[Game] Kings @ Grizzlies, 11/22/2022 5pm Pacific 8pm Eastern

[Tetsujin]

Gonna be another super short post today (I promise write-ups will be back sooner than later once my workload lightens up).

The Kings look to make it seven in a row against the Memphis Grizzlies on the first game of a quick three game road trip.

Injury Report

https://twitter.com/statuses/1595086141887500288

(But seriously of course Ja unexpectedly returns to action when the Grizzlies are supposed to play us. Bane and Ziare are still expected to miss this game although who knows if they'll magically get healthy enough to play by tipoff)


Will the Kings manage to play any defense before the last three minutes of the game? Will the Grizzlies be able to slow the Kings historically explosive offense down? Tune in at 5 (or whatever time tipoff is for you locally) to find out!

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Gonna be another super short post today (I promise write-ups will be back sooner than later once my workload lightens up).

The Kings look to make it seven in a row against the Memphis Grizzlies on the first game of a quick three game road trip.

Injury Report

https://twitter.com/statuses/1595086141887500288

(But seriously of course Ja unexpectedly returns to action when the Grizzlies are supposed to play us. Bane and Ziare are still expected to miss this game although who knows if they'll magically get healthy enough to play by tipoff)


Will the Kings manage to play any defense before the last three minutes of the game? Will the Grizzlies be able to slow the Kings historically explosive offense down? Tune in at 5 (or whatever time tipoff is for you locally) to find out!

#LightTheBeam

 

[Woot!]

If Bane misses, that's big. He smacks the Kings around at least as much as Morant does.

 

[PorchSurfin]

I hate Morant.

 

[Remi]

Grizzlies report:

Status report, 11/22 vs SAC:
DOUBTFUL Morant - LT Ankle Sprain
OUT:
Bane - RT Big Toe Sprain
Green - LT Knee Surgery Recovery
Lofton Jr. - G League Two-Way Transfer
Tillman Sr. - G League Assignment
Z. Williams - RT Patellar Tendinitis
V. Williams Jr. - G League Two-Way Transfer

 

[macadocious]

I hate Morant.

that’s aggressive

 

[The_Jamal]

Too early for standings watch, but **** it. We deserve to have some fun.

There's 2. Yes, 2 games separating the 1 seed Jazz at 12-7 and the 10 seed Twolves at 9-8. Very much shaping up to be a dog-fight in the west, so these games all of a sudden become very important at the end of the season. Especially with Bane out and potentially Ja out.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Grizzlies report:

Status report, 11/22 vs SAC:
DOUBTFUL Morant - LT Ankle Sprain

Is this from before this morning's upgrade of Morant to QUESTIONABLE or did they downgrade him again?

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Too early for standings watch, but **** it. We deserve to have some fun.

There's 2. Yes, 2 games separating the 1 seed Jazz at 12-7 and the 10 seed Twolves at 9-8. Very much shaping up to be a dog-fight in the west, so these games all of a sudden become very important at the end of the season. Especially with Bane out and potentially Ja out.

I seem to recall that the WC was super tight for a month or two last year as well, before things started to shake out. Nobody has jumped out to a dominant lead yet, and that's partially due to an otherwise tanking Jazz team somehow holding onto the top spot for so long. I don't expect that to continue. But the Kings? Maybe we can scrape and claw our way through the next 12 games, and if we can, then we might get a real nice long runway to solidify the playoff position we find ourselves in now.

 

[gunks]

We gotta keep the refs out of it by making this a blowout.

I dunno why those filthy filthy zebras hate us so much, but the feeling is mutual.

 

[Remi]

Is this from before this morning's upgrade of Morant to QUESTIONABLE or did they downgrade him again?

Yes, it was announced 2h ago as questionable :

 

[PorchSurfin]

that’s aggressive

Let me downgrade it to "strongly dislike".

 

[KF8]

predicting a loss. Kings have loss 7 straight to memphis. 5 of the losses were blow outs and a few of the losses were even without morant playing. They just play well against the kings for whatever reason.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I actually want Ja to play.

Also this seems to be a show of respect. And Fox loves to play Ja as much as he loved to play Ball the first year or two.

 

[Letsgokings13]

predicting a loss. Kings have loss 7 straight to memphis. 5 of the losses were blow outs and a few of the losses were even without morant playing. They just play well against the kings for whatever reason.

That just means we're due for a win

 

[iowamcnabb]

Things to watch out for:

BC getting a bunch of put back buckets
Someone shooting 95% from 3 against us
JJJ flailing arms & legs out for fouls on drives

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I seem to recall that the WC was super tight for a month or two last year as well, before things started to shake out. Nobody has jumped out to a dominant lead yet, and that's partially due to an otherwise tanking Jazz team somehow holding onto the top spot for so long. I don't expect that to continue. But the Kings? Maybe we can scrape and claw our way through the next 12 games, and if we can, then we might get a real nice long runway to solidify the playoff position we find ourselves in now.

Will Hardy doesn't appear to be willing to tank. Without any key injuries, I think they'll keep fighting for wins. At any rate, if they were to pull off 40+ wins, it really throws a wrench into the works

 

[pdxKingsFan]

We're due to hammer the Grizzlies


Will Hardy doesn't appear to be willing to tank. Without any key injuries, I think they'll keep fighting for wins. At any rate, if they were to pull off 40+ wins, it really throws a wrench into the works

I'm curious if they were tanking why they hired a competent coach like Hardy.

Luke Walton is there for the tanking. taking.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I'm curious if they were tanking why they hired a competent coach like Hardy.

Luke Walton is there for the tanking. taking.

I think some just assumed that they would tank. Not sure there were any statements by the Jazz that implied they definitely would

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

predicting a loss. Kings have loss 7 straight to memphis. 5 of the losses were blow outs and a few of the losses were even without morant playing. They just play well against the kings for whatever reason.

We're due to run a laser beam through the Grizzlies

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I think some just assumed that they would tank. Not sure there were any statements by the Jazz that implied they definitely would

I mean, it was the personnel moves that signaled the tank.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I mean, it was the personnel moves that signaled the tank.

Well, they just moved on from some good players and replaced a good coach, with a young coach with a lot of potential. That wouldn't necessarily mean auto tank

 

[kingsfan_4Life]

I know this sounds a bit far fetched, but I believe the Kings can go 2-2 on this road trip.... I know that sounds a bit aggressive, but I think it's possible if we play up to the level we've been playing lately............

 

[Padrino]

The Kings are headed into a real tough stretch of their schedule. Despite the losses that will likely pile up across the next month, I'm pretty excited to see if this Kings team is as "for real" as they seem to be; if they can head into Christmas at .500 or above, it will be quite a serious marker of the sustainability of their early success.

 

[kingsfan101]

I think some just assumed that they would tank. Not sure there were any statements by the Jazz that implied they definitely would

No team says they are going to tank. When you trade away your stars for assets, that typically signals a tank/rebuild.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

The Kings are headed into a real tough stretch of their schedule. Despite the losses that will likely pile up across the next month, I'm pretty excited to see if this Kings team is as "for real" as they seem to be; if they can head into Christmas at .500 or above, it will be quite a serious marker of the sustainability of their early success.

If we can hold our heads above or at least near the water for January we have a big opportunity. Those around long enough to remember 99 may recall we had a huge 10-1 run in the final 11 to go from a below .500 team to a 6 seed. We just have to basically manage the season like we manage the games lately. Take a punch, give a punch back.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

No team says they are going to tank. When you trade away your stars for assets, that typically signals a tank/rebuild.

You gotta at least hand it to Ainge for somehow destroying 2 teams in megatrades (Nets in Boston and Minny in Utah). Cavs seem to have escaped fate so far.

Up until their run last year I've always been grateful that despite the drought "at least we're not Minnesota". Cautionary tale up their folks.

 

[Padrino]

If we can hold our heads above or at least near the water for January we have a big opportunity. Those around long enough to remember 99 may recall we had a huge 10-1 run in the final 11 to go from a below .500 team to a 6 seed. We just have to basically manage the season like we manage the games lately. Take a punch, give a punch back.

Yep.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I just came across a game recap for our last game on a Pistons post game show. They were giving us a lot of praise but described our defense as “the time when they can’t play offense”

we have had a signature offensive performance, how about a signature defensive performance tonight!

 

[The_Jamal]

The Kings are headed into a real tough stretch of their schedule. Despite the losses that will likely pile up across the next month, I'm pretty excited to see if this Kings team is as "for real" as they seem to be; if they can head into Christmas at .500 or above, it will be quite a serious marker of the sustainability of their early success.

It really is funny how damaged we are as Kings fans. We literally have the best ORtg of all-time right now and we're like "Eh, we'll just have to wait and see".

I think one things that's impressed me most this season is 5-0 vs teams "we should beat" on paper. The Kings a lot of the time did get up for the marquee matchups and play really well only to blow a home game to the Pistons in the next one. And for a good chunk of those games, I wouldn't say we played particularly well either; just enough when it counted.

The other is we have yet to have a game where the team just flat out quits. Maybe the Memphis game? But even that Warriors game where we let them drop 89, still found a way to surge back and at least make it competitive into the 4th. There's a real resiliency with this squad that the Kings just haven't had in 16 years.