually hold New Orleans to that?
It’s obvious (and I’m sure obnoxious) that I have far more questions than answers or analysis at this point with the Kings. With three days of practice, shoring up the things they’ve had to adjust on the fly to start this season, I can’t imagine that anything bad can come from that time off. But then, I don’t have to imagine. Last time the Kings had three days off, they came out the very next game and scored 29 in a half against the Clippers. Yes, it’s true that the Pelicans aren’t the Clippers. But, what remains to be seen, the real clincher here will be: how much of these Kings today are still those Kings from just 20 days ago?
Prediction
Ticker tape parades, people crying in the streets, cats and dogs living in harmony. The Kings beat the Pelicans AND go on their first three game win streak since the end of October.
Kings: 130, Pelicans: 119
Absolutely no excuses to lose to a team with 5 wins that has hammered with injuries while also come off three days of rest. Go out and take care of business and put this game away early and get back to .500.
CJ is gong to go off for 50, isn’t he?
He has always seemed to crush the Kings, even as a Trailblazer.
Lol, I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened.
jesus, what an ugly stat to be on the wrong end of.
Beat the Pels to get us to even.
Win this game to start us believin’.
A three game win streak—
As a streak, kinda meek—
A small step toward what needs achievin’!
Beat the Pels and…
&ct=g
This team would have lost to the Pelicans at least 19 out of 20 times last season. I have *no* idea what to think about this game, but there’s pretty much no outcome that would surprise me.
(I love Ernie Hudson back there not even being in character and just enjoying the moment.)
Love that movie
We just gotta shoot with confidence and out-hustle them possession, after possession, after possession, after possession, after possession, after possession, after possession.
Kings next 10 games:
@ NOP
v Den
v LAL
v LAL
v Ind
v Det
@ LAL
v Dal
v Phi
v Mem
EVERY. SINGLE. GAME. is winnable.
This is a fair sample size of what the league will throw at the Kings for the rest of the season. These are the teams they have to be able to beat – ESPECIALLY AT HOME!
These next 10 games will show us who they really are. Take care of business.
Sadly, I see them going 5-5 during those 10 games.
Lakers vs. Kings are usually close fought games.
Denver puts up a fight.
Dallas is tough
Memphis probably comes out better than last game
7-3 should be the expectation for a team that is a temporarily embarrassed contender.
5-5 or worse may be who they are.
Yes, the expectation should be high for a team that says their goal is playoffs and more.
However, that has seemed more like lip service. I could see them being 5-5 or worse during that stretch. They haven’t proven anything otherwise this season.
This is a 500 team IMO. They will win a couple of those 10 that are unexpected and lose a couple that are unexpected and end up right around 500 for the stretch.
they’ve been just a hair over 500 for a season and a third straight now.
No Dingedram. No Big Eatsy. Let’s do this.
The TRAPPIEST of trap games, well said.
I offer 2 hard truths and one opinion:
The Kings absolutely should win this game with a (mostly) healthy roster.
Fans have every reason to expect them to lose tonight.
Its ridiculous that this core has had an air of “there’s plenty of time” or “we’re better than that” without actually showing they can step up to the plate when it matters for the better part of 2 years. Even if the Pels were healthy, beating them tonight doesn’t matter. They, of course, need to. But its not this one, its the next meeting. And the next one. The goal should be laying this team in a hole tonight and shoveling dirt on them every time they meet moving forward. Same with the Dubs, the Lakers, and whoever else wants to get smacked.
I feel like we’re too busy trying to make nice and have dinner with the other team afterward. While Domas shows up with a busted lip and a black eye offering wine selections. NO, bro. Bust that bottle over their head and yell at De’Aaron for not swinging on ’em. Fkn nice guys don’t win titles…
I miss the days when players weren’t all nice with the other team/players (save that for the offseason).
Me too!
time to flip the script against the Pels. it’s not just the 6 games from last year. How many times has CJ McCollum beaten a Fox-led Kings team? Dejounte Murray was on the Spurs team that embarrassed the Kings in the bubble and was on Hawks when he punked Fox in the 4th, stealing his cornbread and elbowing him in the gut before getting the winning bucket. Trey Murphy seemed to gloat about his slight advantage in height and length over Keegan last year. He just likes to walk over to Keegan and stand next to him and look down on him.
You know that the Pelicans will be extra up for this game. They are having a miserable season and nothing would make them happier than getting to play our Sacramento Kings. They have been looking forward to this game, to get some light on this darkened season.
Yves of destruction: Cameroonian, and former Baylor Bear was the 21st pick (KIngs had 12th) and is leading the French Quarter fighters in both rebounds and blocks. Nice to see a rookie come in and make noise.
Their top scorer and assister is out tonight: Brandon Ingram, so there is that.
It’s a 3 Point League:
Pels will be without their two top 3FG% leaders: Ingram (37.4%) and Jose Alvarado (40%) which is also 12 of their 33 3PA. All signs point to lower percentages and less attempts. And yet, as Will points out – we can only expect more and greater. Sigh.
With the last game’s 3 point barrage – the Kings now have moved to 21st in 3 Point percentage at a breath a little easier level of 34.6% and 24th in 3PA. Will Kevin Huerter continue to raise his and the team’s averages off the bench tonight? Will Dougie McBuckets get Smoothie King applause for another dynamite outing? Will Colby Jones seem another 17 minutes of playing time and cause me to gnash my fingers to permanent disfigurement?
As the 3FG% has ticked up, the FT% has notched down. Still a very nice 79.5% (7th in the League), it was pretty rockin’ when it was 84.5% not too long ago. Most importantly, the starters are all at 80% or better (Fox is 79.7%, ok to round up here).
Quell the Pels! A win tonight… and .500 ball! 13-13 and tomorrow is Friday the 13th! Win it for Jason! The Kings will be >.500 away (7-6, home is 6-7)
Light that Beam! Go Kings!
The simple truth is, the 4 core of CJ, Murray, Murphy III, and Herb can beat any team on any given night. Kings are going to need to crash the glass and feed Sabonis because the Pels have no one who can stop him. I’d love to see him take 20+ shots tonight and get to the line a bunch.
I expect the Kings to lose this game. I want them to win, but I am doubtful.
I feel the Kings will win, but the Pels will still shoot above their average from 3.
Kangz PTSD is a real thing. Even against opponents with terrible records, we hope for the best but half-expect (and frequently get) the worst.
I think pessimism is not only expected, but warranted. Few teams in professional sports have been as bad as the Kings over the past 20 years.
Now compare that to Lakers or Warriors fans over the past 15+ seasons, and they go into damn near every game expecting a win. Most losses are met with shock, whereas we Kings fans have gotten used to shrugging off a trap game loss. Hell, Lakers fans expect an NBA title at minimum once every 10 years, where we’d do cartwheels over one playoff series win over the last 20 years.
I’m still waiting to do my cartwheel. Sigh
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