Alright, so here's the new adjusted plan: Win the 'ship this year and then just tank next season to #EatDog****For Emoni and then form a new super dynasty where we win every single game that matters for the next decade.
Having suffered a humiliating defeat against the Raptors the last time around, the Kings came out of the gates aggressive and largely picking up where the Orlando game left off. Then the fourth quarter got really weird, a random two-way player from one of the least basketball-focused countries in the world played like Kawhi, De'Aaron played on a bad knee for most of the quarter, Luke made defensive substitutions that actually made the defense worse down the stretch, the refs were horrific, and Tyrese had a clutch dagger to give us the win.
And so here we are. Three in a row and in Miami! #FreeBam!
***
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Yuta "Japanese Kobe" Watanabe. It does me proud to see my fellow countryman look like a stud in major minutes in the NBA. Admittedly, I wish it wasn't against the Kings. Though the stats don't necessarily show it but Yuta was possibly the best player on the floor in the 4th quarter, literally disrupting every single Kings possession on defense and moving the ball on offense and staying out of the way of Siakam and VanVleet. Mark Jones talked about Watanabe's mother playing for the the Japanese National Team but that's like a normal NBA player's mom playing on a good high school team. Although, for the record, Japan currently has more players in the NBA than China does so score one for my Japanese pride! Also how bad is the Raptors season going?
Mikki Moore - Richaun Holmes. This was possibly Richaun's worst game of the season. On defense, he was getting toasted by ancient downward spiral Aron Baynes to start the game while on offense the walking turnover that we saw to start the season was back. Later on, Holmes started to settle in on defense only for the refs to take him out of the game on an absolutely ridiculous Siakam flop that left Richaun having a temper tantrum in the tunnel that got captured by the TV cameras (the most excting thing to happen involving a King and a tunnel since either the time Shaq tried to fight Doug Christie after the infamous Fox uppercut or this)
On a sidenote, Grant Napear going on and on about Boogie getting ejected is hilarious knowing how things would ultimately play out.
Cory Joseph/Jason Hart/Andres Nocioni Award- No one. CoJo had his best game of the season and Glenn Robinson III played so few minutes that it's hard to really fault him for his lack of production.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner - Luke Walton, who apparently had a meeting with Monte about the team's strategy going forward, implemented a bunch of new sets on both ends of the floor to great success and then wound up going back to crappy old stuff anyways as the game progressed.
Hassan Being Hassan Moment of the Game- Hassan misses an easy lead-extending dunk because he tried to showtime it, rebounds his own miss over pretty much the entire Raptors roster and then finds Tyrese Haliburton for the game clinching three ball. The ultimate display of the walking basketball enigma that is old bench big guy Hassan Whiteside. He also randomly flexed in an empty arena twenty minutes after the game ended, which deserves an honorable mention.
WTF Moment of the Game- The refs sucked all night but them randomly ejecting Kyle Lowry with like five seconds left in the game for... talking(?) was particularly bad. I mean, it worked out in our favor tonight but for the love of all that is holy how are professional refs so bad at their jobs?
***
Tonight sees the Kings facing the Miami Heat, who are suffering from what can best be described as an NBA Finals hangover. Bam has been awesome for them but that's about it. They actually really miss Jae Crowder. Duncan Robinson has sorta been in a Buddy Hield-esque rut for most of the season and their injury report looks like this:
As one would expect, the Heat's record reflects this as they currently sit at 6-12 and are struggling to break the 100-point barrier on offense. They are however still a very well coached team and led by one of the league's brightest young talents in Bam Adebayo, who can be described as "How about Dwight Howard but also Brad Miller?". If the Miami Heat had any self-respect they would do the honorable thing and trade us Bam so we could run back the Kentucky Wildcats star tandem from 2017. (It's working for Houston so far!) Instead they're gonna let him stick around and be the centerpiece for a team that is probably going to go back to being contenders next season after getting a good draft pick this year. The audacity!
Final Prediction: Kings 105, Heat 98
Assuming De'Aaron plays after banging knees at the end of last night's game, the Kings are clearly the more talented and healthier team even if at least a few of the non-Butler Heat on that injury report decide to play. Though the Kings are on the second night of a back to back and in Miami nonetheless, they're also starting to play better on both ends of the floor and have the offensive firepower to push through the defense the Heat are currently mounting with the personal they have available. Also, Hassan Whiteside revenge game alert!
Having suffered a humiliating defeat against the Raptors the last time around, the Kings came out of the gates aggressive and largely picking up where the Orlando game left off. Then the fourth quarter got really weird, a random two-way player from one of the least basketball-focused countries in the world played like Kawhi, De'Aaron played on a bad knee for most of the quarter, Luke made defensive substitutions that actually made the defense worse down the stretch, the refs were horrific, and Tyrese had a clutch dagger to give us the win.
And so here we are. Three in a row and in Miami! #FreeBam!
***
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Yuta "Japanese Kobe" Watanabe. It does me proud to see my fellow countryman look like a stud in major minutes in the NBA. Admittedly, I wish it wasn't against the Kings. Though the stats don't necessarily show it but Yuta was possibly the best player on the floor in the 4th quarter, literally disrupting every single Kings possession on defense and moving the ball on offense and staying out of the way of Siakam and VanVleet. Mark Jones talked about Watanabe's mother playing for the the Japanese National Team but that's like a normal NBA player's mom playing on a good high school team. Although, for the record, Japan currently has more players in the NBA than China does so score one for my Japanese pride! Also how bad is the Raptors season going?
Mikki Moore - Richaun Holmes. This was possibly Richaun's worst game of the season. On defense, he was getting toasted by ancient downward spiral Aron Baynes to start the game while on offense the walking turnover that we saw to start the season was back. Later on, Holmes started to settle in on defense only for the refs to take him out of the game on an absolutely ridiculous Siakam flop that left Richaun having a temper tantrum in the tunnel that got captured by the TV cameras (the most excting thing to happen involving a King and a tunnel since either the time Shaq tried to fight Doug Christie after the infamous Fox uppercut or this)
Cory Joseph/Jason Hart/Andres Nocioni Award- No one. CoJo had his best game of the season and Glenn Robinson III played so few minutes that it's hard to really fault him for his lack of production.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner - Luke Walton, who apparently had a meeting with Monte about the team's strategy going forward, implemented a bunch of new sets on both ends of the floor to great success and then wound up going back to crappy old stuff anyways as the game progressed.
Hassan Being Hassan Moment of the Game- Hassan misses an easy lead-extending dunk because he tried to showtime it, rebounds his own miss over pretty much the entire Raptors roster and then finds Tyrese Haliburton for the game clinching three ball. The ultimate display of the walking basketball enigma that is old bench big guy Hassan Whiteside. He also randomly flexed in an empty arena twenty minutes after the game ended, which deserves an honorable mention.
WTF Moment of the Game- The refs sucked all night but them randomly ejecting Kyle Lowry with like five seconds left in the game for... talking(?) was particularly bad. I mean, it worked out in our favor tonight but for the love of all that is holy how are professional refs so bad at their jobs?
***
Tonight sees the Kings facing the Miami Heat, who are suffering from what can best be described as an NBA Finals hangover. Bam has been awesome for them but that's about it. They actually really miss Jae Crowder. Duncan Robinson has sorta been in a Buddy Hield-esque rut for most of the season and their injury report looks like this:
As one would expect, the Heat's record reflects this as they currently sit at 6-12 and are struggling to break the 100-point barrier on offense. They are however still a very well coached team and led by one of the league's brightest young talents in Bam Adebayo, who can be described as "How about Dwight Howard but also Brad Miller?". If the Miami Heat had any self-respect they would do the honorable thing and trade us Bam so we could run back the Kentucky Wildcats star tandem from 2017. (It's working for Houston so far!) Instead they're gonna let him stick around and be the centerpiece for a team that is probably going to go back to being contenders next season after getting a good draft pick this year. The audacity!
Final Prediction: Kings 105, Heat 98
Assuming De'Aaron plays after banging knees at the end of last night's game, the Kings are clearly the more talented and healthier team even if at least a few of the non-Butler Heat on that injury report decide to play. Though the Kings are on the second night of a back to back and in Miami nonetheless, they're also starting to play better on both ends of the floor and have the offensive firepower to push through the defense the Heat are currently mounting with the personal they have available. Also, Hassan Whiteside revenge game alert!
