(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is going to be shorter than normally because I got distracted playing the new Pokémon game and it's now 4 in the morning here in Japan)
Well that happened!
Previously On
Award Time
Tony Delk Memorial - Terence "Baron" Davis.There's no rule saying I can't give this to someone on the Kings (I don't think) and TD's explosive performance was so unstoppably random that it can only be described as TDM worthy. Seriously, TD even has the same initials.
The CoJo- Nobody. The entire Kings squad was insanely productive aside from Keegan Murray who missed most of the game because he hurt his back.
Mikki Moore- Royce O'Neale. I am a big Royce fan. At the same time, the dude put up a -40 plus/minus in 24 minutes and pretty much did nothing but go 1-for-4 from three. Still wouldn't mind him on the Kings though. *coughcoughRichaunforRoycecoughcough*
Shareef Abdur-Rahim- Joe Harris. At one point, Joe Harris was one of the better floor spacers in the league. One incredibly injury-riddled season later,
Marvin Bagley Double-Jump High Upside Player of the Night- Ben Simmons. The good news: Ben Simmons scored a new season high! The bad news: That season high was 11 points and he then immediately gave an interview to Sam Amick about how miserable his experience on the Nets has been. Also his knee is apparently not feeling great even though he's playing so that's great news for him.
WTF Moment of the Game- Terence Harris.
Jalen and Jacoby Still Hate the Kings
Beam Meme of the Night
We're Talking Basketball
The Spurs, a team so good for so long that they started the season they were supposed to be tanking for Wemby 5-2, come into town for the first time this season in the midsts of a 1-7 stretch. Their defense is rated as 28th in the league and is giving up the most points in the league, which is very much unusual for a Gregg Popovich team, their offense isn't much better (more on that in a bit), and Josh Primo, who was central in a lot of their marketing scheme for the season, got cut from the team on account of him not keeping his little Primo in his pants. In other words, the Kings are, for the first time in this season, playing a team firmly settling in for the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
Gregg Popovich is still, of course, one of the greatest coaches in the history of professional sports and, maybe even more relevantly to tonight's game, Mike Brown's close friend and mentor. Is it sorta weird to see a 74-year-old man at the helm of a team that is clearly rebuilding? Sure, but it's Pop and any team he coaches can beat the pants off of you if you aren't careful.
The Spurs offense is better than the numbers suggest. Keldon Johnson is thriving in a bigger offensive role with Dejounte Murray in Atlanta, currently shooting .423 from three on 8.8 attempts per game after years of largely being a driving attacker more than a shooting specialist. Next to him, Devin Vassell has been having his best year by far, finally earning a starting role on the Spurs after two seasons of mostly being a depth three and D guy. But perhaps the best overall player on the Spurs to start the year has been Jakob Poetl, whose name has subsequently been involved in seemingly every single trade rumor out there. A seven-footer from Germany, Poetl is big, rebounds well, and is a solid passer and defender for his size. He's also the only remaining asset the Spurs acquired in the Kawhi Leonard trade so that's certainly something too.
I'm not going to lie to you and say that the Kings are at the point where they "should" be winning any games in particular. But this current Spurs team is definitely in the middle of a rebuild and has, on paper, far less talent than the Kings do, and furthermore have been playing some pretty bad basketball of late. Of course, this is the sort of game that the Kings of prior seasons would have managed to lose by thirty points. With a thirty point win on national TV under their belts, do the Kings have it in them to win a game of considerably lesser but no less important stakes?
Injury Report
Kings
Keegan Murray - QUESTIONABLE (powers sapped by secret evil third Murray Brother)
Spurs
Malakai Branham - OUT (Lost in El Paso)
Zach Collins - OUT (Playing in a new ska band)
Romeo Langford - OUT (Playing Pokemon)
Blake Wesley - OUT (Hounded by spiders)
Final Predictions
I believe in this Kings team. Mike Brown has the roster focused and playing cohesive basketball for the first time in the last several seasons of Kings basketball. While I also believe in Gregg Popovich, I also believe in teams telling on themselves in regards to their motives and this Spurs team hasn't quite shown itself to be particularly bent on winning games.
Sacramento Kings 125, Spurs 114
Well that happened!
Previously On
Award Time
Tony Delk Memorial - Terence "Baron" Davis.There's no rule saying I can't give this to someone on the Kings (I don't think) and TD's explosive performance was so unstoppably random that it can only be described as TDM worthy. Seriously, TD even has the same initials.
The CoJo- Nobody. The entire Kings squad was insanely productive aside from Keegan Murray who missed most of the game because he hurt his back.
Mikki Moore- Royce O'Neale. I am a big Royce fan. At the same time, the dude put up a -40 plus/minus in 24 minutes and pretty much did nothing but go 1-for-4 from three. Still wouldn't mind him on the Kings though. *coughcoughRichaunforRoycecoughcough*
Shareef Abdur-Rahim- Joe Harris. At one point, Joe Harris was one of the better floor spacers in the league. One incredibly injury-riddled season later,
Marvin Bagley Double-Jump High Upside Player of the Night- Ben Simmons. The good news: Ben Simmons scored a new season high! The bad news: That season high was 11 points and he then immediately gave an interview to Sam Amick about how miserable his experience on the Nets has been. Also his knee is apparently not feeling great even though he's playing so that's great news for him.
WTF Moment of the Game- Terence Harris.
Jalen and Jacoby Still Hate the Kings
Beam Meme of the Night
We're Talking Basketball
The Spurs, a team so good for so long that they started the season they were supposed to be tanking for Wemby 5-2, come into town for the first time this season in the midsts of a 1-7 stretch. Their defense is rated as 28th in the league and is giving up the most points in the league, which is very much unusual for a Gregg Popovich team, their offense isn't much better (more on that in a bit), and Josh Primo, who was central in a lot of their marketing scheme for the season, got cut from the team on account of him not keeping his little Primo in his pants. In other words, the Kings are, for the first time in this season, playing a team firmly settling in for the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
Gregg Popovich is still, of course, one of the greatest coaches in the history of professional sports and, maybe even more relevantly to tonight's game, Mike Brown's close friend and mentor. Is it sorta weird to see a 74-year-old man at the helm of a team that is clearly rebuilding? Sure, but it's Pop and any team he coaches can beat the pants off of you if you aren't careful.
The Spurs offense is better than the numbers suggest. Keldon Johnson is thriving in a bigger offensive role with Dejounte Murray in Atlanta, currently shooting .423 from three on 8.8 attempts per game after years of largely being a driving attacker more than a shooting specialist. Next to him, Devin Vassell has been having his best year by far, finally earning a starting role on the Spurs after two seasons of mostly being a depth three and D guy. But perhaps the best overall player on the Spurs to start the year has been Jakob Poetl, whose name has subsequently been involved in seemingly every single trade rumor out there. A seven-footer from Germany, Poetl is big, rebounds well, and is a solid passer and defender for his size. He's also the only remaining asset the Spurs acquired in the Kawhi Leonard trade so that's certainly something too.
I'm not going to lie to you and say that the Kings are at the point where they "should" be winning any games in particular. But this current Spurs team is definitely in the middle of a rebuild and has, on paper, far less talent than the Kings do, and furthermore have been playing some pretty bad basketball of late. Of course, this is the sort of game that the Kings of prior seasons would have managed to lose by thirty points. With a thirty point win on national TV under their belts, do the Kings have it in them to win a game of considerably lesser but no less important stakes?
Injury Report
Kings
Keegan Murray - QUESTIONABLE (powers sapped by secret evil third Murray Brother)
Spurs
Malakai Branham - OUT (Lost in El Paso)
Zach Collins - OUT (Playing in a new ska band)
Romeo Langford - OUT (Playing Pokemon)
Blake Wesley - OUT (Hounded by spiders)
Final Predictions
I believe in this Kings team. Mike Brown has the roster focused and playing cohesive basketball for the first time in the last several seasons of Kings basketball. While I also believe in Gregg Popovich, I also believe in teams telling on themselves in regards to their motives and this Spurs team hasn't quite shown itself to be particularly bent on winning games.
Sacramento Kings 125, Spurs 114