At this point, I have to convince myself that the Sacramento Kings played a game last night. Winning the game meant nothing for either team; the Wolves' only concern was further experience for their young talented core, and the Kings… well they're better off losing. The Wolves now have gone 4-0 against the Kings this season, probably single-handedly ensuring that the Kings keep their lottery pick this season.
The Wolves held a lead for most of the game, with the Kings offering limited challenges to the result. Darren Collison led the charge for the Kings with 19 points on 12 shots, continuing to put a stamp on a successful individual season for him. Willie Cauley-Stein also had a really good game against his former college teammate with 15 points on 12 shots. He continues to prove that he is far more offensively advanced than scouts gave him credit for. It is a great sign for his future that he doesn't need to develop new skills from scratch, rather just polish the skills he has and gain some experience to deploy those skills more effectively. Future is bright for him.
On the other hand, Rudy Gay had another miserable night. Gay has struggled mightily against Andrew Wiggins and the Wolves this season. Wiggins is like a younger version of Rudy, a super-athletic pogo stick with supreme to-the-basket skills who will surpass him in the near future if he hasn't done so already. It was painful to watch Rudy try to create in isolation over and over again against Wiggins' length and speed. Gay ended the game with only 13 points on 15 shots, with 5 turnovers to boot.
For the Wolves, Gorgui Dieng continues to give the Kings problems because the Kings simply refused to guard him. Dieng is a polished big man with a decent offensive game, which makes it a mystery why the Kings would leave him so open to shoot so often. He mixed it up inside as well, grabbing five offensive rebounds and finishing contested looks in the paint. To the chagrin of Jerry Reynolds and delight of Grant Napear, Nemanja Bjelica came off the bench and bombed the Kings from deep. The Kings have in particular struggled to defend stretch fours for a long time, so that wasn't all that surprising.
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