After a Tuesday night loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, in which the Kings blew a lead that was up as high as nineteen points, Sacramento finds themselves traveling to San Jose to face off against the Golden State Warriors. The Dubs also had a game Tuesday night against a Los Angeles based NBA team, the difference being of course that they went up on a Clippers squad by as much fifty-three points, and won by final tally of forty-five. For a bit of perspective, the Sacramento Kings starters went into halftime of Tuesday night’s game against the Lakers up thirteen points. Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant by themselves went into halftime against the Clippers up ten. Maybe it’s a good thing that Thursday night’s game isn’t going to be televised!

When: Thursday, October 6th, 7:30pm, PST

Where: SAP Center, San Jose, CA

Television: Not available

Radio: KHTK Sports 1140

A Few Things to Watch for

To the Rooks for a Rebuttal: With the majority of the playing time in the first half going to players that are assumedly important members of the core rotation, Coach Dave Joerger opted to cede the second half to those a bit more on the fringe, and they responded by squandering a 13 point halftime and allowing Los Angeles a huge 64 point second half, including a 39 point fourth quarter. While the Kings themselves could only muster 32 points in the second half total, this is not entirely unexpected for a team with a new head coach, new offensive system and to top it off, three players seeing their first true NBA action. Rocky Balboa famously said, “it’s not about how hard you hit, but how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward”, and one of the best and worst things about the NBA is that there’s always another game right around the corner. It will be interesting to see which of the young guys adjusts to their first action of the season and comes into Thursday night’s game aggressive, but not out of control. With 87 games left, most of these players have time to show that they aren’t their flaws or what their first set of box score stats show them to be. There first opportunity to prove that will just have to be against a team that won 73 games last season and then added Kevin Durant for good measure.

What’s the Approach, Coach?: One of the more interesting things with Thursday night’s game will be how Coach Joerger decides to approach a game against a team like the Warriors. After a practice on Wednesday night in Irvine, Coach Joerger suggested that he wouldn’t be changing much of his approach to the preseason game against the Warriors saying “I’d like game prep and [to] plan for something more special than Game 2 of the preseason. You’re not going to change and make adjustments”. Translation: Kings fans might expect to find themselves seeing a repeat of Tuesday night’s game against the Lakers; starters and core members in the first half of the game, fringe guys and rookies in the second half. While, I’d like to see more of the rookies and fringe players getting mixed in with scorers and playmakers like Rudy Gay or DeMarcus Cousins, the fact remains that these guys are going to have to figure out how to score and defend at an NBA level, and not rely on others for their successes. If Coach Joerger sticks to the same minutes restrictions and talent staggering as Tuesday night, the will approach definitely add to the pressure on the young guys to come in and perform at a high level, especially against a squad as effective as the Warriors, because the alternative might just be getting blown out by sixty plus points.

Matchup of the Game:

The Sacramento Kings Starting Five vs. The Golden State Warriors defense:

One of the most encouraging things to come out of camp and preseason so far is the ball movement that comes out of Coach Joerger’s offense. Much has been made of DeMarcus Cousins gushing about it, but there is a stark contrast to what the Kings were able to do Tuesday night, versus how they looked almost all of last season under former coach George Karl. Putting up 31 points in the first quarter was encouraging, and being up 13 at half was a moral victory in a sense, but Thursday night’s game against the Warriors will be a whole other level of defense than what a young squad out of Los Angeles can bring. With the starting five and sixth man on the Warriors all being superb defenders, the Kings should really get a good test on how well they’re coming along with the new sets, and how well they can respond to a defense of this caliber. While Rudy Gay and DeMarcus combined for seven of the eight assists coming from the Kings’ starting five, DeMarcus also had three turnovers against the Lakers. If he can respond well to what the Warriors team gives him, and handle the ball with care, a game like this could do wonders for his confidence within the system he’s already said to love. Confidence takes time for teams, but having your All-Star center feel he’s operating in a system that can be successful against possibly the best defense in the NBA is a great building block towards the future.

Prediction:

The Golden State Warriors open the game with a three pointer from Kevin Durant, and then foul DeMarcus Cousins on a dunk attempt in which he misses the first, but hits the second. Coming back down on offense, Coach Steve Kerr notices the score, turns pale white, walks over to the lead official and score keeper and forfeits the game, mumbling to himself all the way back to the locker room: “Not again. Not again.”

Kings win.

Sacramento Kings 1, Golden State Warriors 3.